Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale

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

12oz. Bottle: Sweet malty aroma smells of malts, wood, caramel, milk chocolate, vanilla, and a hint of bourbon. Poured copper in color with a huge, dense beige head that lasted throughout. Cloudy. Full of large particles. Good lacing. Lightly sweet flavor. Tastes of bourbon, oak, vanilla, malts, resinous hops, and raisins. Full body. Thick, creamy texture. Soft carbonation. Smooth, bitter, malty finish.

One of my favorite ales. I’ve had fresh and aged 1 year. Both wonderful in different ways. The fresh was slightly floral, piney, sweet, wonderful in nose and taste. A fantastic palate. The year old has less hop character and almost no pine, but smells and tastes of carmel and some chocolate. Both beautiful to look at. A fantastic beer.

Bottle courtesy AllAboutStout, pours dark mahogany with a fizzy, cream colored head that lingers. Nose is a bit subdued, with dried fruit standing out the most, along with a touch of malty sweetness and bourbon. The flavor is very rich and complex, with the same dried fruit and sweet malt with bourbon smoothing out the flavor. I thought I was misplacing the flavor, but then I read that the ’06 was barrel aged in bourbon barrels and there it was! I am a big fan of this one.

Bottle from Capone’s - I am assuming this is the 2006 version, based on some of the bourbon barrel tastes noted. Consumed on 31 March 2008. Strong aroma has chocolate malty, light toffee, strong caramel, and tons and tons of wood (oak) heavily saturated with bourbon. Deep caramel chestnut pour lets just a bit of light through, with a light light brown head. The lures are just sultry. Rich, full taste of strong caramel and fig, lightly bitter with a little less sweetness (dryness wins out by the end), and dominant notes of vanilla, bourbon, and wood. Alcohol stronger toward the end, and prominent as a significant contributor to the flavor. Malt dominates whatever is left of the pine and citric hops, but that’s not a bad thing here. Brown sugar and a touch of cherry. Viscous, thick body is smooth going down, not quite sticky but dense and layered. I like this much more than KBS; it leans away from the roast and toward a complex Barleywine. Hoo-boy, what a sipper!

Toffee-beige colour and hazy. Earthy, toffeeish nose with late alcohol, minerals and shiitake mushrooms. Sweet, with a hard body. Some brown sugar, more minerals and late alcohol. Somewhat uncohesive.

Pours amber-mahogany with frothy tan head. Bready aroma with notes of honey, vanilla, oak, brown sugar, coconut, apple, citrus, slight sourness. Flavor is stronger than the nose would let on, but still quite nice and complex- honey, whiskey, slight sourness, vanilla, oak. Unique use of malts. Palate is slightly sticky, however. Overall, well worth a try.

2007 Great Taste: Sweet, malty, and alcoholic. Strong cracker flavors, but also wood, honey, vanilla, and potato. Thick alcoholic finish.

Dark opaque chestnut with small dense head and nice lacing. Smell is sweet and rich with bourbon and coconut.Taste is same, with vanilla and a tiny bit of astringency. Finishes with banana bread, and slight warming alcohol. AWESOME $5.45/12oz