Backwoods Bastard
by Paul Arthur on Feb.01, 2010, under ale, barrel aged beer, beer, scotch ale
Background: Founders’ strong Scotch Ale is called “Dirty Bastard”; the bottle only gives us “ale aged in oak bourbon barrels” as the description, but I think it’s a fair assumption that the base beer is Dirty Bastard.
Nose: Fresh corn bourbon and vanilla oak.
Taste: Sugared oak. The caramelisation from the wee heavy plays nicely with the sweet bourbon flavours from the barrel, but the extra alcohol really thins out the body. Somewhat fruity.
Overall: I like barrel-aged beers, I really do. Unfortunately, I find that the bourbon barrels most commonly used have a tendency to overwhelm even the most robust base beer, giving them a distressing sameness. This is good beer, but it’s not great and it’s very bourbon.
