Founders Bolt Cutter - Founders Brewing Company

hardy008

Minnesota

4.18/5  rDev +3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Dark amber with a one finger off white head which has very good retention and lacing, especially for such a high abv beer. Smells like toffee, caramel, vanilla, alcohol, and citrus. Smells like this will be very sweet.

Tastes just like it smells. It is sweet with toffee, caramel, alcohol, citrus, and a little vanilla. There is enough hop bitterness to keep this beer from becoming too sweet. The alcohol is noticeable and warming, but there is no alcohol burn. Has very nice flavor, and is just about perfect for a cold winter night.

Full bodied with low carbonation, and a sweet aftertaste. Leaves the mouth feeling sticky. A nice big Barleywine from Founders.

Serving type: bottle

02-16-2013 03:39:45 | More by hardy008

CMUbrew

Michigan

3.94/5  rDev -3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Bottle poured into a Founders snifter

A: Muddy varnish brown, thin film for a head.

S: Scent of general hoppiness at fridge temperature. With minor warming, alcohol, oak, and bourbon notes come through while the hops become more subdued.

T: At fridge temp it's quite hoppy. With warming much more alcohol, bitter hops throughout, bourbon, oak, and booze in the finish. No maple syrup sadly. Lingering hops and booze, with even more warming it approaches some serious fusel alcohol levels. Vodka finish at close to room temperature.

M: Viscous, oily, slick. Borders on syrupy.

O: I think the flavors were blended quite well, but alcohol just overwhelmed everything as the beer went on, especially the tasty hop presence. I'm certainly not shy when it comes to strong drinks or big abvs, but I think this beer would have benefitted from staying at 11-12% abv (although I suppose that would remove the "15" aspect from this anniversary beer).

Serving type: bottle

02-13-2013 03:50:21 | More by CMUbrew

thedoubler55

New Jersey

4.41/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A: A transparent amber in color that leaves a nice fluffy off white head at the top, and very minimal lacing around the glass.

S: Lots of mape, bourbon and caramel up front, hints of brown sugar and barley, a nutty note on the tail end, for a barley wine not to much booze present.

T: Up front just like the nose, hints of vanilla and honey with slight sweetness from the brown sugar it seems, the booze is present but nothing crazy, a nice rum cake flavor as well on this one.

M: For the amount of booze it is not all that present, a warming brew, medium bodied slight carbonation and a bit of stickyness.

D: This brew was really good, I expected a lot from it and was not let down. Glad my liquor store held this one for me, very pleasant and great tasting, Thank you Founders!

Serving type: bottle

02-09-2013 18:53:10 | More by thedoubler55

jzeilinger

Pennsylvania

3.91/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

A - Pours a medium copper color with a nice creamy head that dies down fairly fast and leaves a thin and sticky layer and light carbonation.

S - Sweet caramel & toffee, hints of green apples, alcohol, bourbon, and some maple syrup presence. The aroma smells syrupy, bold, thick, and the alcohol smacks you in the nose.

T - The alcohol presence sure isn't shy and really is overpowering, especially on the first several sips until my palate finally adjusts to this big beer. Lots of bourbon, maple, and brown sugar up front with substantial burn on the way down. After several sips the throat adjusts and the burns calms down to being almost noticeable, but still present nonetheless. Lightly spicy and after a minute or so the cascades start to surface and coats the mouth with a layer of citrus.

M - The best aspect of this beer, it's thick and full bodied which is what I would expect from something this big. Sticky, lightly syrupy, slick, viscous and velvet smooth.

O - The first several sips are intimidating because the alcohol presence is so in your face, about 1/5 in it goes away and the other nuances start to come out. There is some nice complexity but the booziness can take too much of a front seat with this beer. It's also very warm in the beginning. I have a few bottles left and they're going straight to the cellar to see how this one develops in 10-12 months.

