4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20Very intriguing aroma of bourbon and active brown-black appearance with a balanced taste and warming mouthfeel.
---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone
4.8 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 20/20
Founders Backwards Bastard, aged 6 months in my fridge (yes, I am drinking it fresh), 10.2% ABV, a 12oz bottle and poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Poured deep ruby brown with a very little head and lacing.
Smell: Sweet caramel and smoky malt with a hint of vanilla, no pronounced hop presence, no obvious off flavors.
Taste: Candied dates and baking chocolate. There is also a spicy and earthy aftertaste that I attribute to the oak bourbon barrels used in the aging process and the 50 IBUs of hop flavor.
Mouth feel: Medium to full body and low carbonation. The bitter sweetness clings to the upper palette. There is definitely an umami effect as I keep running my tongue along my upper palette. Also a nice warming alcohol finish.
Overall: Founders has been making great beer for over 20 years. Backwards Bastard is an amazingly subtle yet complex beer. You will find the flavor change with each sip as the beer warms and the taste lingers. You can drink this with almost any rich food and meal course; from roasted garlic Portobello mushrooms, to a medium-rare rib eye, or a flourless chocolate raspberry cake. But why wait for the food. As my favorite late night talk show host would exclaim, “This is a beverage”.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Looks and tastes like a fine bourbon. Caramel in color. I can see this in a snifter to sip on all evening.
---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone
3.5 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Color is deep red. Smells earthy, sweet, wood and more. Taste is really sweet (maybe too much for me) but complex. Wood, fruits, slight caramel.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
A little sticky on the finish but the bourbon character really plays well with the caramel sweetness of what is already a good scotch ale.
3.9 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Sample at CBC 2013.
Dark amber colour with a beige head. Aroma and flavour of bourbon, wood, dark dried fruit, malt, caramel and licorice.
4.2 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Pours brown, with a smallish tan head. Smells of wood, brown sugar, bourbon, and dark fruit. Taste is bourbon, wood, malt, and brown sugar. A little thinner mouthfeel than I expected. Overall a great beer.
3.3 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20
On tap @ Acre, Chicago. Deep amber color, minimal head, but left some lacing in glass. Raisin/plum, malty/toffee and vanilla nose. Light smokey notes with vanilla and raisin taste blend into alcoholic warm finish. Surprisingly light in body for such heavy flavors. The intensity of flavor/alcohol to body mismatch was jarring. I thought this tasted more like a watery barleywine than scotch ale.
4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20
Tap at Blind Tiger. My lips were still burning from that horrendous habanero beer but this delicious gem got me back on track. Pours very murky deep brownish red. Nose of smoke and dark fruits. Tastes of malt, earth, caramel, oak, peat, smoke, scotch, and some spices. very creamy mouthfeel
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Chopp. Amber red colour, small off-white head. Sweet pleasantly fruity malty woody caramel chocolate aroma. Good mouthfeel. Sweet fruity caramel flavour with dark malts and some wood.
3.3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 12/20
Tap @ Mikkeller Bar, Viktoriagade. Pours clear, deep red with a small, staying, creamy, beige head. Aroma has alcohol, malts, caramel. Medium carbonation, fine dry and very creamy mouthfeel. Flavour has good malty sweetness, caramel, light toasted, a hint of liqourice, a bit of the same burning alcohol. Not that balanced.
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