Founders Backwoods Bastard - Founders Brewing Company

TheBrewo

Michigan

4.2/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

We pop the top and pour a brew of deep, reddish mahogany. It holds a brief, half finger tall head of cake batter colored bubbles, despite the hardest pour we could muster. This leaves dots of lacing around the glass. A bit of a head comes back with a hearty swirl, to ring the glass. There is a moderate chill haze, no sediment, and highly active carbonation. The nose is strong with huge diacetyls, big bourbon, and fusel booze. The oak mixes nicely, adding warmth alongside the alcohol, and the biting bourbon flavoring. The malts are sweet, with caramel, and a light roast. Banana esters add sweetness to the oaky woodiness, which helps to cut the massiveness of the booze. Our first impression is that that the diacetyls and bourbon are huge, and glorious. As we sip, sweet bourbon, sweet oak, melted caramel sugars, and booze hit the palate. These are quickly brushed away by a mixing from the richest buttery diacetyls. The middle peaks with more souring oak notes, helping to quickly balance the sweetness from the very beginning. Fusel booze breaks through to pull us to the finish, where the bourbon takes on a more steely, vanilla vibe, bringing some sweetness back, but also cooling the palate down a bit. Otherwise, we are nicely balanced, with strong booziness blending with sweeter grain, and rich butters. The aftertaste breathes of soured yeast and grain, strong bourbon flavoring, those same rich diacetyls, light fusel booze, and caramel sugars. The body is full, and the carbonation is medium. Each sip shows nice slurp, smack, and glug, with less cream or froth than hoped for. There is stickiness to the lips, and the belly grumbles with warmth. The mouth is initially coated with sweetness, but eventually dries with a light astringency. The abv is big, and catches up to you quickly, but the beer sips easy on account of how damn smooth it is.

Overall, what we enjoyed most about this brew was the pop from the bourbon right off the bat with the first sip. Throughout the sip the flavoring stays very smooth, and relatively uniform. This is both good and bad. On the one hand, you get this great, rich, buttery, sweet bourbon flavoring for the entire sip. On the other hand, however, there are really no surprises. You’re waiting for something insane to kick in, but they kind of pull all their stops at the instant the beer touches your mouth. Really, this isn’t a complaint, as we found this beer to be delicious, and another homerun for Founders. The insane bourbon nose and flavoring makes this guy a contender amongst barreled beers, despite the style.

Serving type: bottle

11-13-2012 04:07:09 | More by TheBrewo

Dpayne

Michigan

4.5/5  rDev +4.2%

05-23-2013 00:54:58 | More by Dpayne

stooge

Michigan

5/5  rDev +15.7%

05-22-2013 05:40:53 | More by stooge

mikeincharleston

South Carolina

4.25/5  rDev -1.6%

05-22-2013 00:57:50 | More by mikeincharleston

Burt

Rhode Island

4/5  rDev -7.4%

05-21-2013 22:38:08 | More by Burt

VirginiaJeff1

Virginia

4.75/5  rDev +10%

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Busker

Connecticut

4.5/5  rDev +4.2%

05-21-2013 18:03:35 | More by Busker

CosmoHopHead

Kansas

4/5  rDev -7.4%

05-21-2013 04:47:17 | More by CosmoHopHead

ackeeper

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +4.2%

05-21-2013 01:49:49 | More by ackeeper

IpeeA

Missouri

4.25/5  rDev -1.6%

05-20-2013 21:56:54 | More by IpeeA

BeerForMuscle

New Jersey

4.5/5  rDev +4.2%

05-20-2013 20:59:24 | More by BeerForMuscle

PlayitAgain

New York

4.75/5  rDev +10%

05-20-2013 02:57:47 | More by PlayitAgain

eyeenjoybeer

Indiana

4/5  rDev -7.4%

05-20-2013 02:12:33 | More by eyeenjoybeer

assman79

Wisconsin

4.75/5  rDev +10%

05-20-2013 01:52:07 | More by assman79

Ctrauty

Minnesota

3.75/5  rDev -13.2%

05-20-2013 01:36:21 | More by Ctrauty

JVoyager

Michigan

3.75/5  rDev -13.2%

05-20-2013 00:20:09 | More by JVoyager

JReites

Florida

4.25/5  rDev -1.6%

05-19-2013 22:40:46 | More by JReites

TreeBeard

Ohio

4.75/5  rDev +10%

05-19-2013 20:39:26 | More by TreeBeard

everettsbeerguy

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +4.2%

05-19-2013 18:34:26 | More by everettsbeerguy

Alextricity

Michigan

4.05/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On-tap at the World Expo of Beer in Frankenmuth, Michigan.

Appearance: Darkness. A few bubbles on top, no lacing, and just a pitch black beer -- about what I expected this beer to look like.

Smell: Huge scotch and oak aromas... maybe some dark sort of chocolate malt notes, but mainly oaky scotch.

Taste: A couple people I was with claimed it tasted like liquid smoke and dumped it out, but I quite enjoyed this one -- it tastes almost exactly like it smells. It drinks almost like straight scotch with some warming on the finish, but there isn't a HUGE alcohol sort of flavor. The finish is also woody with some dark chocolate and malt to round it all out.

Quite good, and I think it's awesome that Founders chose to put some truly great stuff on-tap at the World Expo of Beer.

Serving type: on-tap

05-19-2013 17:00:21 | More by Alextricity

ShawnMH

Indiana

4.25/5  rDev -1.6%

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mecummins

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +4.2%

05-19-2013 01:30:51 | More by mecummins

NJB145

Michigan

4.75/5  rDev +10%

05-19-2013 01:16:38 | More by NJB145

jakeox

Illinois

4/5  rDev -7.4%

05-18-2013 23:49:20 | More by jakeox

GinsuDave

Michigan

5/5  rDev +15.7%

05-18-2013 01:13:04 | More by GinsuDave