Founders

Founders Porter

by

Just who is that lovely lady on the label of this beer? Looks like a Victorian era painting… According to Founders, she’s Dark, Rich, and Sexy. Or maybe that’s the beer they’re talking about…

Founders Porter

Founders Porter – Pours a dark brown color with a finger of tan head. Smells strongly of roasted malts, with some coffee and maybe even chocolate thrown in for good measure. Really nice nose. Taste starts sweet, maybe with some of that chocolate, but it gets drowned out by a heaping helping of roasted malts and coffee flavors starting in the middle and intensifying through the finish. A bitterness (which seems to come from more than hops, perhaps from those dark malts, with all their coffee and dark chocolate character) emerges in the finish as well. This ain’t an imperial stout or anything, but it packs a ton of flavor in a relatively small package. Mouthfeel is well carbonated and reasonably full, and it finishes dry. Overall, while porter is not one of my favorite styles, this is exceptionally well executed and one of my favorite examples of the style. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 6.5% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a snifter on 3/24/12.

Several months ago, I had bought a Founders variety pack, so I had a few of these floating around. At first, I didn’t care for it, but it quickly grew on me, and now I feel like it could be a go-to beer in some instances. Another thing I’ve found is that this beer goes really well with a good cigar. I’m no cigar expert and don’t smoke them very often, but those roasted malt flavors match quite nicely with, uh, smokey flavors from the cigar.

Anyways, I’m thinking that Founders is one of the all-around best breweries in the country, and while I’ve had my fair share of their standard beers, I should really seek out some of the more obscure stuff and seasonal releases.

Founders Red’s Rye PA

by

Founders, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, seems to be one of those bedrock breweries. They make a ton of styles, and they knock them all out of the park, including this rye beer. I’m pretty sure this is the first of that style I ever had. I don’t know who “Red” was, but I presume he’s the guy on the label and that he loves him some rye. And hops.

Founders Reds Rye

Founders Red’s Rye PA – Pours a brownish amber color with a finger of light head that leaves lots of lacing as I drink. Smell is all hopped up (citrusy and floral), with some caramel malt and maybe some of that rye as well… Taste has some caramel malt along with a heaping helping of citrus and earthy, floral hops and a well matched bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel is smooth and easy to drink for a beer with this much flavor. Overall, a damn fine beer! B+

Beer Nerd Details: 6.6% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a snifter on 2/5/12.

I wouldn’t say that my palate is particularly attuned to rye, though I seem to be able to pick it out in the aroma better than the taste. The same went for the Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye I had earlier this week… But I’m interested to try more rye beer. And at this point, I’m always willing to sample something new from Founders.

Oak Aged Double Feature

by

Continuing the Oak Aged posting this week, here I’ve got two big Oak Aged beers, matched with gorgeous but flawed films. First up, Tarsem Singh’s Immortals, a horribly scripted Greek mythology story that is nonetheless worth watching for some wonderful, stylized action sequences and Tarsem’s trademark visual style (a feast for the eyes!) Next, I watched Terrence Malick meditative The Tree of Life, a non-narrative fever dream, again gorgeously photographed and mesmerizing, but going on for way too long and, odd as it may be to say this, too much dialogue (and there’s not really much dialogue in the movie, but what’s there is kinda insipid). Very pretty movies, both, but also flawed. The beers I drank to match were big and flavorful.

Founders Backwoods Bastard

Founders Backwoods Bastard – Does the backwoods bastard pictured on the label look like Gandalf the Grey to anyone else? No? I’m the only nerd here? Great. Anyway, you don’t see this style of beer, a Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy, aged in barrels very often (or, uh, ever – this is the only one I’m aware of*). This beer actually starts out as Founders’ year-round brew, Dirty Bastard, which is then aged in old bourbon barrels, bringing up the ABV and imparting the usual complexity of bourbon barrel notes. Pours a dark, deep brown color with very little head. Aroma is full of bourbon and oak, with some of that underlying scotch ale character coming out. Taste starts with sweet malts, followed by a big wallop of boozy bourbon and oak. Ends with a surprisingly dry finish (well, not super dry, but more dry than I would have expected). The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied – not as heavy as I was expecting, which makes this very easy to drink. I wouldn’t say the booze is hidden, but it’s not as powerful as the ABV would suggest, which is interesting. Overall, a really good beer, something I’d like to try again, but also something that could probably use some additional aging to marry the flavors together a little more. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 10.5% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a tulip on 11/12/11.

