Founders Backwoods Bastard

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

(bottle - 12 oz) Dark ruby pour with a creamy off-white head. Aroma is a ton of oak, smoke, and caramel malts. Flavor is much the same. Very sweet from the oak but balanced well with the smoky and roasted malts. Smooth and delicious and easy to drink. Loved it.

Pours a deep ruby amber. Smells of a blended bourbon and sugar. Big thick smooth mouthfeel with scotch,vanilla, caramel and finishing with some black cherrys. Smell and taste are night and day. What a treat. Well balanced and delicious. Will be picking up more for some snowy nights. Founders does it again.

The oak bourbon barrels dominated this beer. It looks delicious, but the taste disappoints. I plan to try this beer again after it has aged awhile in the bottle. It was bottled on 11/05/2009 and I drank it on the 13th. Overall I was not impressed!

bottle. Pours a deep reddish brown looks thick almost no head what head was there was creamy smooth. Aroma smells of vanilla brown sugar other flavors bourbon initial taste is malty sweet and smooth - too smooth. Bourbon finish overpowers any flavor the beer might have had. I expected a little more beer bite. overall good but doesn’t knock me out at $15. a 4 pack. I thinks it tasted better upon initial pour after sitting a while is loose quite a bit of flavor

deep reddish brown, beautiful color. Aroma of vanilla, brown sugar,caramel, toffee, soft bourbon. Flavor is malty sweet, complex mixture of aroma qualities, flavorful, but soft. mouthfeel is smooth bordering on too soft. Definite bourbon in the finish, a sipping beer, just a little too smooth, give me just a little more spice. The flavor is really unique, enjoyable, but it struggles to really excite my tastebuds. With this beer, alcohol %, and oak bourbon barrel aging, it should be making my tastebuds dance. Overall - decent, but highly overpriced for the result.

Poured dark reddish brown, wood, malty, Bourbon, alcohol, caramel, little dark fruit, little bitter finish.

(bottle) Pours dark ruby with a thin light off-white head. Without the head, this would look very much like a bourbon as well. The aroma is strong of oak, bourbon, smoke, vanilla, cherries, glazed ham, and caramel. Really nice mix of aromas, and they constantly shift upon smelling. The taste follows suit with the aroma, showcasing a lot of bourbon, charred wood, vanilla, cherry, caramel, and smoke. Right before the finish there’s a deceptive sensation, as it feels as if I’m about to swallow a sip of bourbon. I think this might be the alcohol burning through, but with this kind of beer it doesn’t detract from the experience. Mouthfeel is full and carbonation is smooth finishing with some smoke and oak which is very dry. Really good stuff. (upon the hour or so I’ve been drinking this, as it warms the beer begins to exhibit a dish soap finish which is really offensive, and I have to lower the score accordingly)

Poured from bottle into Snifter. Cloudy dark reddish-brown with minimal head and spotty lacing. However, the thin head actually lasts; not often the case with high abv beers. Aroma is a strong blast of oak, cherry, vanilla, peat and alcohol. The taste is very similar to the smell but sweeter, with strong notes of vanilla, oak, cherry, peat, as well as toffee and dark fruit. Low carbonation and quite warming. While certainly not light in body, it is lighter than expected. Fits the mold of a barrel-aged beer more than a Wee Heavy. Either way, it is extremely good and a very easy sipper, belaying the fact that it is over 10% abv. Note to self: Stop buying singles of Founders’ beers; every single time I regret it and wish I had bought the 4-pack.