December 13 - Founders Brewing - Backwoods Bastard

Founder's Brewing Company - Backwoods Bastard (2014)

Usually, I throw my blog together from the notes I take on a beer after enjoying the entire thing.  Tonight I'm going to switch things up a bit.  Here's the reason why.  Tonight, I will be sampling and reviewing Founder's Brewing Company's Backwoods Bastard.  This beer is an ale, aged in bourbon barrels.  I don't care for bourbon, so much so that I avoided purchasing a Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout as well as the Barleywine version. I couldn't justify purchasing a 12oz bottle for over $10 for something I was going to most likely hate (or at least pre-judged).  If you're unfamiliar, these are like the most sought after beers that I've seen in a while

That brings us to tonight.  The bottle that I'm about to have was much more feasible to purchase, price-wise.  However, when RateBeer gives this a 100 on style and it falls in the 100th percentile along with the fact that Untappd reviewers give it an average score of 4.22 out of 5 I am almost obligated to try it, right?  With this all said, I bid you farewell for a few so that I can do my due diligence to those who want to hear all about it.

The beer poured a deep mahogany (I learned a new color last night!) color with a thin micro bead of off white head.  The aroma of this was masked at first because it was pretty cold, but as it warmed up slightly I got some woody and sweet bourbon notes along with strong caramel and slight fruity notes.  As the beer warmed further there was definitely a boozy aroma to this bad boy!

As for the taste, the first thing that popped into my head was that it tasted every so similar to Dogfish Head's Raison D'Etre.  However, after I allowed the beer to do it's job on the way down that opinion changed quickly.  After a few sips, my palate calmed down a bit after being overwhelmed by so many different flavors that are expressed in this beer.  Predominantly, there was a smooth bourbon flavor that mellowed to a sweet vanilla in the finish.  As it warmed further, the bourbon became that much more in your face, but for me, the vanilla helped to mellow it out so that it didn't overpower the rest of the ingredients that were used to make this beer.  As you could probably guess, this brew did it's job, at 10.2% ABV, when warming the throat for sure!

Update - I could probably do a flavor profile as it warmed in 5 degree increments and it would be different each time.  The vanilla ended up jumping all over the place, from being stronger in the finish as the beer was cold to being the first thing I tasted as it got warmer. 

To sip, or not to sip...Well, I didn't have that option since my wife stole most of the glass from me "helping with my review."  Both her and I came to a consensus for the rating of this beer.

Backwoods Bastard?  Ol' Dirty Bastard?  I think this is more fun! 4.5 out of 5!

Speaking of bastards...Ben decided to forgo building the rest of his snowman to eye up my beer.  Think again...

December 22

December 22 - Founder's Imperial Stout

 

Reaching into the back of the fridge this evening...what did I find?  We're going vintage tonight!  All the way from January 2013.  Hey, that's a lot in "beer time."  I found a 10.5% ABV Founder's Russian Imperial Stout!  I got this bad boy (and its 23 friends) from my brother and sister in law for birthday #31.  Why do I still have it, you ask?  Because I forgot I even had it to be quite honest.

 

This beer pours a deep black color with some dark brown head that doesn't show up until the beer settles down in the glass.  Something I don't usually see with beer very often.  The quality ingredients used by this brewing company leave a very fancy lacing on the inside of the glass.  The aroma gives me huge roasted chocolate as well as sweet coffee notes.

 

Founder's recommends drinking this at cellar temperature (50-55 degrees), however I decided to go against the grain and start drinking at about 38 degrees.  To be fair, I decided to drink this slowly (not just to pace myself) to see what changes there were as the beer warmed up.  There were definitely some to be noted.

 

From the fridge (at 38 degrees) this beer gave me a dark roasted coffee flavor with a complex malt profile (10 varieties of barley) which confuses, yet entertains the palate.  There is a strong alcohol bite at the end of this beer that warms and quickly mellows due to an offsetting hop bitterness.

 

As the beer warmed in my stout glass, the richness of the coffee flavor became much more robust.  The alcohol bite at the end nearly vanished into a slightly hoppy espresso bite.  It almost made me want another, but I figured one of these was enough for tonight.

 

Overall, if you're a stout lover and haven't had this beer yet (RateBeer gives it a 100 rating, for what it's worth...) I have one word for you: Must-Have.

 

That's two words you say?  Nope, it's hyphenated (at least for tonight).

 

Since this is a Russian theme now, I give this beer 4.5/5 matryoshkas...pretend the smallest one counts at 0.5.

 

 

 

December 19

 December 19 - Founder's Harvest Ale

 

After last night's choice, I figured that this was bound to trump that mess...and dear Lord did it ever!

 

Out of Michigan, this brewery has yet to disappoint me with any of their beer styles, especially the IPAs.  I enjoy their Breakfast Stout, Imperial Stout, and the various IPAs they make.  This American IPA is a 7.6% ABV beer and is wet-hopped.  The wet-hopping uses fresh hops instead of those lighter, dry ones.  The use of fresh hops in this process add a wonderful hop profile to the beer.

 

This beer pours a hazy yellow with a light, white head at the top.  The aroma is slightly hoppy with some fruity tones to it.  The taste is outstanding!  The hops resonate throughout this beer, yet they are not too bitter.  I get pine, citrus (especially orange), and earthy flavors from the hops here.  The finish of this beer is very smooth and not overly hoppy.  However, as a hop-connoisseur who loves the hop bite, the mixture and abundance of flavors are enough to keep me happy even without being too hoppy.

 

Worst part about this beer is that I drank it like a session ale (sub 5% ABV).  It's not even close.  Yet it went down smooth like one.  Wait...that's not a bad thing.  On the other hand it is...it was gone too fast.

 

4.5 out of 5 hops tonight!