Founders Backwoods Bastard
Got this in a trade with Baltimorebeerguy. I've been wanting to try it for a while, as I work my way through the wee heavys. Hard to find around here. Aggressive pour into a pint glass. 2 finger head that drips down beautfiully with complex, syrupy lacing. Stays firm after a few minutes. Pits and valleys. Dark copper, auburn, mahogany color. Slightly cloudy. Aroma weighs heavily on the bourbon side. Nothing Scotchy here. Getting vanilla and burnt sugar. Let warm for 5 minutes. Hit with the bourbon boozines right off the bat. Sticky, toffee, vanilla, malty, chewy creamy, Nothing wrong with that, I like many bourbon beers. But it seems that when you age things in b. barrels, it either marries up to the style of brew, or it doesn't. When it does, you've got amazing things like Goose Island Rare stout. When it doesn't, you get things like Kentucky Bourbon Ale that just taste like you poured bourbon in with the original beer. This one is somewhere in between. Yeah, I'm getting the malty, dark ale feel but it doesn't really say Scotch Ale to me a whole lot. It IS delicious though and my only complaint is a slightly dry, phenolic finish. I'm not grabbing this when I want a Scotch Ale, but it's a wonderful sipper when you want that Bourbon feel but don't want the heaviness of a stout.