Avery Samael Ale

Avery Samael’s Oak Aged Ale – Back in the day, when I first started posting things on the internet, message boards were all the rage. Along with that came the use of handles, basically online nicknames people took for themselves. I’ve since grown out of that fad**, but there are still some folks I met back in the 1990s message boards that I think of by their handles, rather than their real names. One such person is my friend Roy, who I always knew as Samael (which is also apparently the name of the prince of demons, but whatever). As such, during my recent Texas excursion, I saw this beer and had to have it, despite not being a native Texas beer (it’s not something I’ve seen around these parts though, so it’s still something mildly ungettable for me). So I got one and greedily smuggled it back to PA***.

It pours a deep brown color with minimal head. Smell is full of dark fruitiness and caramel, with just a little of the vanilla oak flavor. Caramel flavors dominate the taste, along with a heaping helping of booze. The oak and vanilla is there too. As it warms, dark fruity notes emerge. Really complex stuff here, though not particularly well balanced. Mouthfeel is full bodied and rich, with a sticky finish. A really big alcohol presence here, a little on the harsh side. Overall, it’s a very good beer, but like the Backwoods Bastard, I’m thinking this one would benefit from some aging in order to let all the intricate flavors to balance each other out. When it’s this young, it’s a little too hot to handle, maybe even a bit cloying towards the end, though still enjoyable. B

Beer Nerd Details: 15.31% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a tulip on 11/12/11. Bottles released in April 2011 (batch no. 7)

A theme seems to be emerging from a lot of barrel aged beers I’ve had lately, which is that they could probably use some more time to mature. The complex marriage of flavors that makes a barrel aged beer great seem to be difficult to balance, though when it’s done right, it’s a big revelation. That being said, I generally enjoy even these young versions, so it’s not like you won’t be seeing any more barrel aged beer reviews (indeed, one more already in the pipeline, and several more in my basement that I might just let sit for a while). I’m also really interested to see how Dark Intrigue matures, given that it seemed pretty well balanced to me on its first day of release…

* Not that I’m an expert on the style, but still.

** My handle was tallman, a reference to a cheesy but cherished 70s horror film that I was in love with at the time (and still am, to a degree). And no, I’m not very tall.

*** Using the same giddy packing techniques I did for that Wytchmaker beer. I’m still amused at the prospect of becoming a bootlegger.

August Beer Club

by

Today was beer club! Due to various factors, the variety of beer was somewhat limited this month, but there was still plenty of merriment to be had, and when we got to the BYOB restaurant, we saw this sign out front:

Free Beer!

Certainly a good omen! Apparently the restaurant had some Lager, but since they had no liquor license, they were just giving it away for free. Score! There was no real theme for the month, but we did end up with about 7 different beers (not including the free Yuengling) as well as some wine, cider and homemade Limoncello (unpictured, but it was very sweet and incredibly alcoholic!) Here’s a quick picture of what we had:

August Beer Club

(Click for bigger image)

As usual, tasting conditions were less than ideal, so take the following with a grain of salt (beers listed below are basically in order from left to right in the picture, not necessarily the order in which we drank them):

  • Victory Sunrise Weissbier – Hey, I’ve actually reviewed this before! A friend had been at the brewery lately, so they had picked up a growler of the stuff. It struck me as being somewhat better than the last time I had it, but I’ll leave it at a B-. Solid hefeweizen style beer, but not particularly special either.
  • My Homebrewed Saison – I know I mentioned this last time, but this is definitely my best homebrew yet, and the first that I think is truly good. Sweet, spicy, well carbonated and easy to drink, it came out really well. Indeed, I’d probably give this a B+ or maybe even an A-. I should really review my other homebrews, which I’d probably rate much lower.
  • Lancaster Milk Stout – Yep, I just reviewed this one too. I think the coffee flavors were more prominent this time around, but otherwise it’s pretty much the same. B+
  • Founders Dirty Bastard – Yet another beer I’ve reviewed before. Indeed, I’ve had a few of this since I originally reviewed it, and I do believe I like it better now than I did that first time. I had originally noted that there wasn’t any fruitiness in the flavor, but in the recent tastings, I’ve definitely gotten a really nice fruity quality out of this. Tonight I could also really taste the alcohol as well. It certainly wasn’t unpleasant, but I think it might have been a reflection of the other relatively low ABV beers of the night. B+
  • Samuel Adams Rustic Saison – A very light example of the style, though still very flavorful and smooth (looking at it now, I’m surprised it’s only 4.35% ABV), featuring a nice twang in the nose and taste that I couldn’t place, but which someone had mentioned might be honey. It’s not a beer that will melt your face or anything, but it’s definitely a quality brew and well worth a drink. At 4.35%, it would probably be a decent session beer as well. B
  • Samuel Adams East-West Kölsch – Not a style that typically fares well here at Kaedrin (or at beer club, for that matter), but this one was apparently brewed with Jasmine, and that addition really does make this a much more interesting beer than it would have otherwise been. Again, not setting the world on fire, but a quality brew that’s worth trying. B-
  • Cave Creek Chili Beer – When I first saw Aaron’s awesome video review of this beer, I thought he had to be exaggerating, but that first swig of this beer gave me that same, out-of-breath, it’s so spicy feeling. It was a really weird experience too – the spiciness seems to really hit at the back of your throat and tongue, but the rest of my mouth/tongue didn’t really pick anything up. And that spicy hot aftertaste didn’t go away either (I’m glad we opened this last). It was really, truly horrible. When you open the beer, it almost smells like you’ve opened one of those pepper bottles with the brine in it – overpowering chili pepper aromas and not much else. I can’t imagine drinking an entire bottle, and indeed, I could only really take a few sips of it. Unanimously the worst beer club beer ever. In some ways, I’m glad I got to try this, as it certainly is an experience. In another way, I really hope I don’t burp this up later tonight. F

