Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale

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

Cloudy amber with light head / Big, sweet, winey nose of coconut, caramel, and bourbon / Full body, thick and moderately syrupy, with superb balance and finish / Flavors of coconut, bourbon, caramel, milk chocolate, vanilla, and oak / One hell of a brew - almost flawless.

bottle just a little over a year old. i believe that this is from the 2006 bottling. i have been trying to drink this for last two months but something always comes up.....but not tonight. pours thick clear dark copper almost brown with a nice tan head that disappears into a thin film. aroma warm vanilla brown sugar caramel oak bourbon......with something slightly musty about it....or maybe dusty....the aroma has something of an old....aged feel that I believe for some reason would be there without the age. very nice. flavor sweet caramel vanilla with a light spicy black pepper bite. very nice finish. sweet caramel vanilla spicy warm black pepper alcohol light raison notes that all melds together to create a warm lasting impression on the palate. full thick mouth feel. very nice smooth high gravity beer. very nice bourbon presence.

Bottle from a trade. Tasted this right after Lagunitas Brown Shugga. Tthought this old ale was much more roasty and complex than the BS. Rich roasty malt lasts througjhout. Pretty darn good.

Bottle. Deep reddish brown with a modest tan head. Sweet aroma with notes of oak, vanilla, fruit and bourbon. Sweet caramel malt flavor. Nice dark chocolate and hops assert themselves towards the end. Delicious.

not too bad, and not too strong. it wont be a repeat for me but thats not to say it isnt a quality beer. pretty sure we got the 2006 bourbon barrel aged version, it had a whiskey aroma and slight taste of it too.

Not a bad brew. Smell and taste are like whiskey/bourbon/wine? Way to over the top on the bourbon flavor. It over rides any real beer characteristics. Maybe I need another one and need to let it sit a while...

Strong ale. Tastes chemically. Sweet, rich, sour nose...not quite Flemish, but close. Fermented plums, maybe other weird fruits. Little to no carbonation, no head, sort of like vermouth but MUCH more complicated. No hops. Not my favorite, but it wasn’t awful tasting. I just wouldn’t care to drink it again.

Two beers in a row where the consensus seems off by a few points. No head to speak of. Dark whatever color (not black or totally opaque). Aroma of mild, faint musty junkyard. Flavor very fruity something. Could be any number of fruits you could have fun guessing at with this one. Blueberry? Raspberry? Fig? Date? Plum? Very sweet in any case. Very smooth palate. Deserves some points for being interesting/distinctive. Technically it comes out at a 7/10 but I’d give it a 7.5 on the subjective scale.

Back to back with Immort Ale or a similarly suitable barley wine, this will get you sufficiently lit.
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