Founders Sweet Repute

Brewed By: Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at Woodman's in Kenosha, WI; 2013 
Style/ABV: Wheatwine, 12.6%
Reported IBUs: ?

After thoroughly enjoying the Founders Bolt Cutter, I was very excited to give today's beer a shot. The Sweet Repute is another Barleywine-type beer. This is a "Wheat Wine ale aged in bourbon barrels and bourbon maple syrup barrels." Yum. 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 Sweet Repute (Founders Backstage Series #8: Sweet Repute) is part of the Backstage Series of beers. This Wheat Wine features a wheat and roasted malt base, with fragrant hops. The beer is then barrel aged in maple syrup bourbon barels and bourbon barrels over the course of sixteen months. 

Founders Sweet Repute

The beer pours into a semi-hazy orange body, kicking up a finger or two of creamy, off-white head. The head has some orange and gold tones. There are tiny streams of carbonation visible in the body, along with some floating yeast sediment. Some white head is hanging around for the duration...and there are some glossy alcohol legs and lacing. It looks the part, but the magic starts to show up in the aroma.

On the aroma: big oak, bourbon, barrel, maple syrup, huge coconut, toasted coconut, nutty aromas, whiskey, coconut milk, almonds, pineapple, peaches, and tropical fruits. The aroma has huge oak and toasted coconut, with underlying fruitiness. There's some wheat malts on the aroma as well.

Yup...the taste reminds me of a few beers. Namely the Allagash Curieux and the De Proefbrouwerij / Cigar City Tropical Tripel. I'm getting huge oak, toasted coconut, nutty notes, whiskey/bourbon and booze, big pineapple, peach, and tropical citrus and fruits. There's a toffee/caramel thickness to this beer, and the beer flirts with rye and cane sugar. It's exceptionally heavy and boozy...as it should at the quoted 12.6%.

This is surprisingly dense, with lots of bourbon, coconut cake, and wheat density. It's a big beer at 12.6%, and it's meant to be sipped on. The mouthfeel is full-bodied, and palate depth is good. Complexity is okay, and maybe not as good as the Curieux or Tropical Tripel? I dunno. It's hard to say without doing a proper comparison. I do love this style though. It's aggressive and not very drinkable, but it is what it is. Up front is bourbon, booze, maple, coconut cake, toasted coconut, and barrel; the middle rolls into coconut, pineapple, tropical fruits, some wheat malts and grain, mild bitterness and hops; the back end is lingering coconut and grain, whiskey, bourbon...fade to sticky and dry.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

This is probably a Strong Above-Average for me. It's very enjoyable for what it is, but it is very straightforward in its approach. I like that this beer delivers everything it promises without messing around. You can't complain about that. Food pairings for this would include fish tacos, habanero wings, mango salsa, and other tropical foods. Or just sip on it because it really is a sipping beer. 

Random Thought: I love the warm weather, hate the allergies.

Founders Bolt Cutter

Brewed By: Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at Friar Tuck in Urbana, IL; 2013 (2012 Release)
Style/ABV: American Barleywine, 15.0%
Reported IBUs: ?

Tonight's beer has been a year in the making. I stumbled upon this beer twice last year, once in Michigan over Thanksgiving weekend, and once again in Urbana. I snagged a bottle the second time around. The full name of tonight's beer is: Founders Backstage Series #5: 15th Anniversary Bolt Cutter Barley Wine. Too many words. 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 story goes, back when Founders was located on Monroe, they were defaulting on their loans. The bank called and threatened to chain the doors shut if they didn't pay up. Founders had seven days to come up with half a million dollars. So co-founder, Dave Engbers, bought a pair of bolt cutters, determined to keep brewing beer no matter what. As part of Founders' Backstage Series of beers, the Bolt Cutter was brewed to celebrate 15 years of brewing, and to remind everyone how far Founders has come since brewing their first beer in November 1997.

The Bolt Cutter is an extreme beer in every regard. Punching in at 15%, this beer is dry-hopped with Cascade hops, and balanced by huge malty sweetness and spicy complexity. This beer is technically a blend, with some of the beer aged in bourbon barrels, some in maple syrup-bourbon barrels, and some not aged in any barrels. The beer was then allowed to mature in bottles and kegs for four months. This beer should expand and open up as it warms.

Full disclaimer: this is a huge beer, and I'm a pussy. I'll probably take some tasting notes now, and come back later and finish this up. 

Founders Bolt Cutter

In lower light, the beer pours a hazy amber/orange color, with a pinky's worth of caramel-tinted head. You can see some carbonation too. My first observation in bright light is: "Damn. Look at those tears/alcohol legs. So glossy." In bright light, the beer is a dark orange/tangerine/blood orange, almost veering towards brown or amber. There's a lot of carbonation in the form of tiny bubbles streaming upwards, and there's a lot of creamy head settling atop the beer, like ocean foam. And dat lacing and those alcohol legs. It looks the part of a Barleywine.

Even after a year of age, right away I'm getting blasted with a ton of resinous citrus on the nose. There's big grapefruit and orange. After the citrus, I'm picking up lots of malt: caramel, brown sugar, pine sap, maple syrup. There's a splash of bourbon, and some nuttiness/marzipan. As this warms, the malt density and barrel character starts to come out a bit more on the nose.

Wow, this is impressively dense stuff. The mouthfeel is dangerously thick, and I'm getting tons of maple, sap, sugary grapefruit and orange, lemon, and light barrel character. Huzzah. There's tons of complex sugars in this this, with brown sugar, molasses, and lightly burnt sugar. At this point, the barrel character and hop character both seem fairly integrated into the beer, with splashes of orange that are lemon-like or pine-like. There's some hints of wood and bourbon, as well as booze, but it all gels together. 

A year of time has evidently done this beer well. This really opens up as it warms up. When it is a bit cooler, the hops seem a bit more prominent. As this warms up the malt sweetness really pops, and oh is it good. The malt sweetness, barrel character, and hops all integrate into something that is pretty damn smooth for 15% ABV. This is boozy, but I'm not having any issues with drinkability. And more importantly  this is not cloying or overpowering like some American Barlyewines (it is cloying...just not in a bad way). The palate depth is great, complexity is good. This is full-bodied, dense, sticky, and sweet. I'm getting a blast of malts, cherries, pine/maple sap, and brown sugar up front; that rolls into lemon, pine, resinous hops, spice, brown sugar; the back end gives way to some bourbon/booze, light wood and barrel, and a dry, sticky, boozy finish.

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew on this. I've been nursing this for the past few hours during the Bears' preseason game, and it's been drinking real nice. This is a well-made American Barleywine. It definitely seems to lean towards the hoppy side of things, but as this warms up some nice malts and sugary complexity come out. As the balance shifts towards something a bit more even, the beer starts to really pop. MAKE NO MISTAKE, though, this is an in-your-face, American-style Barleywine. This is pure, unadulterated, American goodness. This does not dial up the malt complexity to 11. Much of the sweetness in this beer comes from the booze, the sticky citrus hops, and the barrel. If you have a bottle of this in your cellar, you can drink it confidently today, or wait another year. You can pair this beer with creme brule, a cigar, pecan pie, or just drink it all by itself. This is a great sipping beer, or a beer to share with some friends. This is a fun beer, and a good example of a style that I'm not a huge fan of. With that said, I'd rather see Founders put a Stout in their maple barrels. 

Random Thought: Speaking of the Bears, their offense looks alright against the super crappy Oakland Raiders. However, this team seriously lacks depth. Once we pulled the starters...eh. We have a long way to go, but I'm super curious to see how our offense looks against a real team.