Founders Backwoods Bastard

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

Bottle with newer label. Deep dark pour... reddish brown, but looks almost black. Bright light yellow/orange head, almost the color of sherbet. Looks delicious. I tend to be a sucker for strong scotch ales, and this is no exception. Bourbon, vanilla, oak, toasty biscuity malts, and some hop presence. Definitely some chocolate. It’s sweet, but I didn’t find it cloying. Sugars almost make the bourbon taste like rum at times. Think I’ll pick up a few more of these. ***Note: RB has this listed as 9.2% and the newer label says 10.2%.

12 oz, thanks CMUbeerman. Deep mahogany pour with a tan head. Caramel, malt, and toffee, spicy notes - clove, cinnamon, vanilla. Surprisingly chocolaty. Awesome flavor - milk chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, dessert and apple pie spices. Toffee and excellent balancing bitterness. Much hoppier than I expected at the end. Silky smooth in the mouth. I wish there was just a tad more sweetness in the finish. Really excellent, a great example of one of my favorite styles.

Sampled from bottle: Pours a dark mahogany colour with a thin tan head. Little carbonation. Aroma is incredible, bourbon, toffee, caramel chocolate and cofee notes. Taste is rich with dark roasted malts, soft whisky, caramel and pineapple. Awesome beer, one of the best ive had in a while.

Bottle courtesy of ncvbc poured into a snifter. Pours a murky dark caramel brown with a very short-lived tan head that receded to a ring quickly leaving bits of lacing. The aroma is heavy with bourbon and vanilla with the underlying scotch ale coming through a little with roasted caramel malts. There is also a definite brown sugar sweetness as well. The taste follows the aroma fairly closely with the exception of a very slight hop presence up front before giving way to the massive bourbon and caramel malt backbone. There is plenty of vanilla as well and the oak really comes out in the finish and lingers for a while between sips. The mouthfeel is almost syrupy with very little carbonation and an alcohol burn. This is a decent scotch ale and one that bourbon lovers will especially enjoy. It’s definitely a sipper and makes a great nightcap.

This is a tough drink for me. I’ll call it well made but instead of having some bourbon flavor it is just overpowering.

Bottle from West Lakeview. Nose is all bourbon, vanilla and caramel. Dark brown with off beige head. Thick body, but cloyingly sweet and vanilla. I’d take dirty bastard over this any day. Meh...

On draught at Barley’s Smokehouse. Pours a dark copper color with a medium beige head that recedes slowly. Patches of lacing on the glass. Lots of malt and caramel in the nose along with bourbon. Rich body with flavors of malt, dark fruit, bourbon and vanilla. The finish is full and sweet with a caramel malt and chocolate aftertaste. Alcohol is well-masked throughout. Pretty good all around, and I liked it quite a bit more than the Dirty Bastard.

Pours a dark ruby color with a light brown head that fades, but sticks around. Aroma is caramel, toasted malt, maple and chocolate-covered cherry candies. Taste is both vinous and whiskey-like along with chocolate, coffee, vanilla and buttery maple. Some alcohol evident after the swallow. Really damn good!