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Founders Sumatra Mountain Brown

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American Brown Ale, Texas Brown Ale or as Founders calls this beer ‘Imperial Brown Ale’ generally describes a malt forward beer, a pumped up version of an English Brown recipe with hops like Cascade aggressively added and the ABV often much higher than the British original. The Oxford Companion to Beer notes that American Browns use “(r)oasted and caramelized malts are used heavily enough to skirt the edges of the porter style’ and nearly all have ‘notable hop aromatics’.

THE BEER

Founders Sumatra Mountain Brown bottle is subtle compared to many of their own labels for beers such as Backwoods Bastard and Breakfast Stout. More like Black Rye. The brown and yellow color palette seems to hearken back to an older time, preparing us for a simple beer. Imagine our surprise then, when I spied that this brown was brewed with Sumatran coffee (yes, hence the name) and comes in at a whopping 9% alcohol by volume. This is not a working man’s sipper at the pub. Founders describes the beer thusly:

This bold, imperial brown ale gets its body from a team of malts including Caramel malt for sweetness, flaked barley for dense foam, a bit of Chocolate malt for its deep color and Aromatic and Munich malts to add even more depth. German and Perle hops add a touch of bitterness to balance the malty sweetness. The addition of rich Sumatra coffee takes this perfectly balanced imperial brown ale to a decadent level.

TASTING NOTES

Founders Sumatra Mountain Brown

Cracking open Sumatra Mountain, the addition of Indonesian coffee is evident. Dave and I both felt it reminded us of the percolator or instant coffee aromatics one finds in beers like Weyerbacher Sunday Morning Stout. The picture above looks nearly black but as it poured the color is a ruddy brown. The tan head is foamy and lingers a good time for a 9% beer. What you taste is big on roasted malts and of course coffee, nothing percolator about how it comes through in the flavor. Really nice use of the java, with some pop of hops right at the end, with mild bitterness. The mouthfeel is amazingly creamy! Apparently due to the flaked barley, making it highly drinkable, and the beer finishes dry. Great brewers don’t brew high alcohol beers, they make great beer that is high gravity. Drinking Founders Sumatra Mountain Brown I got no hint it was anything above 5%.

CONCLUSION

Founders Frangelic Mountain Brown was another 9% ABV coffee beer, released as one of the more underwhelming of the Backstage Series in a large format bottle. Despite not setting off the beer geeks fervor, it was a tasty beer with strong hazelnut notes (BarleyWhine.com gave it an 8.0).

Founders Sumatra Mountain Brown comes in at the same 9%, with big coffee notes, dry with a medium body, although minus the hazelnut flavoring. I’m not sure these beers vary greatly in their recipe, which is a good thing. Offering 6 packs of a coffee forward imperial brown ale is a great addition to the Founders lineup. Brown ales, especially those with nuttier notes or coffee, are often gateway beers for those entering the good beer world. As such, Sumatra Mountain would be a great choice to try if you are starting out looking for a craft beer with a balance of flavors, albeit leaning towards the sweeter malt side. This is a fine beer, delivering on what it promises. One of the better straight ahead coffee beers around. find yourself a 6-pack 4-pack and you will not be disappointed.

8.0/10

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Schlafly Pumpkin Ale

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“…as if his soul had been extinguished within his lungs at the very moment the sweet pumpkin gave up its incensed ghost.”
― Ray Bradbury, The Halloween Tree

Schlafly Pumpkin Ale

THE BEER

As pumpkin beers go, we have covered quite a few. The style started as a simple use of a gourd as an adjunct for flavor and sweetness. These days, pumpkin is paired with coffee, huge pumpkin pie spices, and of course bourbon barrels.

Schlafly Pumpkin Ale, a special release from the brewery, attempts to toe the line between the the overly spiced, and the original pumpkin beers that were bland and simple. A simply name, a simple label, and an unaffected approach to an autumn classic. This beer should by all rights fall by the wayside, another pumpkin ale with no gimmick. And yet it stands out, a consistently beloved pumpkin beer, considered a standard barer of the style.

