Founders Brewing Company

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Homercidal

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Went to Founders, in Grand Rapids, MI this holiday season and had a few of their beers.

Abominable Iceman - A spiced Ale. I had no idea what to expect with this, and to be honest, the spices were pretty strong to start with. After a few swallows, I grew more used to it, and really kind of liked it. I'm no good at giving detailed tasting reports, but it's basically a Christmas Ale with more spice flavors than I've had in any others. I think it's worth trying if you can find it. A quick look at their website says that they no longer have it on tap.

Harvest Ale - Yep, a Wet Hop Ale! I missed Sierra Nevada's this year, and really wanted to try it. Bought it in a 4-pack from the cooler at the brewery, and let me tell you it was not cheap! BUT! It is a damn tasty beer! Frankly, I had heard so much about the SN version, that I thought I was setting myself up for a let down, but this beer had so much fresh hops flavor that it may have moved up to the top of my preference list! Too bad it's only available for a limited time...

Backwoods Bastard - Basically it's their Dirty Bastard "Dark ruby in color and brewed with ten varieties of imported malts this beer continuously lives up to its reputation as a bold and powerful ale. Dirty Bastard is complex in the finish with hints of smoke and peat paired with a malty richness, finalized with a good bit of hop attitude." Except that it's been Bourbonized. A very tasty beer for that style, and I probably wouldn't choose it every day, but it's just right for those times where you want a bit of something different. Also a limited edition.

Well, I ended up buying a 4-pack of Harvest and a 4-pack of the Backwoods, and I think I dropped like $23... Youch! Well, it was like a christmas present to myself I guess. Anyway, the beer was well it for the experience.
 
Founders is awesome. I recently bought a four-pack of the Backwoods Bastard. It's fantastic. Now if I could just get my hands on some Kentucky Breakfast Stout. Their brewpub is a great place too. I wish they were around when I lived in the GR area.
 
I love Founders brews.

I'll be in GR for the Beerfest next month. I'm hoping to spend the weekend out there and make a "Hopcat/Founders" hop.
 
The Breakfast Stout is damn tasty, but a little hot at first. Bed it down for a couple months and it rounds out nicely.
 
The Harvest Ale is really good. Looks like I should give their other beers a try as well. $10 for a 4 pack is a little steep though.
 
I just picked up a six pack of founders porter & it is very tasty. The breakfast stout is also real good.
 
Huge fan of Founders! Red's Rye is one of my favorite beers it's a beer that i just don't get tired of drinking. I'm not the biggest fruit beer fan but there Rubaeus is outstanding. I also have a few of there bottles aging: Curmudgeon, Backwoods Bastard, Breakfast Stout. I really want/need to try Devil Dancer, it was on tap not to long ago at one of my local pubs but I missed it by a day :( Heard it was pretty killer. Also haven't had the pleasure of having a Kentucky Breakfast yet but hoping to.
 
I really want/need to try Devil Dancer, it was on tap not to long ago at one of my local pubs but I missed it by a day :(

I just tried this. It was good! But, not what I was expecting. I bought it at a specialty grocery store and I suspect it was a bit old, as some of the other bottles on the shelf definitely were. Because of this, I feel I need to try it again when I know it's fresh.

Impressions/Observations (from memory):
Little head, lightly carbed. Dark amber color. Well balanced, though noticeably malty and the hops were a bit lost. It was very smooth and went down a liitle too easy, even at 13% abv :)
 
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