Brewed By: Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Purchased: Single bottle (12oz) from a 4-pack bought at Friar Tucks in Urbana, IL; 2012
Style/ABV: Old Ale, 9.8%
Nothing says Founders like a big fat Barleywine-styled beer clocking in at 9.8% ABV. Oh, did I say Barleywine? I meant....an Old Ale. Because that's what it is called, "Founders Old Ale." The BJCP describes an Old Ale as as a traditional English ale, mashed at high temps, then aged after primary fermentation (to a point where the beer has age-related characters like lactic, Brett, oxidation, or leather). Old Ales are all about the big malts, they often feature adjuncts like molasses or sugar, and they have enough hops to crank that bitterness up to 30-60 IBUs. The style is supposed to have big malt, dried-fruit, caramel, and vinous aromas; and the big malts should carry into the taste, with the balance shifted towards sweet malts; this beer can be well-hopped, however. Old Ales typically clock in around 6-9% ABV, making the Founders Curmudgeon a bit high on that scale. Speaking of Founders:
Founders states that their Curmudgeon Old Ale is brewed with molasses (okay, that sounds like the BJCP's description of an Old Ale), a metric fuckton of malts, and then oak-aged. They describe this as strong, rich, and malty. And oak-aged! And again, clocking in at an impressive 9.8% ABV, and packing 50 IBUs...this is a big boy beer. So let's crack this open and see what's up.
This beer pours with kind of a menacing and grim, half-finger's worth of grey/reddish/off-white head. The head doesn't hang around for long, quickly fading into a nice cauldron effect. In low light, the beer is a reddish/orange color, with quite a bit of visible carbonation in the form of small bubbles rising upwards. In bright light, this is an orangish/caramel-colored beer, with A LOT of small carbonation bubbles rising upwards. There is still a silky cauldron effect of head atop the glass, and the head has an orange/caramel tint. I'm getting some lacing on the glass, and some alcohol legs. It actually looks like there is a little sediment in this beer, and the beer is kind of hazy.
Big malt and oak aromas are dominating the nose on this beer. I'm getting oak, wood, fruity esters (like dried bananas, Amaretto liqueur), caramel/toffee, molasses, brown sugar, golden raisins, and some fusel alcohol to boot. I'm also getting some bready, booze-soaked-bread notes, and a little unidentifiable spice. Really, the nose is just a WALLOP of malt sweetness, and oak. I can't place any hops in the nose, because any hops are being dominated by the malts.
MMM....so good. The first sip is just a Brandy/Amaretto-soaked bread explosion, with notes of dried fusel-alcohol-bananas and cherries, molasses, brown sugar, and a slightly oak/woody finish. This beer embraces it's 9.8% ABV, but it drinks well. Mind you, I'm drinking this beer quite warm at the moment. I'm getting some vinous Sherry/Port flavors in here, caramel, and just GIANT, boozy, malt goodness. I'd say I'm pulling out hops (maybe citrus????) but it's nearly impossible to tell with the assertive malt sweetness. Needless to say, the giant malt presence makes the 50 IBUs invisible.
This is really good shit. There's some other notes in here I'm sure I'm missing, including some nuttiness I'm picking up. I'd say almonds. But then, almonds and cherries are the defining qualities of Amaretto, and that's what I'm getting in this beer. This is sweet, slightly sticky, but surprisingly smooth. This is dense and has a giant palate depth. I'd say the mouthfeel is medium-full to full, with a supporting body featuring moderate carbonation. Complexity is through the roof, as this is super complex. There's so much going on here...I'm sure this yields many different palate experiences from person-to-person. Oh, and at 9.8% you can lay this down and drink it 5 years from now. Up front are golden raisins, malts, caramel, molasses; this rolls into fusel fruits, and some Quadrupel-like qualities; the back end is oak, wood, some bitterness...there is warming on the finish, and the beer lingers on your palate a good 15+ seconds after each sip. The finish is dry and warming, and very sweet like a sweet liqueur.
Rating: Divine Brew
I'm feeling a Strong Divine Brew on this. This is a really nice, big beer. I've already had one bottle of this, and it was fantabulous. This bottle is going down just as nicely. Really though...this is a big malt bomb, with some seductive flavors. At 9.8% ABV, you want to sip this beer. And it's a great sipping beer, and it's also a big enough beer that you could pair it with aggressive foods. I have two suggestions with this beer: (1) drink it at warmer temperatures; (2) buy two 4-packs, so you can age one. Personally, I don't think this beer is too hot up front...but I bet it still ages well. So check this beer out, and I definitely look forward to my next round of Founders beer....
