Velvet Rush
Founders Brewing Company

Velvet RushVelvet Rush
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From:
Founders Brewing Company
 
Michigan, United States
Style:
American Brown Ale
Ranked #12
ABV:
11.1%
Score:
93
Ranked #3,626
Avg:
4.18 | pDev: 6.94%
Reviews:
111
Ratings:
263
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 05, 2024
Added:
Mar 31, 2021
Wants:
  4
Gots:
  12
Borrowing elements from both high-end craft cocktails and moody jazz clubs, Velvet Rush takes the bourbon barrel-aged brown ale up an octave with free-flowing notes of coffee, chocolate and vanilla extract. Milk sugar aids in weaving together this complex tapestry of flavors to create a unique sipping experience that really ties the room together.

30 IBUs
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by bbtkd:
Photo of bbtkd
Reviewed by bbtkd from South Dakota

4.25/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Founders Velvet Rush Imperial BBA Brown, 11.1% ABV. Pours dark brown with a two-finger light brown head that left no lacing. Nose is vanilla, chocolate, and lactose - pretty much chocolate milk. Taste follows, plus coffee, moderately sweet, slightly bitter. Smooth mouthfeel, overall outstanding.
Oct 03, 2021
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 2.64 by Rhettroactive from Virginia

Mar 05, 2024
Photo of tekstr1der
Reviewed by tekstr1der from New Hampshire

4.14/5  rDev -1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Dragged a 2021 bottle of this out to celebrate New Year Day 2024. Wowzers! A truly delightful sipper. It does get way to sweet and much too rich pretty quickly. Smells heavenly and flavors mostly follow. Wasn't able to finish the whole bottle tho. Felt like I was getting instant diabetes!
Jan 01, 2024
Photo of JayQue
Reviewed by JayQue from Virginia

4.03/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
A very tasty slow sipper. I enjoyed one poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass while sitting outside by my fire pit. Dense muddy brown color with a small dark cream colored head. Head retention was decent for an 11% .abv beer and there was thick filmy lacing that covered the sides of the glass. Aroma and flavor were just what they wrote on the bottle: coffee, chocolate, vanilla, milk sugar and bourbon barrel flavoring. These were all wrapped up in a rich malty beer. The bourbon barrel flavoring was fairly mild. The other aromas and flavors were allowed to shine. This was a tasty one!! THe milk sugar (lactose?) kept this beer fairly smooth. Very little harshness from either the octane level or the bourbon barrel flavoring. It went down pretty smooth for a strong beer. This one was well done and I would drink one again as a stand alone slow sipper!!!
Dec 09, 2023
Photo of RyanK252
Reviewed by RyanK252 from California

4.28/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Bottle poured into a Founders Brewing Co snifter

A: Pours dark chocolate brown with a frothy tan head that settles to a light layer and laces nicely.

S: Smooth bourbon, roasty toasty malt, vanilla, brown sugar, milk chocolate, a little coffee, light earthy spice, and toffee sweetness.

T: Roasty toasty, milk chocolate, vanilla, brown sugar, smooth bourbon, a little coffee, a touch of spice, slight earthy tones, and toffee sweetness.

M: On the fuller side of medium body, moderate carbonation, creamy smooth, only a hint of warmth comes out as it warms, dangerously drinkable for 11%.

O: A nice rainy night seems like the perfect time to pull this out of my cellar. A couple extra years maturing has made this one ridiculously smooth. Bourbon slowly comes towards the front as it warms, coffee has probably faded a bit, but still really enjoyable. Wouldn't mind seeing this one come back.
Nov 18, 2023
 
Rated: 4.37 by RalphStanley34 from French Polynesia

Oct 25, 2023
Photo of NorsemanOne
Reviewed by NorsemanOne from Utah

4.25/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Bottled 8.5.21

Poured at fridge temp and warmed up in a tulip glass

Pours a deep and dark coffee brown with a fair and tall sandy tan head. 4.25

Deep and smooth slightly sweet coffee aroma. Some very light oak and leather, slightly milky soft aroma as well. 4.25

Milky chocolate, bourbon booze and slight coffee, bitterness comes out more as it warms up. 4.25

Body is warming and soft, carbo is very mild. 4.25

Overall the booziest brown I've had that commanded on bourbon and coffee but was very enjoyable. 4.25
May 26, 2023
Photo of stortore
Reviewed by stortore from Illinois

4.06/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12 ounce bottle into a snifter. Bottled 8/5/21, had 10/23/21.