Serving type: bottle

02-08-2013 02:39:09 | More by jzeilinger

jjveverka

South Carolina

4.24/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Out of the bottle, into a goblet glass.
The first thing I notice in the color is a light caramel hue with a small quickly fading head.
The aroma is sweet and inviting with hints of honey and syrup.
The taste starts out light and caramelized but then ends with light hoppiness and pronounced syrup and bourbon nodes.
This beer is high in alcohol but surprisingly sweet and medium bodied. Very drinkable for the barrel aging that it has gone thru.
Overall this beer is excellent, with a great amount of favor. This beer is very complex with lots of different flavors coming at you, caramel, bourbon, syrup, alcohol, and even some dark fruits. I got this beer as a gift but if I can find this brew again I will definitively be making a purchase.

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2013 04:41:02 | More by jjveverka

StonedTrippin

Colorado

4.04/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

one of the best barleywines of the year. not cheap, but damn good. it pours a sticky honey color with just a finger or two of white lace on top. the nose is crazy, sweet and strong, like a homemade spirit or something, its got notes of scotch, toffee, brown sugar, and orange peel. that first thing I think of when I taste this is, wow, if gummy bears were liquid, this is what it would taste like. its sort of got that artificial fruit flavor sweetness from all the malt, but it works here, and the alcohol is just ridiculous, especially when this gets up to room temperature, its downright hot. not much hops in here that I can pick out, but a lot of big flavors competing for attention, so its probably just as well. mouthfeel is thick and gooey, not much carbonation, which makes this a slow sipper. the alcohol content makes sharing the bottle must, as does the sugar, which gets tiring. still, this is what a barleywine should be, and founders has pulled this off wonderfully.

Serving type: bottle

02-01-2013 20:33:16 | More by StonedTrippin

millertime416

Iowa

4/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

To start off, this is a very very good American barleywine, maybe even great. The aroma is almost all hops: pineapple, citrus, even a little bit of pine. But still has a very strong malt presence. Flavor is along these lines, nice balance between hops and malt with a good level of bitterness. The alcohol is well hidden, maybe too well. Founders was right, this is definitely ready to drink now; though, I don't think age will hurt it at all.

The problem with this beer is that it purports to be a partially "maple syrup bourbon barrel aged" barleywine, and yet the barrel is completely absent. I detect almost no bourbon, barrel nor maple syrup of any sort in this beer. I drank this through many temperatures (fridge to room temp), and still cannot find any barrel. Maybe I drink too many bourbon barrel aged beers to detect it, but this does not at all drink like a barrel aged beer. If you were looking for a bourbon barrel aged barleywine along the lines of King Henry or Abacus, look again. While I acknowledge that I might be giving this a lower rating because it was marketed as a barrel aged barleywine, I would probably consider this to be better than most, if not all, the other non-barrel-aged american barleywines I have had.

Serving type: bottle

02-01-2013 05:16:11 | More by millertime416

jvillefan

California

4.61/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

A: A deep orange/yellow/amber color the an ivory white head that disappeared quickly.

S: Suprisingly, there was a lot of hop character present in this beer. There was subtle toffee in the background.

T: Bitter on the front end and the back end. The middle is composed of rich caramel and toffee.

M: Very heavy with great carbonation which was a pleasant surprise given that it was a 15% beer.

O: One of the best barleywines I've had. It is up there with King Henry, Mother of All Storms, and Abacus.

Serving type: bottle

01-27-2013 06:56:01 | More by jvillefan

mfavoino

Washington

3.29/5  rDev -19%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

750 ml bottle shared with Treebs.

A: Bright ruby color with a small head that retained well. Sticky lacing along the sides of the glass.

S: Some pine and citrus hops on the nose. Booze definitely comes through in the nose and is dominant.

T: Initially I got some piney hop flavors, candied sugar and caramel malts, but then the booze just took over. Hot and detracted from the rest of the beer. I had to ask my buddy if this was a barrel aged beer because I wasn't getting any of the barrel that I would expect.

M: Medium body, syrupy, and too much booze heat.

O: The booze took away from a lot of potential. I'm not even sure I would characterize this as a barleywine.

Serving type: bottle

01-26-2013 18:55:48 | More by mfavoino

emerge077

Illinois

3.81/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

In a highball glass, this beer pours a tawny brown, frothy foam around the edges and a decent skim across the surface that lasts for awhile.

