Backwoods Bastard

 Backwoods Bastard sounds like it might be the name of my buddy Steve’s Tinder profile, but it’s actually a barrel aged scotch ale. Founder’s brewing takes their scotch ale “Dirty Bastard” and ages it in oak barrels underground. I like Founder’s and I especially like Founder’s barrel aged stuff. They have produced gems like KBS and CBS. So I took my puppy on a hike, to scope out some local ice climbing conditions, and decided to stay warm with a Backwoods Bastard while I strolled around. If I were to have a choice, I will take Backwoods with some age on it. I have had it fresh and it is a little too fresh/oaky for me. Not that it is bad, but I believe the flavors really blend and compliment each other after a year of cohabitation in a bottle.

I poured myself a glass after the short uphill because trying to keep up with my dog leaves me out of breath. It pours murky brown, or to be more poetic: a light opaque walnut shade of sienna. It still smells of oak before I even put my nose to the glass. It’s subdued from its fresh form though. Old ale aromas blend themselves in with the oak, caramel, old chocolate, and sweetness. It tastes exactly as I want it to taste, an example of beer cellaring gone right. Enough age to make the beer better to me. It tastes like oak, vanilla, caramel, and slightly burnt. It is still boozier than I thought it would be for its ABV, but that isn’t a bad thing. Thin mouthfeel made it more drinkable on the unseasonably warm day. Overall it is a great beer fresh, but I will definitely age all my bottles one year or more before I crack them.