Founders Backwoods Bastard

Brewed By: Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at Bottles & Cans in Chicago, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Barrel-Aged Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy, 10.2%

Reported IBUs: 50

Thanks to Founders' increased distribution, Backwoods Bastard was much more plentiful this year. I hope this trend continues, because it would be nice to see something like KBS become a shelf turd like their Breakfast Stout. About Founders:

Founders is the holy grail of Michigan brewing. Based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Founders was founded in 1997 by Mike Stevens and Dave Engbers, and produces some of the best beer in the world. If you haven't heard of Founders...well, what are you doing? Get on that, now.

The Backwoods Bastard is the bourbon barrel-aged version of the Dirty Bastard, which is just a phenomenal, readily available, American-made Scotch Ale. 

The Backwoods Bastard is relatively unassuming...it pours into a murky, red-brown body, kicking up a finger of caramel-tinged head. This is a relatively well-carbonated beer, and suspended yeast is clearly visible in the body. I always look forward to busting out my Scotch Ale glass.

Founders Backwoods Bastard

Unlike the appearance, the aroma is pretty vivid and engaging. Straight away is a ton of oak, bourbon, coconut, and raisin-whiskey sweetness. There are some serious cherry notes on the aroma as well, with toffee, and English-style Barleywine notes coming along for the ride. There are a lot of complex layers of malt aroma, and the barrel takes the Scotch Ale into English Barleywine territory. 

It's very interesting to see how oak barrels can change certain style of beers...in this case, the oak and bourbon adds a lot of complimentary notes to the deep, peat-like malts. This isn't a super thick beer, but there's a ton of malt depth and layers of oak, wood, bourbon, raisin-sweetness, toffee, dark fruits, and barrel character. It all ties into a fruity licorice note, which is quite nice. As this warms up, you get a really nice chocolate and English-style Barleywine character, courtesy of the bourbon and oak. Hints of coconut and grain start to show up, and it adds a much welcomed layer of complexity that elevates this into something beyond average.

At 10.2%, I'm tasting a little booze in here...this is definitely a bit hot, but I like it. The bourbon and whiskey notes are welcomed, in my opinion. I think the style and the peated malts lend themselves to a little whiskey/bourbon heat. This is medium-bodied, surprisingly, but has really good palate depth and lots of complexity. A lot of the complexity here is unlocked at warmer temps. This has a lot of bourbon and whiskey up front; it gives way to great fruit notes, spice, licorice, toffee, wood, peat malts, bitterness, wood tannin; the back end drops peat malts and finishes nicely. This is a great barrel-aged Scotch Ale. 

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew on this. I wouldn't pass this up...I think it's a pretty fantastic beer. I don't know if I would age this, maybe for a year or two tops to see if it mellows out...but I think this is impressive. It's a nice twist on a relatively one-note style of beer. Founders did a very good job letting the bourbon and barrel stand out here. I would not pair this with much, maybe a dessert....it's very similar to an English-style Barleywine, with barrels. 

Random Thought: I feel like a "state of the blog" is in order. I apologize to the six people that read this pile of word vomit. I have been quite busy with graduate school...I've also been on a tight budget. Those two things have sort of constrained my beer drinking and beer reviewing. On the other hand, as a graduate student, I find myself drinking a lot more. Hmmm. DAE alcoholism. Actually, I think it's just grad school. "If it doesn't kill you, it'll make your liver stronger." 

Oskar Blues Old Chub: Nitro vs. Regular

Brewed By: Oskar Blues Brewery in Longmont, Colorado

Purchased: 12oz CAN from a 6-pack bought at Whole Foods in Naperville, IL; 2014 (Canned on 05/19/2014)
Purchased: 16oz NITRO CAN from a 4-pack bought at Whole Foods in Naperville, IL; 2014 (Canned on 07/07/2014)

Style/ABV: Scotch Ale, 8.0%
Reported IBUs: ?

