Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale

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

Dark amber with a small off-white head that leaves a ring of lacings. The smell is malty (caramel and fudge) with notes of ripe fruit (grapes, strawberries?) vanilla and spices. It’s a rather rich smell. It’s good, but something seems off, like it’s going downhill or something. A malt-forward taste with pleasant flavors of caramel and toffee. Lots of fruity notes. The taste is sweet but balancing spicy notes level the sweetness. Here’s also an interesting note of vanilla. The finish has some nice bitterness to it and notes of wood and malts. Medium body with a rather creamy and slick texture. A decent beer. But Old ales raise my expectations and this one didn’t really meet them. There are far better examples of the style. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)

Location: 12 oz bottle from Norm’s, 11/16/09

Aroma: Gives off both sweet an alcoholic, notes of bourbon, orange, caramel, other fruits, a bit of earthiness, and some vanilla
Appearance: This one pours a cloudy dark red-orange color with almost no head to speak of, it leaves very light/spotty lace
Flavor: Tastes of sweet malts, some sugar, with kind of an orange-bourbon feel, plus a touch of spice, and a mild hop backing
Palate: This beer has a pretty full body, there is also some minimal carbonation and a bit of alcohol burn
Overall Impression: This beer is a bit strange, almost a hybrid orange-bourbon-beer combination type of thing. Hard to describe, but not completely outside the norm. It does have many of the typical Old Ale and Barleywine characteristic, but it also has some unusual characteristics to it as well. I like this one, but I’m not sure I’d want to drink it regularly. On the other hand, it is very interesting, and does appear to be pretty well-made, so I’m split. I’m going to give the overall score a boost for the creativity, even if the other scores don’t indicate it being quite that high.

Brown, lingering beige head, light lacing. Aroma is toasty, a bit of butterscotch, light alcohol. Flavour of light alcohol, again butterscotch, some dark fruits, malty, some oxidization. Smooth mouthfeel, medium body, moderate carbonation. Finishes long, moderately bitter, dry.

This really dries out at the end, lots of butterscotch. Still good but might be a bit old.

355ml bottle shared by beerhugger, thanks Steve.
Opened on February 13, 2009.
No date.

Bottle pours golden amber with a small white head. Aroma is intense with bourbon and sweet malt notes. Flavor is sweet malts initially with a bourbon, alcohol, and bitter finish. Medium bodied and very smooth. Enjoy in moderation is right.

Bottle from Beermerchants.com. Hazy, red copper with sediment and a small, creamy tan head. Complex toffee and raisins aroma, yet not overly sweet. nuts, raisins, chocolate and coconut flavours- on the sweet side, but good. The perfect night cap.

Bottle@Home. Aroma of raisins, cheese and wood. Orange/brown colour, firm beige head, very nice lace, pours very thick. Very sweet, very bitter, loads of raisin, woody, sugary, glue, varnish. Thick, sugary and burning. Very nice Barley Wine.

Pours clear amber with no head. Aroma of alcohol and sweet malts. Taste is quite malty and balanced between sweet fruits and strong alcohol presence. Also a bit buttery with a bitter finish. Overall a strong, tasty brew.

Bottle. Fat beer in all aspects! Oily texture. Dried fruit, vegtables. Tastes like an american barley wine.