Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale

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

Hazy red brown with a sizzling whitish head. Tangy nose with some red wine and clear alcohol presence, touches of caramel, and some roasted malt notes. Quite sweet tasting, some nice smoky hints, a good dose of dry, nutty bitterness, and more vinous notes. A bit too effervescent, but after several years, that may dissipate, that bitterness settle down--should be very worthwhile as a cellar beer. Balance is reminiscent to me of young Hardy’s.

Bottled at Monk’s Café Wallingatan, Stockholm. Brownish amber, almost no head. Thick caramel covered in a wealth of wood. Mid-sweet with full body and cottony soft mouthfeel. Warming and flavourful with caramel, spun sugae, oak and vanilla. Light salty finish. Well balanced, mellow and malty.

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.

Bottle. Pours mahogany, red, with a very little thin white head. Aroma is strong caramel, peat, alcohol. Flavor is smooth, caramel, rye, alcohol is hidden well, also a little hint of chocolate, toffee, bread. Excellent

12 oz bottle. Deep amber in color with a nice off white head. Malty whiskey like aroma. Oaky vineous notes. Fruity malty sweet flavor. Finish is woody. Full bodied. Very drinkable.

This old ale pours a deep cooper color from a from a 12oz bottle. Small sized white foamy head. Aroma is woody and malty with hints of oak and bourbon. A medium to full bodied old ale. Malts are caramel, peat and oak. Hops are earthy and slightly bitter. Lots of bourbon and oak flavors. Big alcohol bite, but it seems to work in this beer. Very smooth. Nice balance. Interesting old ale. This one will age and mellow nicely I think. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is dry and crisp. Aftertaste is slightly sweet with a lingering alcohol bite.

12 oz bottle. Not much head but the aroma you can smell at arms reach. At first I thought the aroma is scotch but it really is whiskey, maybe too much so. Almost like it’s spiked with it. The body is spot on and the flavor is just a bit too boozy. I’ll age a bottle for a decande or so and see what happens.

12 oz. bottle. Rich and malty smell upon opening. Low-proof whiskey character, but not too heady. Pours somewhat muddy brown, with a weak head that’s gone in a minute. But a fine taste indeed. Whiskey again, with caramel and Sugar Babies in support. Don’t go looking for hop character here, if you’ve held this for any length of time (this bottle about 6 months old), it’s been reduced to a small supporting role. Grpe juice, prune and blackberry impressions around the sticky, almost gooey brew. May be a bit too sticky for some, especially on this hot August Night (Neil Diamond reference; how postmodern of me). But it’ll be well worth waiting for winter to open the other bottles.