TASTING NOTES

Looking at the bottle, this beer looks like so many 1990’s microbrews, orange in color with a pumpkin, but otherwise quite boring. The beer pours a ruddy orange color, with no visible sediments. Schlafly Pumpkin Ale bubbles up with a short, pallid, tan head, that fades with minimal retention. The aromas off the pour are a bouquet of cinnamon, cloves or ginger and nutmeg, with no notes of hops, and mildly sweet malt elements. The tastes are a joyful blend of pumpkin pie, an almost tang of vestigial gourd and sweet malt finish. The body is creamy with good carbonation. Almost no bitterness shows against the spice and sugars, with a dry, clean finish.

CONCLUSION

More people care for pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks, or pumpkin pie spice Pringles, more than they do for actual pumpkin. The spice mixture is a popular blend without question. Within Schlafly Pumpkin Ale that well liked blend of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg combines with a grounding of pumpkin flavor and light, dry finish. The seasoning is strong, yet not overwhelming. The beer is quite simply a delicious expression of what has become the standard pumpkin ale style. While not rare, the distribution is limited, making this a special treat for those of us outside Schlafly’s range. The 8% ABV is rather high, and yet well hidden here. This is a rewarding beer, one of the best around for anyone that likes pumpkin pie.

9.0/10

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Prairie Apple Brandy Barrel Noir

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Prairie Apple Brandy Barrel Noir: Something Sweeter

THE BEER

Prairie makes a few barrel aged stouts. Last year we loved the Bomb!, their spicy coffee stout. They also have a very nice bourbon barrel aged oatmeal stout, Prairie Noir, that comes in 16.9 oz bottles. Prairie Apple Brandy Barrel Noir on the other hand, comes in 12 oz bottles and apparently does not come from the same base beer as that Noir, as there is no mention of oatmeal here. Released for the first time this year, we believe ABB Noir saw a more limited release than the larger format Prairie Noir. Our local could only sell us one bottle, and there appeared to be some trade demand.

Often aged in a mix of old and new cognac barrels, made from Limousin oak, Apple brandy is a spirit distilled with apples as its sole ingredient. The French have long produced the best of the spirit, however newer American versions have recently appeared to compete as world class apple brandy.

TASTING NOTES

Prairie Apple Brandy Barrel Noir

Pouring out viscous black, the carbonation shows itself in brown micro-bubbles that cling to the glass and linger a while. It smells potently of a sweet aperitif with maple syrup. The taste is a bold mix of vanilla and sugar, almost Coca-Cola with a slight hop kick in the finish, reflecting the 70 IBUs. The mouthfeel is oily, with the carbonation doing little, and a sweet, slightly burnt note in the finish. Not as thick as many modern American stouts.

CONCLUSION

Unlike bourbon or rum barrel aged beers, I and likely most craft beer drinkers, are less familiar with the flavor profile of apple brandy. That said, I have tasted some better French Calvados, although I could likely not identify the specific barrel type used to age this beer. The brandy notes simply are not that distinctive to me.

A spirit aged in cognac barrels, the barrels that aged apple brandy bring sweetness and vanilla in my experience, softening and refining a beer. Here, having not had the base beer, I am guessing those factors again came into play. Prairie Apple Brandy Barrel Noir is a sweet treat, however lacking a full body and the complex flavors of many other barrel aged stouts, keeps it from being a favorite.

7.0/10

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Best Coffee Beer: Part 4

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Best of Series: What is the Best Coffee Beer: Part 4?

It seems each year more and more breweries decide to try their hand at pairing arabica beans with beer. Nearly always brewing a porter or stout, brewers blend the natural coffee/chocolate flavors of darker malts with bold roasts, often from their favorite local shops. The combination continues to prove popular with craft beer fans. For Part 4 in our series, we look at coffee beers from Avery, Hill Farmstead, Eclipse, and Jackie O’s.

THE BEERS:

From barrel aged bombs to subtle milk stouts, we cover some of the best new coffee beers.

