Mortimer
Foundation Brewing Company

Ah, the old ale... a malty, darker style of beer originating in England all the way back in the 1800s. Usually, these would be aged for quite a long time, sometimes blended with younger ales and, also, at times, referred to as "stock" ales. The history of these styles is much more than I can pack into this small, rather perfunctory review, but suffice it to say that these are typically stronger and kept for longer periods of time.

In keeping (eh?) with tradition, this bottle was packaged in February of 2016, and I've kept it until now to split with my roommate. We got it, as well as another aged brew of a different character, earlier this year at the brewery and have been holding it until this very night. It pours a mostly-hazy dark brown color with a thin yet respectable ring of off-white/khaki head. No lace to speak of here and the surface is only moderately hazed-over itself, but I like the way this sits in my glass. It has a very commanding appearance despite its shortcomings, and the initial pour was fairly menacing as I recall, with some voluminous bubbles of foam which popped and disappeared over time. Solid.

Nose is heavy on the tobacco and oak qualities, with some slight whiskey notes. Raisin, prune and other darker pit fruits seem to take up a lot of the real estate here, as well, alongside some darker toffee, treacle, Muscovado sugar and straight-up booze. Soft oak tannins, some slight acidic notes and rounded Madagascar vanilla take up the rear-guard.

Flavor mostly bears strong treacle, molasses and burnt sugar notes with some stronger dark fruit and fleshy berry notes toward the back. Surprising flavors of almond liqueur and dark, semi-tart cherry and more of the tobacco-esque earthiness hinted at in the nose. Quite a nice, fruity, estery and unique sipping beer. Love the soft acidity this one has... as the label claims, it does its job inviting me back for more with each sip. I would not say it is predominantly a "sour" beer but there is some nice spent-barrel-induced acidity (including black cherry/raspberry-like flavors) here.

Feel is on the lighter side of medium for such a dark beer, especially one that clocks in (taking into account the fact that it's about 17 months since it was bottled) at around 13.5%. Low carbonation with a sorta cask-like disposition. Solid stuff here. I'm glad this was released and very glad to have it, but I would also love to have it "fresher" to see how it's developed since it was bottled. One of the few beers I've had aged that I would rather have fresh, though, for what it's worth.

Drank 2017 bottle on January 12, 2022, didn't really age well. Good looking beer with nice head and thick solid brown base. A bit too highly carbonated and the taste reflected that. Just didn't work for me, when that attribute should have mellowed out over time, if anything. Some good attributed, but overall not a really good effort in my opinion, but could have been the age.

 

Pours a very deep brown, stout like, with a two finger tan head with big bubbles, reduces to a halo, minimal lacing.

Aroma.... Mmmmm. Smells delicious. Oak, almond, caramel, pecan, toffee, raisin, cherry, cocoa, pure decadence.

Taste is similar to the nose, that rich oak barrel character blending with dark malts. The almond and pecan flavors come across great, big dark fruit more date like than the nose, lots of roasty caramel and toffee, chocolate and tart cherry. That little tart cherry bite is wonderful, really bringing this big beer back to the ground. It's lightly sweet with a low long bitterness.

Surprisingly lighter bodied than you might expect, exceptionally smooth, a great biting carbonation, little bit of the 12.5% ABV, and slightly drying.

Fans of barrel aged goodies, stouts, barleywines, and stock ales should seek this out. I'm definitely a Foundation fan boy but this beer may be their masterpiece. It's incredibly rich and tasty but it's grounded by that tart cherry and great carbonation that makes it feel crisp and refreshing as you drink.

 

Mortimer 500 ml

Look: Black body, slight brown head. Huge head / carbonation.

Smell: Intense chocolate, coffee and cherry. Decent amount of dankness underlying this fragrance. Smells almost chalky . Very strong aroma.

Taste:
Dates / cherry in the taste is the main flavor at the start. After the initial sweet taste hits that chalkiness/coffee present in the smell comes out. Sourness comes out as well, pretty dominant flavor. Little bit of bitterness near the end, but nothing too crazy. Alcohol taste not very present, surprising because the ABV is 13%+. Slightly bitter and sweet finish.

Overall, a really interesting and enjoyable beer. If you want to try a dark ale that differs from the normal stout / porter, give this beer a try; I thought it was delicious.

From 16.9oz bottle—bottled Feb 7, 2016—into snifter. Huge foamy light brown head that just keeps growing. No lacing; superb retention.

Aroma is composed of chalky, not sweet chocolate and and fruitiness, largely cherries.

Very dark brown in color, but it’s apparent some light passes through the edges and thinner portions

Feel is overall actually pretty good compared to what I expected from this high of an alcohol percentage. Not super carbonated but some there, which gives it some structure over the thinnest of the alcohol. Not at all syrupy.

Surprisingly sweet, cheery like taste; ends pretty sour. A little darker sort of chocolate in there. Definitely an alcohol presence, especially in the throat after the swallow. Keeps things a little drier here too. Not nearly as sweet as I expected, and not much malty sweetness, and more bitter and aggressive overall. Definitely a dark beer, though one dominated by sour fruit rather than caramely malt.