Despite the fact that I’d had/reviewed half these beers before, I think it was another successful outing for the beer club. It’s looking like we might get a bonus beer club meet at The Whip in addition to our normal meetup next month. Score!

Julytful Beer Club

by

Get it? Julytful, like delightful! Eh, so yeah, good beer puns are sometimes hard to come by. Consider yourselves lucky, as a British attendee to this month’s beer club contributed this one, which superceded my initial thought of Brewly Beer Club (which isn’t the worst possible beer pun, but still pretty terrible). For the uninitiated, the beer club is basically just a bunch of folks from my work who get together once a month to enjoy a nice dinner together… along with lots of different beers and wines and other alcoholic wonders. A relatively small group of people this month, but lots of beer (thanks mostly to a club member who was just on vacation in Ohio recently, and thus was able to bring a bunch of beers we’ve never seen or heard of before!). Here’s what we had:

July Beer Club Beers

(Click for bigger image)

For reference, here are some brief thoughts on each. As usual, this isn’t exactly ideal tasting conditions, so take them with a grain of salt, but still… From left to right in the picture:

  • Troegs Dead Reckoning – Very nice porter. Roasty and smooth, but not overpowering. I’m not normally a huge fan of porters, but this one’s pretty decent. Not something that’s lighting the world on fire, but good in it’s own way. Unfortunately, it was probably overshadowed by a couple of stouts we had later in the tasting… I’ll give it a B
  • Ohio Brewing Verich Gold – A kolsch style ale that’s not particularly good. It reminded me of a typical Bud/Miller/Coors style beer, with a bit of a twang. It’s a beer that might be ok on its own, but when drank side-by-side with a bunch of other good beers, it just pales in comparison. I suppose it just ain’t my style of beer.. but then, it was also pretty much the unanimous worst beer of the night among beer club peeps. D
  • Thirsty Dog 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale – Probably the worst time of the year to drink a winter warmer style beer, but I quite enjoyed this spicy beer. It’s relatively dark, but not roasty. Very spicy with a full malt backbone. Some folks thought it was almost too spicy ,but I quite enjoyed this beer. B+
  • Great Lakes Holy Moses White Ale – Seriously one of the best Belgian wit beers I’ve ever had, rivaling the likes of Victory’s Whirlwind Wit and Ommegange’s Witte. Very effervescent, almost lemony, but with lots of balancing spiciness of the light variety (coriander, orange peel, etc..) Right up there at the top of the list for wheat beers. B+
  • Thirsty Dog Cerberus Belgian Tripel – Nice fancy foil packaging, with a beer to match. Extremely sweet and boozy, it’s a bit hot for the style, but very good. There was a bit of a twang to it that I could place, but which differentiated it from other examples of the style. Quite good. B+
  • Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA – I’ve had this beer a few times before… and have never really enjoyed it. It’s not particularly bad, but it’s definitely a victim of circumstances, as I always find myself trying one when I’ve already had much better beers. By the time I got to this tonight, it just wasn’t doing it for me. Again, not a bad IPA, but not particularly accomplished either. C+
  • Hoppin’ Frog B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher Oatmeal-Imperial Stout – We tried to drink the beers listed here from lightest to darkest, and this one ended up being the last beer of the night… and the best! Dark as night and seemingly thick, with a nice brownish head. Very sweet, chocolaty, and roasty, with a nice booziness apparent. A wonderful imperial stout. The name of the bear stands for “Bodacious Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout”, and it’s well worth the moniker. A-
  • Hoppin’ Frog Turbo Shandy – A shandy is normally a beer mixed with a citrus flavored soda like 7up or Sprite. Usually this is something that happens after the fact – a beer coctail, as it were. But some breweries release shandies right in the bottle… and in this case, the beer really does taste like a 7up/Sprite… Extremely sweet and crispt, maybe some lemony/lime feeling to it, and you can’t really even detect the relatively strong 7% ABV. Would perhaps make a good lawnmower beer, but not particularly something I’m all that interested in… C+
  • Rogue Shakespeare Stout – Another oatmeal stout, this one was second to last in the drinking order, and quite a solid example of the stile. Very chocolately, but with a surprising earthy feel to it. This is quite good, but not great. B+
  • Red’s Rye Pale Ale – I know next to nothing about Rye beer, but I have a few more of these in the fridge, so expect a full review in the nearish future. Initial impressions are quite positive.
  • My Homebrewed Saison – This actually turned out far better than I was expecting. It seemed to be a general success with the folks of beer club, and it’s the first beer I’ve made so far that I really enjoy drinking from start to finish. It’s very light in its way, but it makes up for that with some Belgian yeast spiciness and a nice hoppy aproma/taste character (though it’s not particularly bitter). My favorite batch so far. Makes me want to pour my last batch down the drain!

