Curmudgeon's Better Half
Founders Brewing Company

 

 

RB transfer

Copenhagen 13/6 2020. 35,5 cl bottle from Kvickly, Allerød. Drawing of elderly couple considering eating a stack of pancakes on the label. They do take the concept Old Ale seriously.

Pours murky brown with a small off-white head. Settles as thin, patchy layer of foam unable to cover the surface of the beer. Clinging to the sides of the glass. Substantial lacing.

Aroma is intense and with a heavy, vinous sweetness reminding me of Barley wine. Sweet honey, brown sugar and sweet liquor. Woody fumes. Strong boozy bourbon odor.

Light carbonation. Medium thick, oily, soft, creamy, slightly sticky, lightly tingling texture.

Flavor is intense and heavy sweet with only a rudimentary bitterness. Aftertaste is sweet and sugary. Lingering. Finish is laden with alcohol.

Satisfying, heavy, woody, fundamentally sweet, sweet boozer.

 

 

 

Copper color. Thin, off white head. Malt, toffees, maple syrup, vanilla, and caramel in the aroma. Sweet but not cloying taste. Warming alcohol and wood in aftertaste.

 

 

 

2018.
Appears copperish brown color with obvious light sediment and thin to medium lacing - beautiful. Smell reminds me of a boozy maple syrup, not overly pronounced, but certainly not hiding the booze. Taste is fantastic. Smooth sipper for sure. It's not my favorite style (stouts), but it's certainly really close. Fairly easy drinking considering the ABV. The mouthfeel is good for the style. I was hoping for chewier, but again, I love stouts. Overall, this is a sensational brew. One that I will certainly have again!
Thanks to my brother for giving me this wonderful beer!

I had the 2017 on draft poured in a chimay glass. The aging really mellowed this out and turned a good beer into something truly interesting. The molasses compliments the ale quite nicely. The oak taste is significantly subdued upon aging but is still detectable. Likewise the bourbon elements. Maple is there but plays second fiddle to the molasses. Gorgeous ruby brown color with resplendent white foam and lacing. Chewy but medium thick and mild carbonation.

750mL (2018 release) into a tulip. Pours a clear deep honey with a velvety layer of soft foam across the top.

Aroma is sticky and sweet, classic malt-heavy English barley wine/old ale. My search for notes of maple on the nose goes unrewarded, just tons of heavy, malty sweetness.

Taste reveals the maple I was seeking on the nose. Sugary sweet, chewy, thick, heavy. Superlatives fail. Along with the maple there’s plenty of fermenting fruit here—peaches, apricots, figs, dates—and unrelenting sugar. Vanilla, an indiscernible liqueur, dry oak. Some degree of bitterness, presumably from a nominal amount of hopping, counters all the sweetness, but sugary matinees dominates here.

Mouthfeel is likewise heavy and chewy, thick. Lingers on the palate, goes down not unlike cough syrup, with far better flavor.

Overall a very nice dessert beer, clearly meant to be shared. This is a true sipper and, since I am tackling this bottle alone, I’m thankful I started early.

This is a bottle from the 2018 release. Memory tells me that it tastes like the fresh beer did in 2018 with the exception that a slight sherry-like flavor is present. That's a flavor that I don't like in aged stouts, but in this Old Ale it is heavenly and adds to the complexity.

Pours a clear, tan brown color. The booze hits up front, bourbon barrel goodness. Warming, with lots of oak. A little rough around the edges but some age will mellow that out.

 

 

Bottled 8/15/18. Smooth, syrupy, sweet and subtle. Ruby colored with a lot of particulates. Scents of maple and wooden bourbon barrel. Taste is sweet syrup and bourbon, but neither are overly so. The best thing about the feel is it’s boozy but not hot. Maybe aging it a few years helped. Medium bodied, not thick or oily. A beer that works all the way around, especially with some age on it.