DAE like getting drunk on a Thursday night? Does anyone else like comarison reviews? About Oskar Blues: 

Oskar Blues has a few claims to fame, like being the first American craft brewery to put their beer into cans. The brewery was founded in 1997, by Dick Dale Katechis, as Oskar Blues Restaurant. In 1998, Oksar Blues began brewing beer in the basement of their restaurant. In 2002 Oskar Blues became the first American craft brewery to can a beer, with their Dale's Pale Ale. During 2008, the brewery moved from its original Lyons location to a new, 35,000-square-foot facility in Longmont, CO, turning the Lyons location back into a brew pub. And in 2012, the brewery expanded its capacity to over 100,000 bbls. The brewery continues to celebrate success, and has been turning out some awesome beer...in a can. Their website is pretty kick-ass, so check it out HERE for more information about the brewery and their history.

The Old Chub is, at this point in time, iconic. Described as a "jaw-dropping Scottish strong ale," this one is brewed with malted barley, specialty grains, and a "dash of beechwood-smoked malt." What more could you ask for in a beer? I guess Nitro, right. For this comparison, the Nitro will be in the 4 Hands glass, and the Regular will be in the Sam Adams glass.

Appearance

Nitro - so I wasn't expecting to see any big differences with the apperance, but the Nitro definitely settles into a darker, cola-black body, with a persistent finger of perfectly whipped head. It's like Guinness, only better looking. There is some lacing, and when held to a bright light you do catch hints of red.

Getting a chubby for that Old Chub

Regular - Regular Old Chub pours into a slightly lighter body. It's dark, dark, ruby red...with cola tones. Also, the regular Old Chub kicks up way more head (as you'd expect) since it relies on good old fashioned CO2 instead of Nitrogen. Head retention on both beers is nice, but the regular version leaves a lot more lacing courtesy of the head.

Aroma

Nitro - The aroma on this beer is subtle, but when you really get into it and start digging around, you find lightly toasted bread, peated malts and beechwood, and hints of dark fruits. The fruits range from cherries to raisins, with some hints of almost Quad-like perfume spice. It's a nice aroma that doesn't go over the top.

Regular - The regular Old Chub seems to pop a bit more on the aroma, which isn't overly surprising. It seems like (IMO) the nitrogen hinders the release of aromatics a bit. I'm getting a lot of big peat malts on the nose, with light smoke, beechwood, toast, and far-reaching dark fruits and sugars. It also smells good.

Taste

Nitro - Wow...this is maybe the smoothest beer I have ever had. The nitrogen irons out any bumps, and you're already dealing with a malt-forward beer. This is simply delicious, with toffee, caramel sugars, hints of bread and toast, rye spice, kisses of beachwood malt, some caramel sugars and cocoa ala a Brown Ale, hints of nutty, and some dark fruits (raisins, cherries). 

Regular - This is still super smooth...however, the carbonation does changes the entire profile of the beer. This one has some bite. You get those tannin notes from the malts, with some peat malt astringency, and some bready and toasty astringency. It's welcomed, this is a Scotch Ale. It definitely changes the complexion of the beer. It may be the age, but the regular version just has more malt "umphh" with the sugary and subtle fruit notes coming afterwards. Really fantastic.

Mouthfeel/Drinkability/Final Thoughts

Nitro - Both of these beers have above-average complexity and brilliant palate duration. They both mask the 8.0% as well. The Nitro is way smoother. It also shifts the balance towards the sweet sugar, with less bready malts and less astringency. Both of these beers are full-bodied. On the Nitro,  you get silky smoothness, sugars, cocoa, and bread/toast up front; that rolls into more cocoa, some peat malt, beechwood, and some raisins; the back end drops lingering peat malts, but it is sweet. The finish is sweet and blunt.

Regular - As noted above, this is full-bodied with good complexity and palate depth. Up front: sweetness, but more towards the malty side with sweet peated malts, beechwood, bread, toast; the mids hit some serious Scotch Ale notes, with some bread, rye, brown sugar; the back end dials up sugars with some fruit notes (raisins, cherries). Wow...I'm amazed at how much these two beers differ. 

Rating

Nitro - Strong Above-Average (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

Regular - Decent Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

Well, I think the ratings speak for themselves. For me, I'm really digging the nitro version of this beer. It's smoother...and it hits those sweet notes without going too far into the peat/smoked malts. The regular version is still delicious though, and this is the perfect beer to pair with grilled meats, or in my case, nachos. Yum. If you haven't checked this one out, do it now. This is a certified classic, and one of the better American Scotch Ales.