And that covers all the beer we had… Someone did bring a bottle of Australian wine, but they said they were a bit disappointed by it (no idea what it was called). Good times, as always, and I’m already looking forward to the next meetup.

Wee Heavy and Founders Dirty Bastard

by

I like Scotch, though I should also note that I’m certainly no expert. I pour myself a dram every now and again, and drink it slowly, attempting to pick out flavors. But then I read Water of Life and, to be honest, I don’t really perceive the distinctions of flavors the way they seem to… On the other hand, that’s how I felt about BeerAdvocate reviews up until about a year ago, when I started getting serious about this whole beer thing, so perhaps there’s hope for me yet.

In any case, those wily Scotts do more than make great whisky*. There’s a whole continuum of Scottish ales, ranging from light to heavy strength and historically designated in shillings (which at some point corresponded to a price of a barrel, but the specifics seem unclear). The strengths roughly correspond to the strengths of English bitter, though at the higher end, things get a little more confusing. At higher alcohol levels (approx. 6% and higher), the beer is simply called a Scotch Ale or a “Wee Heavy”. The origin of the phrase “Wee Heavy” is a bit difficult to pin down, but as near as I can tell it refers to the historical serving size of 6 fluid ounces (about 1/3 of an imperial pint). A “wee” glass of “heavy” ale, as it were.

Because Scotland is further north and because of their… complicated… relationship with England**, these beers have some interesting historical characteristics. The cooler climate was not that conducive to growing hops, which meant that they needed to import them from England. As such, Scottish ales were generally lightly hopped. Tee hee. The lower temperatures also impact fermentation, meaning that these beers display less in the way of fruity or spicy flavors. Add all this together, and what you’ve got is a beer that emphasizes the malt (while yeast and hops generally take a back seat), sometimes even featuring peat and smoke, which seems appropriate for the land of Scotch whisky.

Of course, these days, the historical style isn’t quite as rigid and Scottish brewers seem to be doing some interesting things (particularly BrewDog, who certainly don’t seem to be very opposed to importing hops!) and of course, us American heretics are having our way with the style. Enter Founders’ take:

Founders Dirty Bastard

Founders Dirty Bastard – Pours a deep reddish brown (mahogany!) color. Very dark, almost opaque, but when held up to light, you can see the red colors getting through. They head is very small and dissipates quickly. Smell is very distinctive. Despite my babbling above, I’m not very familiar with the style, but it seems to be appropriate for Scotch Ales, except perhaps for a tiny smattering of grassy hop aromas, which I understand are a bit unusual. Taste has a similar distinctive scotch ale flavor. Very sweet (but not fruity) with some light roastiness (or is that smoke?) in the finish. It almost tastes like something from the Bock family or maybe a European barley-wine. Some earthy hops are present, but it’s subtle and not very bitter (despite the 50 IBUs which, again, is a bit high for the style, though certainly not enough to overwhelm the ample malt backbone and sweetness of the beer). Full bodied with light but appropriate carbonation – surprisingly easy to drink. For a strong beer, the alcohol is very well hidden. In the end, it’s rich, complex and tasty. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 8.5% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank from a tulip glass. Drank on 3/19/11 (Totally caught up on reviews now!)

I will make arrangements to try more of this style, though none are in the pipeline at the moment. I think, perhaps, some double features are in order here though, perhaps even mixing with some Scotch whisky to see if I can start to pick out some of the more subtle similarities.