AVERY TWEAK

Avery Tweak

Steve: I drank this from the bottle pictured above. Following the great success of Goose Island’s Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout and Founders KBS, Avery takes the barrel aging process to their coffee stout. The 17.81% ABV stout is aged 4 months in bourbon barrels after brewing with an organic espresso blend from Ozo Coffee Co. Potent bourbon, coffee and chocolate notes on the nose. Pours black, with an unexpected ruddy brown head. The taste is a perhaps the most potent coffee flavored stout around. Huge espresso blends with the vanilla and char from bourbon barrels, and waves of sweetness to balance this explosive espresso shot. The booze kicks in in the finish as the mild carbonation holds on to make this dangerously drinkable: Amazing beer.

Avery Tweak

Dave: … 5 oz pour in a large snifter at the new Avery tasting room in Boulder. Delivers on all the flavors promised and more – coffee, bourbon, oak, chocolate, molasses. Huge flavors blended well with no noticeable alcohol bite. Superlative.

New space Avery is terrific – a must stop when in CO.

9.5/10

JACKIE O’S DARK APPARITION VANILLA & COFFEE BEAN

Jackie O's Dark Apparition Coffee Vanilla

A big Russian imperial stout brewed with brown sugar, Dark Apparition from Jackie O’s may be the most recognizable label from the Athens Ohio brewery. Tasted here is a newly bottled variant, brewed with vanilla and coffee. While the original has bold malts with some coffee notes, this beer smells distinctly of vanilla and coffee, with mild soy sauce and hops less pronounced. The carbonation is good for a 10.5% ABVer, helping making the thick body quafable. Finish is fading vanilla with the coffee showing itself in a bitter note. Overall, the taste is very close to the base beer, with modest vanilla notes, and a hint of coffee. If you like vanilla, and maybe don’t even like coffee, this beer is a fun twist on Dark App. If you are looking for a coffee forward beer that brings the java up front, this one might be a slight let down.

8.0/10

SIERRA NEVADA/NINKASI BEER CAMP DOUBLE LATTE

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Double Latte

In the summer of 2014 Sierra Nevada released a 12-pack of collaboration bottles and cans, each a separate beer brewed in conjunction with “…coveted breweries, which were selected for their innovation and reputation for brewing world-class beers”. As you may recall, I visited Ninkasi and they certainly fit this description. So I was thrilled they were selected to team up on a coffee based milk stout. The Oregon brewer employed a cold pressed blend from the famous Stumptown Coffee Roasters to flavor Double Latte. And to great effect, this Beer Camp bottle pours a chocolate malt looking head that is frothy and long lasting, smelling of coffee, chocolate, and fruit. No soy sauce notes are present in the sweet coffee flavors that match the nose. The body is a glorious silky, creamy mouthfeel. There is just a hint of sweetness, along with mild acidity and a hop presence, all balancing each other. Dry finish with some lingering coffee and hops. One of my favorite beers from the 2014 Beer Camp collection.

9.0/10

HILL FARMSTEAD EARL

Hill Farmstead Earl

Note: Unfortunately, this beer will not be scored due to its age. Bottled in December of 2012, we didn’t sample it until February of 2014. Just like ground coffee in a can, the volatile oils from roasted beans fall off quickly in beer.

Aged or not, Earl opens with a crisp pop of the cap, pouring out a dense wet sand colored head with good retention. The aromas are sweet grains, and stone fruit. The flavors of this stout are roasted grain, oatmeal, semi-sweet chocolate, and fruit, with a hint of coffee building. The body is marvelous, with the oatmeal adding a creaminess to the thick stout. Finish on the palette is a transition to bitter coffee, that builds. A very nice beer, that is almost certainly even better with fresh coffee flavor.

CONCLUSION

For some, there is no such thing as bad pizza. Thick or thin crust, allowing for some standards such as fresh ingredients, the basic components are a time honored infatuation for millions of pizza lovers. It seems that with coffee beer too, we have come to a place where highly skilled brewers using high quality coffee, are hard pressed to brew a bad coffee beer. While some may prefer the vanilla in one recipe over the bourbon in another, none of these coffee based beers left us unhappy.