Random Thought: TGIF...T..G...I...F. 

Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp 2014: Tater Ridge Scottish Ale (brewed with Asheville Brewers Alliance in Asheville, North Carolina)

Brewed By: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California 
Purchased: Single 12oz bottle from the 2014 Beer Camp bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2014 (PKG 06/04/14)
Style/ABV: Stottish Ale, 7.0%

Reported IBUs: 35

What is Beer Camp? It is Sierra Nevada's celebration of craft beer and the numerous breweries across America that make that craft beer. For 2014, Sierra Nevada collaborated with 12 different breweries to make 12 different beers. They also have a Beer Camp Across America Beer Festival, which will stop at seven different cities and feature many different breweries and beers.

About Sierra Nevada:

Sierra Nevada are one of the big players in craft brewing, and one of the first craft breweries to arrive on the craft beer scene. If you check out their history page, you will see that founder Ken Grossman began his quest to build a brewery in 1976. In 1980, Ken Grossman and co-founder Paul Camusi brewed their first batch of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. According to Wikipedia, Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale is the second best selling craft beer behind Boston Lager. Sierra Nevada is the sixth largest brewing company in the United States as well, cranking out over 750,000 barrels in 2010. For more info, check out their website.

The Tater Ridge Scottish Ale is a collaboration between Sierra Nevada and the Scottish folk from the Asheville Brewers Alliance. My bottle reads: "We're fortunate to call the passionate and talented folks in the Asheville Brewers Alliance our North Carolina neighbors. Tater Ridge is our nod to the area's Scottish Highland history, and we hope this ale accented by sweet potatoes will be the first of many collaborations to come."

There and Back English-Style Bitter

This one pours out a dark reddish-browh with two fingers of tan/caramel-tinted head. This is nearly opaque; you can't really see the carbonation. There is good head retention and lacing.

The aroma here is really deep, with big caramel, bready notes, spicy notes, brown sugar, and sweet fruits that start to emerge as this warms up. It doesn't smelly like your prototypical Scotch Ale, so immediately judging this by the aroma is a bit difficult to do.

The taste, however, is much more in line with what I was expecting with a Scottish Ale. There are twangy peated malts playing off big bready and caramel notes, with Twizzlers fruits. This is fruity and sweet, with some bready spice in the back. It's very elegant and nice.

This is full-bodied, but I don't get any of the 7.0%. This is all about those gentle caramel malts and that nice, fruity body. FYI: I don't get any potato in this. Palate depth is good; good complexity. Up front: bready malts, caramel sugars, Twizzlers sweetness; that rolls into deep malts, light peat, more fruity and bready notes; the back end has a twang of hops and finishes with lingerings sugars. Nice.

Rating: Above-Average (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this beer. Maybe even higher...hmm. I'll have to revisit this in a few days. This is easily one of my favorites from the Beer Camp 2014. This is really tightly executed, and also happens to be an interesting take on the Scottish Ale style. I'd buy this in a 6-pack in the late Fall or early Winter months to pair with football and hearty stews and desserts. This is the Autumn beer that I want...not another tired adjunct squash or pumpkin beer.

Random Thought: This is seriously some great beer. It makes up for the sort-of-boring Yvan and Chico. 

Three Floyds Robert The Bruce Scottish Ale

Brewed By: Three Floyds Brewing Company in Munster, Indiana
Purchased: Single 12oz bottle from a six-pack purchased at Jewel in Chicago, IL; 2011
Style/ABV: Scottish Ale, 7.0%

Today we go to Munster, Indiana, where Three Floyds has been brewing beer since 1996. The brewery was founded by brothers Nick and Simon, and their father Mike Floyd - hence, the name, Three Floyds. The first brewery was originally located in Hammond, Indiana. Eventually Three Floyds outgrew their original location, and moved to Munster. The brewery is probably most famous for their Dark Lord Stout. If you haven't heard of it, Google it.

