Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale

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

WBF. Pours a copper amber. Offwhite head. The aroma is sweet, bourbon, sour. Flavor is similar. Strong. Need to try out of a bottle

Vintage 2006. Malty nose with subtle hints of oak. Cloves, toffee, malts, and bourbon are the array of flavors in this complex beer.

12oz poured a golden red with small white-tan head. Nose was all malt, with trace of alcohol. Finally something for the stein. Can not find any date anywhere, but there is a definite bourbon to this, and lots of work wood. There was no taste of alcohol, but a strong warming. Nice stuff, when I open the lid to the stein, lots of funky malts come out. Trade, thanks.

12 oz. bottle from OhioDad. Pours a hazy caramel color with a small and fast diminishing off white head. Dry woody aroma, young oak, hints of toffee and clover. Tart and extremely tannic in the flavor, lots of oak, somewhat sweet malts, but overshadowed by tannins and astringent herbs, with alcohol and slight pepper finish. Full body, creamy carbonation.

Thanks to footbalm for the bottle. Cloudy orange/copper color with a small head. No retention. Aroma of bourbon, brown sugar and vanilla. Taste has a little dark fruit along with the sweet brown sugar, bourbon and vanilla. Also some sourness throughout, maybe close to peaches. Just a little warm. Very nice.

Bottle courtesy of Secret Santa (thanks!). Pours dark reddish-brown with traces of off-white head that leave as quickly as they came. I could smell this bad boy as soon as I opened it, so I knew that I wouldn’t have to dig too much here. This must be a 2006 bottle because there’s a big oak presence here, got hints of bourbon and brandy interestingly enough. Additionally, got some caramel, malty sweetness, and a few times I caught some coconut in there, which was odd, but I love coconut, so hell yeah! As the beer warmed up, the bourbon influence took over the aroma almost entirely. But enough about how it smelled...that’s just foreplay. Taste was nice, mostly bourbon, but has a good background of malty sweetness to complement it. Finish was pretty boozy, more bourbon of course. Pretty sticky palate, definitely good for this sort of brew, despite its relative ease of drinking. A good first impression for the Old Ale style on my tastebuds.

12 oz. bottle. Rich and malty smell upon opening. Low-proof whiskey character, but not too heady. Pours somewhat muddy brown, with a weak head that’s gone in a minute. But a fine taste indeed. Whiskey again, with caramel and Sugar Babies in support. Don’t go looking for hop character here, if you’ve held this for any length of time (this bottle about 6 months old), it’s been reduced to a small supporting role. Grpe juice, prune and blackberry impressions around the sticky, almost gooey brew. May be a bit too sticky for some, especially on this hot August Night (Neil Diamond reference; how postmodern of me). But it’ll be well worth waiting for winter to open the other bottles.

Pours a cloudy brown color with lots of floaties and a ring of light brown lace. Very good aroma and flavor of peated and caramel malt with very mild alcohol. The body is light and creamy and the carbonation is gentle. Another solid Founders product.