I’m sitting in front of the fire at my parent’s place enjoying this brew and relaxing on an unseasonably chilly November afternoon. This is an optimal way to enjoy a brew of this magnitude. I’d never come across Backwoods Bastard from Founders which might be an indictment on my brew culture acumen but I snapped this up immediately when I was out looking for Ten Fidy so I could introduce my dad to it. Bourbon barrel aged brew bro-cachos, the Bastard is your salvation.

Founders Brewing Company Backwoods Bastard

Aroma/Appearance

This is the best nose I’ve encountered on any of the bourbon beers I’ve had. It’s sensationally, succulently sweet with vanilla notes pushing their way to the front. The aroma is supported by a nice bourbon finish, full of oak with a hint of a sharp booziness that doesn’t overpower.

The color looks exactly like a glass of bourbon, with a thin head that you can’t get to billow and that fades pretty quickly back into the beer. Just check out the pour video:

The Bastard is a beauty just to look at and smell, let alone drink…

Flavor/Mouth-feel

Let this one warm up! Please!

It’s wonderfully smooth when it’s cold for being a 10.2% ABV bomb. Letting it warm opens up a fantastic bouquet of everything that’s great about beer aged in charred oak barrels where bourbon once dwelled.

Letting it warm unleashed the booziness of the bourbon that is a little muted when enjoyed straight out of the fridge. If you balk at the alcohol bite on some higher ABV beers, its probably best to drink this one cold. If you want a fuller experience with it, warm it up and go to town. I prefer to sip it over a period of time so I can see what it’s like straight from the fridge all the way up to room temperature.

There isn’t much that’s unique about this brew in terms of the bourbon barrel aged line, the beauty is in it’s wonderful silkiness. The mouth-feel isn’t too thick but still coats the mouth which allows for the finish to stick around longer.

The flavor profile is distinctly bourbon but mixes in a nice vanilla prominence previewed in the head. There are also notes of dark fruits like raisins, prunes and dates as well as a tiny, tiny hint of cocoa and coffee on the back. The beer is wrapped up by the nice alcohol bite I’ve been talking about too much.

Overall

This beer is so smooth its remarkable. Sometimes the bourbon barrel aging gets out of control and overwhelms the beer, hiding some of the great supporting flavors that can be brought out. The brew artisans at Founders did an unbelievable job with this. It’s bourbon to the core but the quality and prominence of the supporting flavors elevates it to world class status. It is a classic beer for cold nights and will warm you up in an instant.