Founders Curmudgeon's Better Half - Founders Brewing Company

JizackFH

New York

4.98/5  rDev +15%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Review #600

A - This beer pours a nice mahogany red color that glows when held to the light. There is a little more than a finger of slightly off-white head resting on top. The head has pretty good retention, and it leaves behind just a few specs of lace on the glass.

S –The nose is of maple syrup and bourbon aromas. There is some roasted malt, as well as a nice amount of dark fruits. I am getting some Raisin, Fig, plum, and some cherry. There are also some aromas of caramel, candied sugar, vanilla, molasses, brown sugar, and some booze. It is a very complex and delightful nose.

T – The taste follows the nose. It starts off with some sweet caramel and dark fruit flavors. I am tasting plum, fig, and raisin. There is definitely some sweet maple syrup flavor coming through. Also, I am getting some caramel, toffee, molasses, and vanilla. There is a very mild hop presence here as well. There is a little bit of booziness in the taste, but it tastes no where near 11.9%. In the finish all the flavors seem to come through and linger for a moment or two. There are a lot of flavors going on here, very complex.

M – This has a medium body and lower carbonation. It goes down easy and has a smooth rich feel to it. There is also a bit of a chewy quality to it. There is a big sweetness here, but there is some balance to it from a mild hop presence and maybe a little roasted malt. There is some boozy warmth in the finish that slightly warms all the way down to your belly. I think this is a perfect feel for this beer.

O – This has awesome drinkability. It is definitely a sipper, but it is just delicious and hard to put down. It is a big malty sweet slightly boozy wonderful old ale. Overall, it is just an awesome beer, and an excellent example of this style. This is just a nearly perfect beer for me. I highly recommend trying it if you find it. I really wish I would have been able to find another bottle so I could share it with people that couldn’t find one. I will definitely but this again If I get the chance.

Serving type: bottle

02-27-2012 12:20:07 | More by JizackFH

Mitchill

Kentucky

4.98/5  rDev +15%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Had this on tap at New Albanian's gravity head and was great then on the way home stopped at my local beer store and found a bottle needless to say I bought one. Appearance was much like the color of maple syrup, golden brown. Smell was great, bourbon accompanied by the usual Curmudgeon fragrance. Taste was great dark fruits, sweetness but not too cloying, vanilla, bourbon, coconut and then after it warmed a bit i got the maple with it all detected the creaminess of this beer. Definitely world class glad i got too try it and still have one left to age a bit longer

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2012 03:12:00 | More by Mitchill

JustinMatthew

Pennsylvania

4.98/5  rDev +15%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

On tap at South Philly Tap Room and Poured to a wine glass. Amber color, good head and lacing.

Smell is all barrel qualities.. Vanilla, coconut, bourbon, some oak, brown sugar and maple syrup.

Taste is fantastic.. incredibly sweet and candy like. Bourbon barrel qualities.. oak, vanilla, coconut. Good bit of butterscotch and caramel coming through. I would love to see Founders do a barrel blend with this and some KBS.. im convinced it would be one of the worlds best beers.

Warming and delicious beer, the tap version was fresh.. i have a bottle im looking to open after one year and rotting my teeth out.

Serving type: on-tap

08-08-2012 21:58:20 | More by JustinMatthew

FeDUBBELFIST

Pennsylvania

4.98/5  rDev +15%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

$18 for the 750nL, served slightly chilled in a tulip
Sampled 05NOV12

[A] From a slowly glugging pour, less than a finger of light tan head rises. Retention is average but a creamy film and foamy collar remain until the end if the glass. The tiny bubbles move slowly through the noticeably thick medium amber colored body. Straggles of lacing cling to the glass in unpredictable fashion.

[S] At this age, just above a hint of maple syrup sweetness remains on the nose. The bourbon barrel character is simply amazing. The subtlety is refined, blending perfectly with the more complex notes of of oak, brown sugar, caramel, butter, a drop of vanilla & the right amount of alcohol.

[T] I assume that the molasses fermented out completely because it is undetectable to my senses - and I'm usually adverse to it. I do, however, pick up on some modestly dark sugar flavors on the back end of the palate at warmer temperatures, but they are much closer to buttery caramel than molasses.

