Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale

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

Got this as an extra from an excellent trade with GCurlow on the other site. Thanks, Grant! Pours a nice clear amber, much lighter than I expected with a very minimal head. Has a powerful aroma, malt, peat, apricot and orange. Palate is medium bodied with a lot of sugar in the front. Very very malty and sugary with a light fruit flavor. Not my favorite style, but pretty damn tasty all the same.

Beautiful sunset amber pour displaying an ephemeral white cover. This version bought in September 2008 was actually labeled as 9.8% and it makes for a very heady aroma. No wonder the ratings are so high, this is high octane stuff. Fortunately, the malt base is solid with its deep mango/apricot duo thick pancakes bathing in maple syrup rich, toasty, bready cereal profile. As it even begins to warm up though, massive amounts of diacetyl emanates. I’m usually not all that disturbed by butteriness, especially not in beers like scotch ales, old ales or barleywines, but this surpasses my generous threshold. Liquid alcoholic toffee, rather chewy and thick besides for the overly biting carbonation that removes any English aspiration. It has its strong points with this type of malt richness, but were it a delicate offering, its ’integrated’ flaws would make me rate it under 3. I will not go so low as I still find it pleasant, but can’t call it a great beer and would never consider going as high as its current 3.8 average.

Interesting red amber, even orange and brown, ok hard to describe the color. Every whiff brings something else. Maybe like smelling a warm piece of fruit cake. The flavor was better than I remember of any fruitcake. Deep, spicy, drinkable flavor, with all the flavors of a fruitcake as it was meant to be.

This poured a mahogany color with an off white head. Aroma was of dark fruits caramel, sweet malts and some leather. Flavor was a but toffe/caramel scotch flavor with noters of burnt malts and alcohol. Althoguh flavor isnt quite breathetaking, it is almost overwhelming

Bottle. Pours cherry red and orange. Peaty, marmalade orange aroma with a hint of bubble gum. Flavor has spicy, grainy notes to begin, then some interesting scotch characteristics and a warming finish. Body is buttery, smooth, and satisfyingly rich, with a sticky finish. Flavor has a musty quality, I hope the name of this brew is not influencing me so much.

This is different one. Has a nice hazy brownish color. Smells of malts with hints of coconut, barley and figs among other sweeter things. Tastes to me mainly of malts and, as weird as it seems, coconuts. Not much carbonation in this one. This was an absolute pleasant experience.

12oz brown glass twist-top. No date. Appearance: Tawny orange/brown. No head to speak of, and somewhat cloudy (no sediment though). Nose: Sweet raisin bread, apricots, toasted cashews, deep caramel, milk chocolate, dried figs. Palate: Medium- to full-bodied with loads of sugar up front. Dried fruits (figs, raisons, prunes) mingle with a layer of light milk chocolate (low cocoa %), and some flavors that remind me of tawny/colheita ports and malmsey madeiras. Rich and somewhat thick, there is a moderate edge from the hop bitterness. Notes: A well made Old Ale, will improve over short-term ageing, but I don’t think it’s made to go for more than 3 years with improvement. I would like to see more hop character for longer ageing. The hops show themselves and try to contain the HUGE sweetness, but it’s just bursting at the brim with sugar. A little more contained than the Smuttynose Really Old Brown Dog, though.

Pours a deep red amber, fairly clear, small off white head. Aroma is caramel malt, brown sugar, vanilla, and alcohol. Falvor is sweet caramel and brown sugar as well, with a strong alcohol presence, moderate amount of bitter hops in the finish. Nice barley wine, will likely mellow with age hopefully.