Sticky sweet, heavily malty aroma with a significant dose of dried fruit. Pretty average for the style, nothing out of the ordinary.

Flavors are smooth and malt driven, plenty of dried fruit, some apricot and sultana. Sticky sweet though not cloying. Smooth feel with a fairly well disguised abv. Medium to full body, with a light level of carbonation. Fairly straightforward barley wine, enjoyable enough, though glad I was able to pay less than retail. Happy 14th to Four Moon... here's to many more.

Serving type: bottle

01-26-2013 06:46:26 | More by emerge077

CharlatanSin

Connecticut

4.16/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Bought a bottle in back in NYC for...a lot. My first Founders 750ml.

The beer pours into a tulip with not much head, which collapses into a ring and eventually disappears altogether. The color is a vibrant amber red with a little bit of haze. The aroma is very sweet. Kind of like a cherry cough candy. It smells more identifiably like sweet malt as the beer warms.

A really powerful taste. There's a lot of booze, especially on the finish, which I like in my barleywines. There's some hops, but not as prominent as in, say, Bigfoot or Old Guardian. Plenty of sweet malt and charred brown sugar. Pretty much dead on for what I'd expect from an American barleywine. The mouthfeel is surprisingly slick for a brew this high in ABV, with very low carbonation.

This beer is a heck of a sipper. A really nice example of what I'd like in an American barleywine -- more intense than an English version, but less hop-forward than a lot of other examples of the style. Well done as usual, Founders.

Serving type: bottle

01-21-2013 02:10:16 | More by CharlatanSin

portia99

Massachusetts

3.98/5  rDev -2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

750ml bottle received in trade with Speedwayjim poured into a Founders CBS snifter.

A - Pours a glowing, brilliant amber orange color with medium clarity and a finger of frothy tan head that dies slowly over a minute or so leaving rings of lacing on the glass.

S - Bourbon, butter, vanilla, toffee, sweet malt, mild citrus hop presence. The buttery and toffee aromas blossom as the beer warms and take over.

T - Alcohol/boozy up front, some citrusy hops, mild/mid hop bitterness. Caramel and some sugary malt flavors, some brown sugar. Touch of astringency, some fruity esters. A dry, biscuity, maybe a touch nutty finish with hints of roasty malts.

M - This gives a huge tingle on the lips and tongue from the healthy dose of bourbony booze found in here. From beginning to end it is there reminding me that this is indeed a 15% beer. Body is quite full and a bit sticky. Carbonation is low/medium and fits well here. Bourbon gives a bit of a warmth on each sip.

O - Balanced and more bitter/hoppy than many/most barleywines. Not as hop forward as Big Foot, but it is missing a lot of the rich malty depth typically found in the style. Rather boozy all around...keeps this towards the sipper side of the scale...tingly and warming on each sip.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2013 18:41:24 | More by portia99

zac16125

Florida

4.09/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4

750mL bottle into a small snifter

This beer hit the market and was hot shit, 2 months later its getting killed on reviews and the BA forums. I was excited to get a hold of a bottle to try for myself.

A: Pours a very dark amber with some reddish hues when held to light. One fingers width of very light tan colored head dissipates down at a fairly quick rate. Leaves a good amount of spotty lacing.

S: Smells sweet, but like a hoppy citrus sweetness. There is a rather non-descript sugary sweetness, a melon character that is rather unique to the barleywine style, some faint hints of bourbon and vanilla-oak from the barrel, and some booze. Its unique, but I like.

T: Hops and burnt sugary sweetness are the first tastes I notice. Initially it is very reminiscent of DFH 120 Minute. Then some other notes come out including caramel and toffee, with bourbon and booze on the finish. There is some hop bitterness on the finish too. Im not sure where all the cloying sweetness comments are coming from, this beer isnt even on the higher end of the sweet spectrum in my opinion. It actually reminds me a lot of DFH 120 (although I may be biased as this was suggested to me by someone before I even tried it) with the addition of bourbon barrel notes. I love 120min, but I dont particularly like how the bourbon characters mesh with the flavor profile of the base beer here. I like the taste a lot, but Im deducting points for the aftertaste which is a bit odd at times.