Founders Backwoods Bastard: 2011 vs 2014

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Founders Backwoods Bastard, the bourbon barrel aged version of the Dirty Bastard scotch ale, with its 10.2% ABV and huge flavor profile, seemed like a decent candidate for cellaring. For this review, Dave and I compare a 2011 to the most recent release from 2014.

Craft beer enthusiasts often look to mimic wine lovers habits. But while Opus One is conclusively considered to be better having laid down for years—depending on vintage—beer is a more suspicious candidate for this treatment. What most beer guys don’t know however, is that most wines yield a diminished experience with age. In our opinion, beer is best enjoyed fresh. Other than a few specific, high ABV styles, at the margins, beer is not improved with age and most often made worse. Despite our feelings, Founders Backwoods Bastard was considered a prime candidate for aging. And a fine chance to experiment with long term cellaring.

Neither of us are fans of the wee heavy/Scotch ale beer style. The unbalanced malt bombs remind us of the most simplistic failures of English style barleywines or old ales, with less body. As such, Backwoods Bastard was a happy surprise when we first sampled it, the barrel-aging adding layers of complexity and a roundness to the Dirty Bastard base beer. Fresh, Backwoods Bastard is a favorite. The hope that it could improve with age granted me the patience to keep from cracking two Founders gems for three years.

THE BEER

Dave Engbers often tells the tale of how the early days of Founders nearly saw the fledgling brewery go belly up. Brewing the first beer they were passionate about, the aggressive wee heavy Dirty Bastard—our base beer—brought back the excitement to the owners and their customers.

The transformation from Dirty to Backwoods Bastard involves time and aging in bourbon barrels. While this technique is common in imperial stouts, less wee heavy or scotch ales are barrel aged. The 2011 and 2014 releases have the same 10.2% ABV, and as far as we know, same recipe.

TASTING NOTES

Founders Backwoods Bastard vertical

2011

Starting with the older beer, the 2011 Founders Backwoods Bastard (bottled 10/13/2011) pours out cloudy and brown. Minimal head of white microbubbles forms, but dissipates quickly. On the nose, 2011 has hints of vanilla, caramel and cardboard. Taste of the older Bastard is sweet malts with vanilla, oak and toffee, all quite muted. The flavor profile reminds us of an English style barleywine that has sat for a long time. There is a lack of depth in the flavors mid-palette. The body is med/thin, with only the slightest carbonation scooting it down. The finish has just enough hops to retain a slightly bitter kick, giving this beer a bit more complexity. The sweetness stays around, helping to mask the high alcohol content.

Founders Backwoods Bastard 2014 vs 2011

2014

Coming out of the bottle with an observably higher carbonation, the 2014 Backwoods Bastard (bottled 9/24/2014) is ruddy brown, with greater clarity than the vintage bottle. The nose is huge blasts of bourbon, all the vanilla and oak along with a candy sweet note. Flavors are equally huge, following the nose the taste erupts vanilla and oak from the bourbon barrels, paired with a sticky sweetness, leaving only a hint of the high alcohol content. The body remains on the thinner side of medium, but with better carbonation powering the big beer across the palette. The finish is still sweet, with noticeable hops sneaking in on the finish, with the booze showing itself.

CONCLUSION

When I put a few bottles of Founders Backwoods Bastard down to cellar, the hope was simple. With age, see some of the boozy finish disappear from the beer, while retaining the amazing bourbon sweetness. Unfortunately, what we got in our three year old beer was a shadow of its former glorious self.  Meanwhile, the relatively short three months since our 2014 Bastard was released had pleasantly muted the potent burn Backwoods Bastard can display when fresh.

With cellaring, beer lovers gain an outlet over which to brag, and lust over others hordes. And yet, every day beer sits, even at the perfect temperature, humidity and darkness, it fades away. So too sadly is the case for our 2011 Founders Backwoods Bastard. The fresh bottle is an amazing, treat, perhaps the most bourbon forward beer we have sampled. The aged, at least one going back three years, retains little of what makes it worth tracking down. And for the cost of around $13.00 per four pack, there is no reason to enjoy it at anything but the beers peak numminess.

 

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