Founders Deca

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

Happy Tenth Anniversary, Founders! Many more!
Even an aggressive pouring doesn’t raise much of a head over this hazy brown ale. Less than a finger of creamy ecru suds appears, then soon becomes an incomplete ring around the glass. The aroma is toffee and heavy spicing, ginseng and ginger and a shake or two of pepper. It tastes even sweeter, rich toffee and some caramel & buttescotch, tempered by a lot of spices, some aniseed being added to what was previously noted. Pretty good, but I doubt I’ll be repeating it.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Lakeview Liquors, Chicago, IL<font size=-1>

Dark copper to umber color with a hint of rudy when held to the light. Small but stable khaki colored head. With the first sniff thoughts of Old Curmudgeon come to mind. Lots of malt with brown sugar and caramel. Rather large doses of fruit; with plums, figs and hints of citrus. I also catch a bit of bourbon vanilla. This smells like the start of my type of barley wine. Sooth and oily on the palate. For a fresh bottle this is remarkable smooth tasting. Not nearly as hot as many of the bottles hitting the market at this time. Yes it does have a mild burn, but that is derived from the strength rather than a green hopped monster. Again lots of malt and nice flavors of toffee, light anise, cloves, hints of ginger and green apples. Seems to get spicier and has additional belgian ale qualities as it warms. It is actually starting to get a bit overbearing the closer I get to the end of the glass (the other half of the bottle will wait for later). I can see this one really getting mellow and smooth for a cold winter night in the next year or two.

Draft sample at MBGF07. Poured hazy brown color with a large fizzy brown head that was mostly lasting with fair lacing. Deep sour citrus and spice aroma. Medium to full body with a sticky texture. Medium scotchy bittersweet flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderated duration. Refreshing complex beer.

Bottle. Thanks to john_adam2002 for this one. Pours a dark amber brown color with a small off-white head. Spicy yeasty malty aroma with hints ofcaramel and hops. Sweetish malty bitter hoppy yeasty dark fruit flavor with some spicy hints. Long sweetish malty spicy alcoholic finish with some hoppy hints. I like this one, thanks again Adam!

Bottle from Capone’s. The pour was deep brownsih ruby with 2-fingers of khaki head that stayed around for a long time and reappeared with each repour (and it took me 3 or 4 repours to get through this due to the lively head retention), forming odd head shapes and leaving a solid amount of lacing for such a massive brew. The aroma was intense, initially very Dreadnaughty, with tons of caramel malt, hops, tropical fruit, figgy fruit, raisins, berries, and slight funky and spicy notes. As it warmed, the aroma subdued on the hops and acquired a greater malt presence, showing scotch aley wafts of aroma, with the figgy fruit and berries emerging as the hops took a back seat. The flavors were caramel malt up front, with a solid hop bill that paired well with the massive malt bill. As it warmed, I also noted brown sugary figgy fruit and black raspberry, followed by the hops hitting your throat like a ton of bricks, leading to a scotchy malty finish that never lost the tropical and figgy fruit flavor. The palate was very complex, very hefty, with equally massive parts of hops, malt, and fruitiness, and the malt and hops were perfectly in balance throughout. At 13% ABV, this beer is gigantic, but I never tasted any alcohol burn at all, and I sat with this one over an hour on my porch while savoring a Rocky Patel vintage 1990 cigar. I love this beer. This is another great brew from Founders, and a great way to brew a beer for your 10th anniversary.

Thanks for sharing, Duane. The body was brown and ruby with a khaki colored head. The aroma was caramel with some sweet pancakes and cinnamon. The taste had caramel with some notes of iced tea. There was also some walnuts. Nice.

MiBGF 07: My last rating from the fest, great time! This beer has a deep reddish amber color with a lasting frothy beige head. The nose detected sweet spices (coriander and ginger root), sweet malts (caramel and special B), vinous and liquor vapours, plum and star fruit, and an overall Belgian yeast ester.

The taste starts quite spicy and sweet with a heavy dose of Belgium character scattered about. I picked at various points of the tasting hints of peat moss, sour apple, butterscotch candy, and some bakers chocolate. The mouth feel is soft and even a tad refreshing for something so big. While the alcohol is noticed it is surprisingly not an interference. This is a good brew, interesting and unique. Let’s see what happens to it when I age my bottle.

Sampled at guest table during Dark Lord Days ’08. From 22-oz bomber pours a semi-hazy copper amber brew with a thin off-white head that quickly dissipates to a thin ring and very little lacing. Aroma of medicinal herbs, dried yeast, some faint sweet caramel malt, and a touch of vanilla. Taste is medium to full bodied, light carbonated, heavy on the alcohol with flavors of dark pitted fruits, some yeast, dried multi-grain malt and some herbal spice. Finish is slightly metallic from the high alcohol with a dry and bitter malt aftertaste that lingers after the finish. I’d share this one during the winter months any day.