Tasted

Whether their intention is to imbue wood character in beer or simply use the wood as a friendly medium for transformative yeast and bacteria, brewers have embraced barrels, puncheons, and foeders in increasing numbers. For this issue, our blind-tasting panel sampled Wood-aged Sour and Wild Ales, Barrel-aged Stouts and Porters, Barrel-aged Strong Ales, and flavored and fruited variations of each, to tease out the varied impacts wood has on beer.