M/D: This beer has an absolutely delightful mouthfeel. Full bodied, manages to stay away from becoming syrupy, a decently heavy carbonation, and a very smooth mouthfeel. The drinkability on this thing is dangerous. Great in this aspect. 4

O: Overall, this one kind of put me through a roller coaster of beer-motions. Im a whore for big boozy beers, and this is certainly one of those. I also think it has a great mouthfeel and drinkability, and I appreciate the unique qualities... BUT I just dont think barrel aging did this one much good. I love BBA beers, but barrel aging doesnt go with everything. I would be interested to try this just as a base beer. Either way, I did thoroughly enough this and highly recommend it to anyone who loves big boozy beers. This certainly isnt for everyone though.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2013 01:40:35 | More by zac16125

brewandbbq

New Hampshire

4.24/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

7oz pour for $8.00 at Cask and Vine in Derry, NH.

Presented with a quarter inch of bone head atop a light mahogany body with a haze. A partial skim coat and zero lacing for the duration of the glass.

After the beer warms up the aromatics reveal plenty of alcoholic heft, raisins, toffee, figs, caramel, bourbon, oak, and vanilla.

On the thicker side of medium bodied with a creamy mouthfeel.

Chewy malt, boozy bourbon, and vanilla lead off the palate. A mild bitterness runs underneath the sweet malt and chipped toffee. A warmth on the throat carries form one sip to the next.

Finishes with lingering malt, bourbon, and vanilla.

This is one big Barleywine and the bourbon barrel finish is nicely balanced. Quite a treat to sample on tap in NH.

Serving type: bottle

01-17-2013 20:18:41 | More by brewandbbq

KFBR392

Illinois

3.79/5  rDev -6.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Appearance: Bright red color with brown accents. Thin head on the pour with maintained slightly throughout, very pleasant lacing on glass as beer was drank. I would describe the look of this beer as aggressive, violent in a very wonderful way.

Smell: A crazy bright sweetness going on here. A potent combination of malt and toffee/caramel. Makes your mouth water in anticipation for what this beer could bring. The high alcohol content plays a role here but it is more of an undertone during the aroma.

Taste: The front of this beer is a very strong start. A pleasant sweetness hits right away and got me excited for what else was coming. But unfortunately, the malty sweetness gets overrun by the high booze content in this beer. Where an elite barley wine would take off, this beer lacks a solid body. Needs more of a hop, caramel, malt, molasses attack in the body. Instead the body thins out and slowly fades away into a alcohol sting. There is some hop presence in the finish but bring a sourness more then anything else.

Mouthfeel: A pleasant smoothness for how high the alcohol content is. The active presence of the malt is here, a high lacing covers the palette. A little thin but overall pretty good.

Overall: I had huge expectations for this beer. I love Founders and barley wine ales, so naturally I fell in love with the idea of this beer. I waited and waited and it didn't live up to the hype I created for it. You have to give credit for Founders going for it all here though. 15% ABV is high even for a barley wine. I appreciate what they were able to do here with their 15th Anniversary beer but overall I was a little disappointed.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2013 04:18:21 | More by KFBR392

mjtiernan

New York

3.46/5  rDev -14.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

750ml bottle poured into an oversized snifter.

A: Ruby red with some shades of brown haze. Small cap of foam that disappeared quickly leaving just a ring around the edge. Significant alcohol legs.

S: Big aroma! Malty sweetness, some boozy alcohol, and a solid dose of pine/citrus hops.

T: Big flavor too! Super sweet, lots of oak, pretty boozy and a high dose of hop bitterness for a BA barleywine.

M: Thick and syrupy. Too sweet and boozy to be drinkable. Some alcohol burn in the finish.