Today's beer, Robert The Bruce Scottish Ale, clocks inat 7.0% and packs 30 IBUs. According to the brewery website, this is a complex and bold Scottish Ale brewed with roasted and crystal malts, and balanced with just the right amount of hops. They describe the beer as ruby in color, with a malty nose, a caramel and roasted profile, and a full body. This is a malty beer for malt lovers.

But what is a Scottish Ale? If you consult the BJCP you will notice that there are three variations of Scottish Ales. The BCJP states that the Scottish Ale sub-styles are differentiated by gravity and alcohol strength. There is a good article on Scottish Ales at Winning Homebrew. According to their article:

The Scottish ales follow in the English tradition of having a confusing naming convention. The names are steeped in tradition and history, one thing the Scottish are famous for. To start with are the Schilling designations. These are remnants of the 1870 rating system in which the price of beer, including the taxes, was rated in the old pre-decimal shillings. 60 Shillings was a light ale; 70 Shillings was a heavy ale; 80 Shillings was an export; and 90+ Shillings was a barley-wine known as "wee heavy". If the names didn't confuse outsiders enough, it happens that the lighter ales, which were equated with the English mild, were dark beers. And the heavy beers, similar to English bitters, weer light in color. The fact that the breweries in Scotland still use these terms to describe their beers, shows how much the Scotts believe in tradition and history.

By virtue of ingredients - a large supply of malts and barley and a short supply of hops - Whiskey and malted beer is king in Scotland. Scottish Ales are malt forward and are balanced with some light hopping. Scottish Ales are brewed colder than most ales, and are usually cleaner with low esters and clean malt flavors. Because of this, the style gets compared to lagers like Bocks. This is a style of beer that can be very sweet, and some versions of they style may have a low to moderate peaty note (think whiskey). Peaty flavors are often earthy and smoky. Let's dive in and see how the Three Floyd's Scottish Ale stacks up. 

Three Floyds Robert The Bruce

The pour reveals 3-fingers of foamy, tan/eggshell/copper head. The head is thick and creamy, has good sustainability, is leaving nice lacing on the glass, and looks a lot like bread. There are not a ton of bubbles in my glass, so I would guess this has medium to light carbonation. The body of the beer is a dark brown/copper color, with hints of ruby and dark red. You can barely see through this beer. It might be semi-filtered, or maybe it has a very slight haze. The head retention on this is wonderful. I've been sitting here for like 15 minutes waiting for this to warm up, and there is still at least one centimeter of head atop this beer. Epic stuff.

The aroma on this beer is big raunchy malts with some hints of hop freshness. I'm picking up a light and clean hop note; herbal, earthy, fresh. There are roasted malts, some light nuttiness, hints of chocolate, caramel, a grainy or earthy note, and toffee. 

This is a very funky beer in terms of taste. My first sip was nutty, grainy, peaty, malty; I am pulling hints of chocolate and wood, roasted malts. There is a nice warming grain burn on the back end. There is some butter/diacetyl on the front of the tongue. I'm picking up peat and roast on the sides of my tongue, and hints of caramel, toffee, and chocolate. There are virtually no hops in the taste - MAYBE a hint of herbal or earthy, but I'm not even sure that is from the hops. This is a malt bomb with huge peaty, roasty notes.

This is a big thick beer. This is a heavy beer with low carbonation and a thick mouthfeel. You do feel some of the 7% ABV on the back end, and there is a nice grainy and dry alcohol finish. I'm also getting some peanuts and peanut butter hints on the back end: fun, right? This has wonderful palate depth and solid complexity. The front end is: thick malt with hints of nuts and roast and peat; this rolls into the middle which is caramel, toffee, sweet, chocolate, woody, earthy, butter; the back end is grainy and dry with a touch of alcohol burn. 

Rating: Above-Average
Score: 88%

I don't have a lot to amend here. This is a super malty, grainy beer that has a nice dry finish with hints of grain. This reminds me a bit of whiskey, more so in spirit than in taste. The heavy malt presence is something different: this is not a beer I would drink all the time. However, I would LOVE to pair this beer with something Asian and a peanut sauce. Actually, this beer would go good with any nutty meal or any peanut dish. I can recommend this beer, and in fact I enjoyed it quite a bit. I will pick this up again in the future, and you should too.