Founders Deca

Formerly brewed at Founders Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Grand Rapids, Michigan USA

Serve in Lager glass, Tumbler

Amber with a thin white head. Very malt forward with plenty of fruit in the aroma. Flavor had some weird noes like minty mouthwash, and bubblegum. I also got beets in this one. Very odd finish, very odd beer, but i worked in the small sample I had.

22 oz bottle, cellared almost 2 years. Dense tawny brown, clear edges, hazy slick. Nose is caramel, cedar and nutmeg. Smooth medium body; sticky but not dripping. Muted carb gently tickles the tongue. This is indeed a malt bomb. Somewhere between mead and barleywine with winter spicing. Taste is maple, caramel, dates, cardamon and candied orange peel. Dry earthy finish with bitter almond. I’m a sucker for a super sweet brew. Quite tasty.

bottle, purchased 2 years ago and cellared since i heard the beer was super hot. the amount of nuttiness in this beer was insane. pistachio and rose, all over. here are my notes: "plum hazy. minimal quickly dissipating head. alcohol from a mile away. cotton candy, malt, belgian esters, pretty wild aroma. tastes like alcohol, winey, cotton candy. dark rotten fruit, rose, and pistachio. so much rose and pistachio. thick and syrupy. kinda tastes like india. i like it a decent amount.

22 oz bomber. Pours a nice chestnut color with hardly any head. Damn this is a great, great beer. Closer to a barleywine than the spice herb veggie beer. Aroma is complex and full of caramel, brown sugar, dark agave nectar, and a very slight hint of hops. Flavor is sweet with tons of toffee, caramel, some fruit, full mouthfeel and a very tiny hit of hops as the end. Man I want more of this and NOW!!

22oz bomber courtesy of 2277jf poured into a snifter. Pours a dark, clear reddish cola brown with hints of amber when held up to the light. There is a small bubbly head that recedes to a thin ring and leaves no lacing. The aroma is dominated by candied fruits and caramel malts but there is definitely a slight spice burn, especially as it warms. When it does, there is plenty of pepper, cinnamon and maybe some ginger. The taste has a big full sweetness up front dominated by dark fruits, especially raisins and plums. This is complemented by a huge caramel malt base before the spices really take off in the finish, leaving the tongue burning a bit with some pepper and other unidentifiable spices. The mouthfeel is on the fuller side of things and almost thick on the palate with tons of sweetness coating the mouth with only the softest of carbonation complementing things. A very sweet barleywine with only the faintest of hop presence but with a massive spice profile that really mixes things up, especially in the taste. Big thanks to Josh for the opportunity to try this one.

Nice. Pours a dark reddish brown with a thin head and minimal lacing. Aroma is strong malt and candy, lots of carmel and toffee and sugar plums. Flavor is everything you’d expect from the aroma, but with lots of mellowed out hops, cream, and more malt. Very spicey on the backend. Big and bold all around. Similar to what Behemoth is with age on it. Tasty.

Pours dark ruby brown in color. There is a bit of a frothy ring of head around the perimeter of the glass. Smell is huge and robust. Plenty of toffee and caramel malts. Just the way a barleywine should be. Taste is more of the abundance of toffee and malt. Just a hint of hops in the end. Perfect balance to round out the beer. Huge and viscous mouthfeel. This has all the qualities of a world class barleywine. Everything that I look for in a barleywine. The ABV is so well hidden that I can not believe it. My only complaint is that this was an anniversary beer and not a regular offering. Founders seriously needs to consider making this at least as a seasonal.

<b>7/28/2007</b>: Founder’s Deca is very dark amber in color with ruby-colored highlights. It has a dense, frothy, ivory head. The aroma is caramel and citrus and reminds me of many of the Lagunitas beers. But back to this beer... The flavor is very vegetable-like at first with allspice in it. It is strong, sweet, and malty with caramlized malt domination. It has a medium-full body. I was expecting something totally different from this beer, but it is still very interesting. A sample of this was fine with me and a glass would have been the limit. I’m not too sure about drinking an entire bomber myself though...

<i>Sample from 22 fl. oz. bottle (13% Alc/Vol) shared at the "Columbus Tasting: Ate, now with gramatical errors" event. Thanks! Rating #130 for this beer...</i>