Founders Backwoods Bastard

Brewed by Founders Brewing Company
Style: Scotch Ale
Grand Rapids, Michigan USA

Serve in Thistle

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12 oz bottle. Pours a murky ruby brown coor with a creamy khaki colored head. Nose of vanilla, butter cream, bourbon, caramel and dark fruits. Mouthfeel is soft and velvety. Initial taste of vanilla and bourbon which dominate the mouth. Mid palate of caramel and nuts. Finishing with continuing bourbon, strong oakiness warming alcohol, and balancing bitter hops. Although the flavor was not very complex it was well rounded and robust making it very enjoyable. Palate duration is above average. Medium body. Good head retention and spot lacing of the glass.

Bottle: Dark mahogany pour with no head. Strong caramel malts, vanilla, oak/bourbon nose...some dark fruity esters. Medium-light body with a slight creaminess on the finish...flavors of dark malts, caramel, light brown sugar and a very mild, sweet bourbon oak tone. Pretty good.

Bottle sampled with Mad_indian. Pours copper/brown with a small off-white head. Aroma of bourbon and roasted malts. the flavor is sweet, vanilla, oak, bourbon, and a nice alcohol burn to boot.

Bottle. Bourbon, you say? Really? You don’t say. There is some scotch ale here, sure, and though the bourbon is dominant its not gross or overwhelming. But this beer is all whiskey. It works fairly well, and is surprisingly drinkable. It has a nice malt body as well. But I could do with less bourbon.

12 oz bottle courtesy of kmweaver. Pours a dark red brown with a small off-white head that holds at 1/4 inch. The aroma is rich with roasted malts, peat and whiskey. The flavor is loaded with more bourbon whiskey notes, with lightly toasted malts, vanilla and butter rounding out the sides. The mouthfeel was smooth and creamy. The finish is long and buttery with linger biter walnuts. Overall: A very bold bourbon flavored concoction, I love it.

Bottle, thanks to wetherel. Pours a cloudy brown-orange with thin beige head. The aroma is malt, vanilla, raisin, mild oak and alcohol. The flavor is smooth bourbon and bitter chocolate at first, followed by quite a bit of raisin and burnt caramel. Oak really comes out toward the finish, with some more bitter chocolate notes. This goes down smooth... I like it.

Bottle courtesy of kmweaver. Pours burgundy with a wispy, thin beige skin and oily lace. The nose is of modest, sweet bourbon, cherries, and vanilla over a dark, fruity, malt backbone. Medium-bodied and silky-slick with a dry and lightly boozy finish. The palate thins a bit over time. Sweet, fruity malt, vanilla, and light bourbon with a lightly smoky and woody finish. Bourbon and vanilla lingers in the aftertaste. This is a tasty beer, but I think that I might prefer the original Dirty Bastard just a hair. Perhaps I’ll have to snag another bottle for a side-by-side. Thanks again for sending this my way, Ken!

UPDATED: JUN 28, 2012 12oz bottle, generously supplied by HimerMan and ucusty - thanks, guys!!! My bottle says 8.5% abv, but close enough. Very strong bourbon smell as the russet beer - slightly cloudy, with minimal carbonation (a couple of beads and very mild retention) - pours. My initial impression is that the beer isn’t substantial enough to handle the boozy qualities of the barrel-aging, and I’m not sure that aging will settle it down or make it more astringent. It’s an enjoyable brew, but right now it’s too one-dimensional for me.

12 oz. bottle generously shared by Gregis. Pour is cordovan, slightly hazed with an off white head. Some decent lacing on the glass. Aroma of caramel biscuit malt, with some cherry fruit sweetness. Bourbon woodiness in there as well. Taste is big Bourbon woodiness with a very drying caramel maltiness. Really boozy in the mouth despite a lower ABV.

12 ounce bottle shared by Greg. Pours dark red to brown with a light brown head. Clings to the sides of the glass nicely. Caramel sweet in the nose with some smoke and a strong shot of bourbon. An interesting fruitiness as well. Caramel and toffee flavors with some chocolate, but a bit over the top boozy. Medium body. Medium carbonation. Warm dry finish. Not bad. Not great.