Frootwood
Founders Brewing Company

FrootwoodFrootwood
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From:
Founders Brewing Company
 
Michigan, United States
Style:
Fruit and Field Beer
Ranked #15
ABV:
8%
Score:
88
Ranked #12,958
Avg:
3.95 | pDev: 10.89%
Reviews:
272
Ratings:
840
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 04, 2024
Added:
Oct 23, 2016
Wants:
  27
Gots:
  175
We took a crisp, light-bodied cherry ale and hid it away in oak barrels that have held both bourbon and maple syrup. After a lengthy stint, it emerged a changed beer, blanketed in notes of warm vanilla and earthy sweetness. The wood proves itself the star of this beer, adding depth and taming the tart cherry while the maple imposes a velvety texture that lingers for not a moment too long.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by maximum12:
Photo of maximum12
Reviewed by maximum12 from Minnesota

3.63/5  rDev -8.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
I hope the beer is as cool as the label; Founders knows marketing. 12 oz. stubby.

The pour looks like water-cut cherry juice. The nose is general sweet fruit & an almost thick air coming off the beer.

Frootwood is the best cough syrup I’ve ever had. Thick & syrupy, this doesn’t so much imbibe as coat. Sweet cherry, sweet vanilla, sweet molasses, & bourbon that’s had all its edges sanded off by sweet sandpaper. Like liquid sliders, this does down…holy crap. Already gone.

Exactly as advertised - good beer.
Mar 25, 2017
More User Ratings:
 
 
Rated: 3.73 by TreyJ88

Mar 04, 2024
Photo of journey-of-beer
Reviewed by journey-of-beer

4.75/5  rDev +20.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Bottled on 11/09/21, found on a store shelf in September 2023 and poured into a snifter on 12/06/2023.

Look: Beautiful clear reddish brown with about a half to three-quarters of a finger of cream-colored head and a pretty impressive amount of lacing. The head mostly fades quickly, but a small ring around the edge of the glass sticks around for a very long time.

Smell: Cherries, cranberries, and bourbon, with MAYBE just a touch of barrel. It smells like a delicious cocktail. No real sign of maple.

Taste: Follows the nose incredibly well, except with the addition of the ale flavor itself (which is mostly lacking in the nose). It tastes like eating a bowl of bourbon-soaked cherries and cranberries, with a very small amount of high-quality ale flavor mixed in. No real sign of maple. As close to perfection for the style as it could possibly be.

Feel: Not syrupy (which I view as a big plus). Moderately carbonated, mild alcohol warming in the throat and chest after the swallow.

Overall: Founders really nailed it with this offering. It could have easily become too sweet, too fruity, and too cloying, but instead it is probably the best barrel-aged fruit beer I have ever tasted. I should note that this bottle has a little over two years of age on it, and I do wonder if the maple sweetness would have been much stronger when it was fresh. I like it just the way it is.
Dec 07, 2023
 
Rated: 4.1 by McSeal from Connecticut

Nov 20, 2023
 
Rated: 3.98 by RalphStanley34 from French Polynesia

Oct 31, 2023
Photo of UWDAWG
Reviewed by UWDAWG from Washington

4.25/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Poured from a 12 ounce bottle dated 11-10-21 into a snifter.

Look- Deep amber with some red tint, creamy off white head with some light pink tint, mildly hazy, above average head retention and lacing, no visible particulate.

Smell- Bourbon, cherry, oak, maple syrup, vanilla, medium strength of scent.

Taste- Cherry, bourbon, vanilla, maple syrup, highly sweet, mildly sour, high strength of flavor.

Feel- Between thin and medium body, average carbonation, highly sweet, mildly sour, silky, mildly mouth warming, mildly creamy.

Overall- This beer provided a very interesting and enjoyable drinking experience. The cherry, bourbon and maple syrup worked in harmony delivering a complex and pleasant bouquet and flavor profile.
Oct 17, 2023
Photo of mpruden
Reviewed by mpruden from Ohio

3.47/5  rDev -12.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Poured into two snifters from an undated 12-oz bottle purchased about a month ago at the brewery.

Appearance: Reddish amber with very little head but leaving some nice lacing.

Nose: Fragrance of maraschino cherries, but not overpowering.

Mouthfeel: Heavy, actually; leaving a nice coating on the tongue.

Attack: Very sweet, just short of cloying, then giving way to the alcohol and a bit of the maple barrel.

