Founders Backwoods Bastard

Brewed by Founders Brewing Company
Style: Scotch Ale
Grand Rapids, Michigan USA

deep murky brown color with a creamy light tan head. aroma is sweet with notes of vanilla, fig, mild oak, and bourbon. flavor reminds me of a sweet stout up front (kinda like bells double cream) and follows up very smoothly with dark fruits and roasty vanilla bourbon. mouthfeel is outstanding...creamy and just enough warming at the finish to cut the sweetness. great beer!

So, I’ve had several of Founders offerings, and I’m definitely proud to call them a favorite home state brewer, but I think they really out did themselves on this one. It literally smells like a vintage chardonnay, and tastes like a good aged bourbon, but with perfectly balanced sweetness and carbonation. I would say this beer is near perfection, and I say bravo to the genius behind this fantastic brew. Cheers!

Lovely bourbon aroma hits you as you go for a drink. Dark body with little head. Vey tasty.

I think Founders should stay away from the Scotch Ale category.....they just can’t seem to get it right. I didn’t like anything about this beer.....blah.

Deep garnet-tinted brown beer. Thin to non-existent head. Aroma is really nice and lovely. Sweet rich toffee and butterscotch over a rich deep malt character. A light sweet peaty note that just kisses the deeper caramel and heavily toasted malts. Very rich and malty smokiness with an intense nuttiness. Loads of what seems like kettle caramelization. Rich and sweet flavour but there is also loads of peppery ethanolic heat on the back of the palate. It’s plenty tasty in small doses, but even 10 oz seems like a little bit too much for one serving. Intensely sweet. Light vanilla and peat through the middle and warming up seems to smooth it out a little bit. It’s quite nice.

bottle says 10.2% and is a completely different label from what is shown. deep ruby color that’s almost black with no head at all. vanilla, malts, peat and bourbon. thick on the palate with a big peaty flavor with a touch of bourbon and vanilla in the finish to fix you just right.

Dark amber with a decent head. Aroma of sweet, earthy malt. Flavor is much the same: rich and tangy. Highly enjoyable.

bottle at Ft Wayne locals tasting courtesy of bdigi66 - Well I noted that this dark amber beer smells like bourbon. Duh. There’s some malt in there too but the bourbon aroma is dominant. The flavor is more balanced. There’s still lots of bourbon there, but sweet roast malt and even some light hops are present too. It’s full bodied yet very drinkable. Excellent.