O: Not enjoying this. The hops characteristics remind me of FFF Behemoth but overall it’s not nearly as good.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2013 02:58:31 | More by mjtiernan

Arbitrator

California

2.71/5  rDev -33.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3

My allergies were acting up last night; my eyes felt inflamed and itchy, my vision blurred. From across the room, I spotted what appeared to be Goatse on a bottle label. Goatse?!?! Did White Birch make a non-ironic beer for once? I listened to the weirdos watching the Niners game and sidled over to the bottle. Oh... huh. My vision really is bad today. It's a bolt cutter. FOUNDERS!? Sweet. I love Founders. Thanks, Jason.

A: Pours a crystal clear copper-orange body with a half-pinky finger of tan head. Seems nice.

S: Boozy, raisiny caramel, brown sugar. Oxidized hops and vanilla. Not much in the way of bourbon or oak.

T: Bolt Cutter? More like Sweet Fucker. Brown sugar, caramel, toffee, even a touch of maple. Vanilla -- and there's the bourbon, a little more present on the taste than in the nose. Oak presents a light astringency in the finish. It's not enough to cut the sweetness. Nor are the hops; they have a stale, oxidized earthiness and melon flavor. Really... odd.

M: It's harsh; the one-two combination of booze and slight sugary burn are irritating to the palate. It's not super-syrupy, but it's on the sweet end and is cloying in some sips. The carbonation doesn't offset said sweetness enough.

O: I might be a little more lenient on this one considering it's Founders... Or maybe I'm being harsher because I initially thought it was a Goatse beer. Whatever the case, I'm glad I don't have a bottle.

Serving type: bottle

01-14-2013 03:41:14 | More by Arbitrator

DocJitsu

California

3.46/5  rDev -14.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a vibrant, clear, golden amber color, with a small, short-lived light tan colored head. Aromas consist of sorghum and boiling barley wort. There's a candied presence on the nose as well. A bit of alcohol wafts off the top of the glass. The mouthfeel is chewy, a bit oily, and has a slight carbonation scrub on the back of the tongue. The carbonation burns a little more when the alcohol emerges. Sorghum and toffee flavors up front, but the alcohol bitters the flavor too quickly and continues to invade the palate after the finish. The alcohol is just too much. I'm really quite disappointed.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2013 21:45:08 | More by DocJitsu

Bendurgin

Maine

3.76/5  rDev -7.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Poured into a tulip. This one pours a slightly muddy copper rust color with some golden hues and a nice cap of beige head.

The aroma has a nice grassy hop blanket with some boozy caramel notes and dark fruits like raisins. The pallet is a bit of the sweet side. Vanilla and raisins with brown sugar and some notes of grassy hops on the background.

The body is full and with good carbonation. Overall this one is enjoyable but a bit pricey. I just assume grab Bigfoot or something to that nature.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2013 02:11:27 | More by Bendurgin

andrewinski1

Maine

3.75/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Thanks to Bendurgin for sharing this deliciousness! Poured into a tulip. The color is dark straw with a bit of haze. There is a nice half inch fluffy head.

The aroma is hoppy, with fruity notes of pineapple. There is a nice dose of vanilla here also.

The taste starts out mildly malty with some wood notes and vanilla. There is a fruity hoppy finish with notes of mint.

This is full bodied, with a fluffy white head. This is tasty.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2013 02:05:24 | More by andrewinski1

thagr81us

South Carolina

3.78/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Big thanks goes out to beeruser and funkydelic for sharing this one at a recent Random Sunday Tasting! Served from bottle into a Mikkeller taster flute. Poured red-orange with a minimal off-white head. Maintained decent lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, caramel, caramel hop, wood, sweet alcohol, and fruit. The flavor was of sweet malt, caramel, sweet alcohol, wood, and dark fruit. It had a light feel on the palate with medium-high carbonation. Overall this was a pretty good brew. I went into this one after hearing all of the hype and was really hoping that it would knock my socks off as far as the style goes. However, I found most aspects of this one to only be decent throughout. The flavor did bring a little more to the party as it was rather smooth and well balanced, but did leave something to be desired. Just a little more going on in this one would have really done it some good based on my opinion of the style. Definitely worth your time to try to get this one if you have the ammo to do so.