Pours a mostly clear darker copper color, with a brief head and faint, speckled cling. Aromas of coffee, vanilla, chocolate, light malt, light bourbon. Similar flavors- coffee, vanilla, some bourbon, malt, chocolate, a slight bitterness on the finish. Smooth, good light to medium body, well carbonated.

Coffee is the headliner here, strong chocolate and vanilla, as well. The barrels are lighter, but fairly effective. The flavor could use a little more intensity, but still enjoyable.
May 25, 2023
Photo of agreenman19
Reviewed by agreenman19 from Connecticut

4.56/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
L - pours an opaque medium brown with caramel white head. Slight fogginess with a crimson aura.

S - dark chocolate up front. Espresso beans. Tobacco and vanilla essence, finishing with brown sugar sweetness and mild oak.

T - sweeter than the nose implies. Light roast coffee with cream, rye, and toffee. Not a ton of barrel character, but I am getting some vague woodsiness or earthiness. Really enjoying how the coffee and whisky play off each other. Not much in the way of milk sugar on the tongue, but that's a good thing because it would muddy the crispness of it all. Finish is fantastic. Like biting into the raw beans after taking the last sip of that espresso martini.

F - velvety but on the lighter side for 11.1%.

O - pleasantly clean. Must be drinking too many pastry stouts of late, but this is a fresh and nuanced take on a brown ale.
Apr 22, 2023
Photo of sglooney316
Reviewed by sglooney316 from Texas

4.75/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
LOOK: Dark brown with medium head

SMELL: Hint of coffee and chocolate

TASTE: Hint of coffee and chocolate

FEEL: Nice carbonation on the mouth not too filling

OVERALL: Great beer not too filling despite 11.1% ABV
Mar 27, 2023
Photo of hardy008
Reviewed by hardy008 from Minnesota

4.25/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pours dark brown with a one finger beige head, Nice aroma with coffee, chocolate, and vanilla. There is a light aroma of bourbon. The bourbon shows up more in the taste, along with the coffee, chocolate, and vanilla. Medium to full bodied with moderate carbonation. Has a bit of a sweet aftertaste. Nicely made.
Mar 21, 2023
 
Rated: 4.25 by Marvicsin from California

Dec 29, 2022
Photo of Peach63
Reviewed by Peach63 from New York

4.55/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Ebony with a 1/4" tan head, which dissipates. Moderate lacing.

Aroma of strong chocolate, coffee, vanilla, caramel, molasses.

Taste is chocolate, coffee, vanilla, caramel, molasses, a touch of bourbon.

Full body, light carbonation. Semisweet finish.

Another outstanding number from Founders.
Dec 25, 2022
Photo of Ozzylizard
Reviewed by Ozzylizard from Pennsylvania

3.89/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Velvet Rush from Founders Brewing. Four-pack of 12 oz bottles from Franklin Beer, Franklin, on 08/12/22. $14.50 (Including tax) = $ 0.302/oz. Reviewed 16/12/22. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Rear label stamped “Bottled on 08/05/21”. Served at 44.6 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 51.8 degrees.
Appearance – 3.5.
First pour – Medium Amber (SRM 12), hazy.
Body – Brown (SRM 20), hazy. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, translucent, and amber orange.
Head – Average (Maximum 1.5 cm, aggressive center pour), beige, high density, quickly diminishing to an undulating 0.3 – 0.4 cm crown with a thin cap.
Lacing – Poor. Many small circles and short line segments of very tiny bubbles are noted.
Aroma – 4.25 – Distinct chocolate and coffee, no hops, no yeast. On the exhale, bourbon is faintly evident.
Flavor – 4.25 – Flavor follows the nose – slightly sweet, chocolate, coffee, no vanilla, no hops, no yeast. No ethanol (11.1 % ABV as marked on bottom) aroma or taste. No oakiness noted. Mild gastric warming occurs. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4 – Medium, somewhat creamy, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4 Decent BBA brown ale although the lactose could have been easily left out, IMO. The appearance is unremarkable. Both nose and flavor are good but not spectacular.
Dec 17, 2022
 
Rated: 4.12 by DownyIsHungry from Minnesota

Dec 16, 2022
 
Rated: 4.12 by samEBC from Belgium

Dec 10, 2022
 
Rated: 4.24 by sisterofba from Maryland

Dec 10, 2022
 
Rated: 4.12 by arzt from Germany

Dec 09, 2022
 
Rated: 3.74 by SayBoom from Ukraine

Nov 04, 2022
 
Rated: 4.18 by Klister from Maine

Oct 19, 2022
Velvet Rush from Founders Brewing Company
Beer rating: 93 out of 100 with 263 ratings