* Also worth noting: Scottish Breakfast Tea, which apparently has a complementary flavor profile. Perhaps I can do a full day’s worth of Scottish beverages: Scottish Breakfast Tea in the morning, some Scotch Ale with lunch and dinner, and a Scotch Whisky nightcap. Sounds like a good day to me.

** I should probably make some sort of William Wallace joke here. Or maybe a Mel Gibson joke. But that would be too easy***.

*** And by “too easy”, I mean that I had already written the grand majority of this post before I realized the Wallace/Gibson angle and don’t feel like fitting it into the post right now. Irony!****

**** Also, I’ve apparently been listening to Scottish hip hop for the past half hour or so. Go figure. Also of note: blatant abuse of asterisks.

Double Feature: Animated Stouts

by

Does TRON: Legacy count as an animated film? There is certainly a ton of animation in the film. Even some of the supposedly “human” characters are animated (notably the pre-disappearance Flynn and CLU), albeit sometimes poorly (you can see that uncanny valley effect quite clearly on a couple of occasions). Well anyway, I went in with very low expectations that were thus met. It was entertaining and pretty to look at, and the music was awesome, which is about all I could ask of it. This iRi post gets at one of the things I really like about TRON (the way the grid seems so alien), but I have to say that the effects described in that post are probably less pronounced in the sequel (in particular, I was disappointed by the light-bikes). The other film of my double-feature (and the only one I was actually drinking during) was Despicable Me, which had a few really funny moments (and I love the minions), but which is ultimately nothing too special. As kids animation goes, it’s no Pixar, but it’s probably a step above average.

I’ve never really been a fan of Stouts and when I started this blog, one of the things I wanted to do was better familiarize myself with the style. I took a bit of a detour into Belgian Strong Darks during the holidays, so I have a bunch of Stouts that I’ve been buying that have been sitting in my fridge or on my shelf waiting. They’re certainly good winter beers, though I wouldn’t recommend drinking a stout while watching an animated kids movie. Kinda weird, actually, but that’s what I did:

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout – Pours an opaque black color with a small, relatively light colored head that leaves lots of lacing as I drink. Smells a bit on the roasty side with some nice maltiness coming through, maybe even some caramel. There’s only a very light roastiness in the taste though, which is instead dominated by rich chocolaty flavors, some of that caramel, and a solid malty sweetness. There’s some bitterness there too, but it’s dry, like dark chocolate. Indeed, this is almost like drinking a good dark chocolate. It’s a full bodied brew with surprisingly good carbonation given the small head and high alcohol, which makes one heck of a smooth, drinkable beer (a bit dangerous when it comes in at 10% alcohol!) I get the feeling that lesser breweries would totally screw something like this up. All of the complex elements here are very well balanced. As I said, I’m not much of a stout drinker, but this one is probably the best I’ve ever had. I don’t think that will last, but it’s still an impressive effort from Brooklyn (and my new favorite beer from that brewery). A

Beer Nerd Details: 10% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank from a pint glass.

Founders Breakfast Stout

Founders Breakfast Stout – Before I get into this one, a disclaimer: I don’t drink coffee. I wouldn’t say that I hate coffee, but I don’t particularly like it either. So while this beer is currently ranked on BA as the 7th best beer on the planet, I am not likely to enjoy it quite so much. So if one of my three readers happens to be a beer nerd, be forewarned, I’m gonna rate this one relatively low. Like the Brooklyn, it pours an opaque black color, with a bigger, darker colored but still light brown head. Some lacing apparent, but not as much as the Brooklyn. Smells much more roasty with some coffee thrown in for good measure. Now, I do usually like the smell of coffee, but this beer isn’t really doing much for me on that front, which I find odd. The taste is also dominated by roasty coffee flavors. There’s some malt sweetness there too, maybe chocolate, but it’s overpowered by the coffee. There’s a complexity in the taste, but I just can’t get past the coffee. As far as mouthfeel goes, it’s got good carbonation and a nice full body. A little less smooth than the Brooklyn stout, but still quite drinkable (assuming you like coffee). Really, this just ain’t my style of beer. I’m glad I tried it and it’s certainly not a poorly crafted beer, I just don’t like coffee… If you do, you’ll probably love it. B-

Beer Nerd Details: 8.3% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank from a pint glass.

So there you have it. I loved one and didn’t care for the other. I’m looking forward to some of the other stouts I have waiting in the wings though, including one from Stone and, given my taste it should not be surprising that I have some Belgian-style darks that are kinda pretending to be stouts, like Allagash Black and Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence (which says it’s a stout on the bottle, but is classified as a Belgian Dark on BA).