[M] Overall sweetness is balanced by a tannic oakiness at midpalate and a shot of dryness right before the residual sweetness resumes. A pleasant alcoholic warmth begins in the belly and slowly rises to the tongue. "Heat" is not a practical consideration. Effervescence is appropriately low, creating a rich, thick, tongue lathering texture. Soft and plush. Just glorious.

[O] A fresher bottle put out stronger maple aroma and flavor, but the mouthfeel at 9 months (or so) now has little to no room for improvement. And since the maple *is* still lingering, it's a trade-off I'll take any day of the week. What else can I say? This is my kind of beer.

Serving type: bottle

12-27-2012 13:52:21 | More by FeDUBBELFIST

BeerFMAndy

Wisconsin

5/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

750 ml capped bottle poured into a Founders CBS snifter.
11.9% ABV, no date found.

A - Pouring colored like maple syrup, the beer is a sexy rusted hull ruby color that's fairly hazy. Frothy ivory foam caps the beer. Great retention for the large alcohol percent leaves tiny patches of lace on the glass. Legs that would make ZZ Top's collective heads spin drape down the snifter post swirl.

S - I'm momentarily rendered speechless by this aroma... Voluptuous, smooth-as-velvet maple and bourbon turn into sanded, fresh oak and gooey caramel. Hints of molasses-draped white grape and candied almond pop through the intensely malty old ale. Curmudgeon's Better Half finishes with a warm solvent touch of alcohol.

T - Almost completely unique from the aroma, Better Half transforms, equally amazingly, in flavor. Smooth maple syrup is sticky sweet with melted caramel cube and faint wood hints. Low fruit undertones complete the complex ensemble though the alcohol phenols.

M - Softer than a baby's bum, smoother than velvet, almost creamy but not cloying or syrupy in it's abundant sweetness, the balance is unsurpassed. Medium-full in body, Curmudgeon's Better Half has a seemingly endlessly lingering finish that's just a touch dry. Warming alcohol remains present throughout but for how fresh and how large the percent is, Curmudgeon's Better Half is surprisingly mellow.

O - What's there too say that hasn't already been said? Founders flawlessly ages their malty old ale in perfect maple bourbon barrels to create one of the smoothest, most complex...well, best beers the world has ever seen.

If there's one thing I take pride in, it's my objection for feeding a hype-train. Especially when it's a large, barrel aged beer hype-train. Additionally, it's not often that I deem a beer perfect. Therefor, I find it important to note that there really isn't a single aspect of Curmudgeon's Better Half (CBH - coining it!) that I would change. If you can find this beer, do NOT hesitate to get a bottle.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2012 01:32:46 | More by BeerFMAndy

chromemittenman

Michigan

5/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

I have had this in bottles as well and on tap at Founders and at a bar 3/18/12.

The color is deceiving to me, I expected darker...however, the flavor waiting in the glass is out of this world.

The smell...it is apparent immediately that the famed Bourbon Barrel Maple Syrup process was used.

Boozy...Yes please...it doesn't hide the fact it is aged in Bourbon barrels.

When I got it poured, I ordered a small 4 oz glass of another beer to let this warm, the warmer it got, the more incredible it became.

I hate to say it, but I would have to say this beer is neck and neck with CBS, if not better IMO.

Serving type: bottle

03-22-2012 00:48:23 | More by chromemittenman

KWacker

Ohio

5/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Had on tap at The Beverage Source in Newark, Ohio Founders tasting. Served in a tulip glass.

Wow! This beer is hands-down one of the finest I've ever had. Sweet, malty, and at 11.9% it packs a wallop!
A - Poured about inch or so of head that thins without too much lacing. Nice amber color
S - Big time malts with definite hints of caramel, vanilla, maple, and bourbon.
T - Sweetness hits first, but fades quickly as the 11.9% kicks in and you pick up the bourbon in there. Amazing and clean finish with little to no burn. Smooth as can be. Vanilla and maple hints linger back.
M - Pretty well bodied with light cabonation
O - If you see it, get it. I drove 40 minutes to have this one and would go further if I had to. Also enjoyed the Breakfast Stout and KBS on draft and I'd choose Curmudgeon's Better Half over both. Awesome job Founder's!

Serving type: on-tap

03-22-2012 19:51:22 | More by KWacker