Serving type: bottle

01-12-2013 20:04:20 | More by thagr81us

jegross2

Illinois

2.28/5  rDev -43.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.25

Reviewing the Bolt Cutter from Founders Brewing Company out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. This American-style barleywine was brewed in honor of Founders' 15th anniversary, and is a blend of the base beer unaged, aged in maple syrup barrels and aged in bourbon barrels.
Score: 40

November 2012 vintage bottle served in a Surly Darkness snifter and enjoyed on 01/11/13.

Appearance: Pours a bourbon color with a finger and a half of seafoam colored seafoam-like head that slowly settles to a thin layer. Awesome lacing ad retention. 4.5/5

Smell: Boozy caramel, an earthy spiciness, stale hops and tons of sweet, bready malt. Brown sugar, maple and light lemon too. 2/5

Taste: Tastes like a boozy, bready malt-forward stale IPA with a maple character and light spiciness. Another reviewer likened this to barrel aged Devil Dancer -- spot on! There is some caramel too. This beer is almost undrinkable, and this is only 2 months old. This beer was much tastier, albeit still disappointing, fresh, but even then it was nothing special. It has since fallen off entirely, and collapsed into a sweet malt bomb of a mess. 2/5

Mouthfeel: Full bodied, minimal carbonation. Malty sweet and juicy. 3/5

Overall: Founders beers are very rarely duds, but this one is an imperial stinker. When I had this beer fresh the night before FOBAB, it reminded me of a less-hoppy New Glarus Thumbprint Barleywine with a little maple mixed in. Tasty, but certainly not worth the hype. Just under two months later, it's fallen off a cliff, the hops have become completely stale, and the boozy malt has taken over entirely. Considering that this bottle sat in my fridge for the duration of its "shelf life," and considering it was not even "stored" for two months, I doubt my experience had anything to do with storage conditions (though if Founders' maple aging program has taught us anything, this may be the byproduct of bottle variation). If you have not opened your bottles yet, I advise you sit on them longer -- this beer cannot get much worse and time can only serve to mellow out the booziness.

Recommendation: Avoid this one, though I presume this advice comes too little too late.

Pairings: The sink drain.

Cost: $25 for a 750 ml bottle.

Serving type: bottle

01-12-2013 18:41:54 | More by jegross2

bobhits

Kentucky

3.15/5  rDev -22.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Pours a dense protein and yeast infused body with dark ruby and orange coloring. Given a good forced pour it produces a nice inch or so of head in my founder snifter, but it doesn't last or provide lacing. There are some huge alcohol legs that show what is left of the carbonation. Given the alcohol none of this is surprising.

Given the size of this beer the aroma is a bit subtle. There's a tone of caramel sugars with nice American hop aromas (I get a stone like centennial (SP?) hope aroma though there's something else that leads me to believe I might be off on this or there's another hop I should be picking up). Finishing out there's a good bit of sweet sugars with vanilla notes that are coming from the oak aging. I don't get straight bourbon here, but the oak and vanilla are there.

Deep caramel malt is accented by vanilla notes from oak aging. Bolt Cutter mixes the sugary flavor with a nice bit of a bittering hops and a hint of an alcohol finish. Given the 15% abv. there is far less of a bite from alcohol than I had expected. Founders has for some reason decided that anything in a 750 ml should be as sweet and sugary as possible. This one is a lot less over the top than their others (fake sugar infused hazel nut coffee, maple syrup mixed in coffee and bourbon, over the top sugary barely wine aged in sugar infused maple barrels, or a super sugary fruit beer), but make no mistake this is a sugary sweet beer. While there is a good effort to balance the beer with hops it doesn't make it there. This beer is much like their standard barley wine with oak and vanilla added in.

I'm not sure how to score this. 15% is rather subtle. The carbonation is very good for the alcohol levels and there's still a bit of an alcohol bite left here. This beer is not overly dense or thick so don't expect the thick syrupy smooth mouth feel of some of the great English Barely Wines (JW Lee I'm talking about you). The final verdict is this is good, but not great in this regard.