Finish: Not much; the attack just sort of disappears.

Overall: I wanted to like this more than I’m actually liking it. It wouldn’t be too bad a dessert beer. I have a couple more from the four-pack; I’ll think I’ll coat the top of one pour with a bit of almond oil, then shave some good dark chocolate on it, making what The Library Sports Grille and Brewery in Laramie, WY calls a “Queen Anne.”

Additional note: Just found an 11/9/21 bottling date on this — maybe it’s showing it’s age a bit but, again, we bought it cold at the brewery a month ago, and have kept it cold since.
Sep 02, 2023
 
Rated: 3.75 by imperialking from Illinois

May 08, 2023
 
Rated: 3.6 by MGibbons from Maryland

Mar 21, 2023
Photo of DrunkenClam
Reviewed by DrunkenClam from Pennsylvania

4.88/5  rDev +23.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5
My current favorite. I like cherry ales. I like sweet induced beers, aka milkshake IPAS. I like bourbon barrel aged beers, aka stouts. So, for me it's a perfecta; what's not to like.
Mar 17, 2023
Photo of Steve_Studnuts
Reviewed by Steve_Studnuts from Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Bottle BLEW A FUCKING GASKET when I cracked the cap. Holy shit. Half of it is on the kitchen floor. Yep. Present tense. I'm reviewing this sucker before I clean it up. It's called commitment, folks.

Body is kind of a dark honeyed orange. There appears to be very little in the way of carbonation (there's a few scant bubbles lazily wafting upward) which makes the mess this created something of a head scratcher. Very little in the way of head. Whatevs. I'm getting maple syrup bourbon barrels on the nose and that is just about it. Maybe a little vanilla pipe tobacco as well. It actually smells pretty nice, even if the base beer is completely obscured. I do get some cherry juice on the tongue. It's way less bourbon-forward than the nose implies. More vanilla pipe tobacco. Maple too, but again, not as much as I figured on. This is undeniably tasty. Maybe a little on the sweet side, but it drinks thin and that beats the shit outta the syrupy mess it could have been in less capable hands. Very low grade carbonation, as well, and that suits this beer just fine. Damn. This is good. I kinda wanted to hate it (because reasons), but Founders is really, really good at this sort of thing.
Dec 14, 2022
Photo of secondtooth
Reviewed by secondtooth from Indiana

4.46/5  rDev +12.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
APPEARANCE: Red-amber clean and unmuddled. Light khaki head and little to no head.

NOSE: Cherry and vanilla, bourbon and tobacco. Exquisite!

TASTE: Big! Cherries wrapped in a warm blanket of velvety bourbon vanilla. Wonderful collision of compatible flavors coming together to power a unique brew. Wow. Impressive.
Nov 17, 2022
 
Rated: 4.05 by mothmanscott from Georgia

Oct 21, 2022
 
Rated: 3.95 by prototypic from Ohio

Sep 25, 2022
Photo of JayQue
Reviewed by JayQue from Virginia

4.1/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Real tasty easy sipper. A wonderful blend of tart cherries, sweet maple syrup with a well-behaved bourbon barrel flavoring in the background. Poured from a stubby 12 oz bottle into a tulip glass, this beer features a somewhat dense amber/orange color with a medium sized fizzy/carbonated white head. Head retention is remarkably good for a fizzy headed beer. There is also some spotty lacing on the glass. The aroma and taste start out with tart cherry with some sweeter maple syrup following. The tart fruit and sweet follow up remind me of fruity Belgian beers with candi sugar. The bourbon barrel flavoring kicks in at the end. It is somewhat subtle and that is a good thing. So many bourbon barrel beers are overwhelmed with bourbon flavoring to the detriment of other aspect of the beer. This bourbon flavoring enhances the beer rather than buries it!!! Mouthfeel is rich and alternating tart and sweet. It is very nicely carbonated and the alcohol presence is light. Not a beer for dinner, but a nice slow slipper with a great flavor profile!!!
Jul 28, 2022
 
Rated: 4.25 by kybeerdrinker from Kentucky

Jul 25, 2022
 
Rated: 4.5 by n2492004 from Michigan

Jul 11, 2022
 
Rated: 3.39 by desint from Belgium

Jul 04, 2022
 
Rated: 4.18 by bf7 from Pennsylvania

Jul 01, 2022
Frootwood from Founders Brewing Company
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 840 ratings