Nothing says Founders like a big fat Barleywine-styled beer clocking in at 9.8% ABV. Oh, did I say Barleywine? I meant....an Old Ale. Because that's what it is called, "Founders Old Ale." The BJCP describes an Old Ale as as a traditional English ale, mashed at high temps, then aged after primary fermentation (to a point where the beer has age-related characters like lactic, Brett, oxidation, or leather). Old Ales are all about the big malts, they often feature adjuncts like molasses or sugar, and they have enough hops to crank that bitterness up to 30-60 IBUs. The style is supposed to have big malt, dried-fruit, caramel, and vinous aromas; and the big malts should carry into the taste, with the balance shifted towards sweet malts; this beer can be well-hopped, however. Old Ales typically clock in around 6-9% ABV, making the Founders Curmudgeon a bit high on that scale. Speaking of Founders:
With all that said, I won't spend much more time dwelling on what you can expect from an Old Ale. Like the Porter vs. Stout debate, or the Belgian Dark Strong Ale vs. the Quadrupel, there are some people who argue that Old Ales and Barleywines are the same thing, or that one doesn't really exist. I'm sure there is a lot of interesting reading on the topic, but I personally don't want to get bogged down on a semantics debate in the small window that is this blog post.
Founders states that their Curmudgeon Old Ale is brewed with molasses (okay, that sounds like the BJCP's description of an Old Ale), a metric fuckton of malts, and then oak-aged. They describe this as strong, rich, and malty. And oak-aged! And again, clocking in at an impressive 9.8% ABV, and packing 50 IBUs...this is a big boy beer. So let's crack this open and see what's up.
 |
| Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale |
This beer pours with kind of a menacing and grim, half-finger's worth of grey/reddish/off-white head. The head doesn't hang around for long, quickly fading into a nice cauldron effect. In low light, the beer is a reddish/orange color, with quite a bit of visible carbonation in the form of small bubbles rising upwards. In bright light, this is an orangish/caramel-colored beer, with A LOT of small carbonation bubbles rising upwards. There is still a silky cauldron effect of head atop the glass, and the head has an orange/caramel tint. I'm getting some lacing on the glass, and some alcohol legs. It actually looks like there is a little sediment in this beer, and the beer is kind of hazy.
Big malt and oak aromas are dominating the nose on this beer. I'm getting oak, wood, fruity esters (like dried bananas, Amaretto liqueur), caramel/toffee, molasses, brown sugar, golden raisins, and some fusel alcohol to boot. I'm also getting some bready, booze-soaked-bread notes, and a little unidentifiable spice. Really, the nose is just a WALLOP of malt sweetness, and oak. I can't place any hops in the nose, because any hops are being dominated by the malts.
MMM....so good. The first sip is just a Brandy/Amaretto-soaked bread explosion, with notes of dried fusel-alcohol-bananas and cherries, molasses, brown sugar, and a slightly oak/woody finish. This beer embraces it's 9.8% ABV, but it drinks well. Mind you, I'm drinking this beer quite warm at the moment. I'm getting some vinous Sherry/Port flavors in here, caramel, and just GIANT, boozy, malt goodness. I'd say I'm pulling out hops (maybe citrus????) but it's nearly impossible to tell with the assertive malt sweetness. Needless to say, the giant malt presence makes the 50 IBUs invisible.
This is really good shit. There's some other notes in here I'm sure I'm missing, including some nuttiness I'm picking up. I'd say almonds. But then, almonds and cherries are the defining qualities of Amaretto, and that's what I'm getting in this beer. This is sweet, slightly sticky, but surprisingly smooth. This is dense and has a giant palate depth. I'd say the mouthfeel is medium-full to full, with a supporting body featuring moderate carbonation. Complexity is through the roof, as this is super complex. There's so much going on here...I'm sure this yields many different palate experiences from person-to-person. Oh, and at 9.8% you can lay this down and drink it 5 years from now. Up front are golden raisins, malts, caramel, molasses; this rolls into fusel fruits, and some Quadrupel-like qualities; the back end is oak, wood, some bitterness...there is warming on the finish, and the beer lingers on your palate a good 15+ seconds after each sip. The finish is dry and warming, and very sweet like a sweet liqueur.
Rating: Divine Brew
I'm feeling a Strong Divine Brew on this. This is a really nice, big beer. I've already had one bottle of this, and it was fantabulous. This bottle is going down just as nicely. Really though...this is a big malt bomb, with some seductive flavors. At 9.8% ABV, you want to sip this beer. And it's a great sipping beer, and it's also a big enough beer that you could pair it with aggressive foods. I have two suggestions with this beer: (1) drink it at warmer temperatures; (2) buy two 4-packs, so you can age one. Personally, I don't think this beer is too hot up front...but I bet it still ages well. So check this beer out, and I definitely look forward to my next round of Founders beer....
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