Bolt Cutter comes in at nearly 23 a bottle here in Kentucky after tax. I have a bottle to age and see if this one ages well (what 3-5 years? Really let me know how long I should age this one, PM me darn it!). Ultimately this is very good beer, but it is sold in the wrong format (nobody needs 750 ml of this and it is hard to review with company) and it never really mixes into a full beer. There's too much sugar to go with the bite. It isn't clean flavored and it is so freaking big. This beer just doesn't come together in the end. Don't get me wrong, this isn't bad, it isn't something to be insulted, but it isn't worth the money and if I didn't have another bottle I'd not even consider buying it again.

Serving type: bottle

01-12-2013 11:14:31 | More by bobhits

smakawhat

Maryland

3.95/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75

Poured from the bottle into a snifter glass.

Pours out of the bottle like golden caramel, hits and makes a simple one finger head, very creamy and thick, perhaps off tan in color, a very light beige. Body color is a real nice peach orange and hints of red, with very slow rising carbonation coming up, and crystal clear. The beer is really good looking.

Nose is a bit simple and strange all at once. A fascinating mix of over-ripe melon, slightly acidic and sour, with a hint of caramel like sweetness malt in the background. Not bad but and odd sense, some sour and light vinegar comes out a bit.

Palate hits with a big rush. Thick caramel malt matching the nose of this strange large melon character. Quite large, but also sort of odd in a way. The body has a little tongue playful carbonation up front, but is quickly subdued by the malt thickness. Sweetness comes out a little bit more with warmth.

Overall it's fairly interesting and fun, but not the greatest tasting barleywine I've had and it's over ripe sour fruit angle is sort of bizarre. Luckily drinks well at such a high abv, but I wouldn't pay a lot of money for this.

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2013 23:36:20 | More by smakawhat

TheBrewo

Michigan

3.95/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

We pour a brew of deep, yet bright golden orange. It holds a one and a half finger head of massive, soapy-looking tan bubbles, showing okay retention, and decent reproducibility. Vestiges of this sit in aggregates to one side of glass, with spots of lacing dripping down the sides. There is a definite haze, and swirls of sediment run through the liquid. Carbonation appears light. The nose initially gives deep caramel malts, hot booze, and brushes of lemony, citric hops. Bubblegum esters add sweetness, as does sticky toffee, warm bourbon, and faint maple syrup sugars. Vanilla, musky woodiness, and dirty, muddy mineral come out with warmth. Our first impression is that the beer is nicely flavored, the various barreling efforts are each visible, and the booze is massive. As we sip, raw honey sweetness, burnt caramel malts, fusel vodka booze, and dried maple candies start things off. We move to the peak with salty caramel, citric hoppy freshness, warm oakiness, medicinal phenols, more hollow fusels, and the sweetened cloying bite of warmed maple sugar. The finish wash is of thick buttery grain, caramel sweetness, insanely bittering wood, and more fumes of that fusel booze. The aftertaste breathes of fiery peppery booze, bittering citric hops, biting woodiness, raw plastic phenols, maple sweetness, caramel sweetness, and mineral. The body is full, and the carbonation is light to medium. There is wild stickiness to the feel, with the lips and tongue left coated with sugary smack. There is nice slurp, pop, cream, and froth, and the mouth is satisfyingly coated and warmed. The booze and wood both add eventual dryness, but not to the point of puckered astringency. The abv is huge, and the beer drinks accordingly as a definite, slow sipper.

Overall, what we liked most about this beer was how the beer is very much like it is described, and the soft, sticky mouthfeel. As this beer is a blend we were worried that the mix would get overly complex, and that the maple and wood would get lost. This was very much to the contrary, as the sweetness was there, while the wood was present, almost overly so. The latter gave a strong bittering pucker of flavor to the finish and aftertaste that wasn’t quite balanced out. The nose was nice, and in the same vein, while the feel was great, and greatly contributory to the experience. This is a nice beer, but a bit hot, and in need of perhaps a little more age.

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2013 02:23:51 | More by TheBrewo