Founder's Backstage Series Vertical

Not clear if you're taking the piss or not. I just think that Founders (an excellent brewery that puts out very solid regular/seasonal beers) had a chance to do something pretty memorable with the Backstage series. Like a lot of people I thought at the time, this could mean bottled versions of things like Black Biscuit, CMB etc. But to me, other than CBS (which I haven't tried aged) most of the beers have been wide of the mark. Not claiming to be an expert, but I'm allowed to express an opinion right? I'm not saying they're overrated, or that they jumped the shark, or why don't they expand so that they can brew KBS year round etc etc(all things that get posted again and again about various beers/breweries). If missed a trick is considered as bad as jumping the shark - then consider it retracted.

 

FWIW I think this would be considered more of a 'horizontal' tasting rather than 'vertical' even though some of the beers are a few years old by now. Think verts are reserved for the same exact beer over various years whereas horizontal could be a series of beers by the same brewer (like Crooked Stave's WWB series or the Avery barrel series). Not trying to be a dick, just putting it out there so that we can have a well educated beer community here.

 

I was under the assumption that horizontal could be used more flexibly to describe what you mentioned (like an all blueberry sour tasting) or what I proposed (WWB series, Avery barrel series, Upland lambics, etc.).

Anyone else have some insight on what the correct terminology is?

 

Had a CBS last fall that was the shit. Have one more.

 

This is a diagonal tasting. I know it's the correct terminology because I just made it up, and I am always right.

 

I always thought it was more along the lines of:

BCBS 09, BCBS 10, BCBS 11, BCBS 12, BCBS 13 = vertical

BCBS 13, BCBCS 13, Proprietors BCBS 13, Backyard Rye 13 = horizontal

Bunch of BA stouts or blueberry sours from different breweries = regular old tasting (albeit of beers from the same style)

 

I was being snarky. Sorry about that. Have a nice day

 

Bolt Cutter was one of my favorite BBA barleywines. I had it right after it was released, but the rich, fruity toffee flavors of American barleywines were surprisingly present; it was definitely the most balanced (between beer:bourbon flavors) I've ever had, and if you're a fan of bourbon and barleywines, I bet you'll really enjoy it. Cheers!

 

It's not a vertical if they are different beers and there is zero to gain in this. At least to me

 

Lol @joetouchton have fun with your vertical.

 

He obviously didn't mean vertical in the classic sense, and I think it conveys what he's trying to do - to see how the series has evolved over time, while acknowledging the differences in age and style of the specific beers.

Or, to put it succinctly: when I read the title of this thread, I knew exactly what he meant.

 

Had a Better Half on tap this weekend (5th time overall since the release) and alas it is going the wrong direction. I have had some of 5 CBS bottles and the first (fresh) was the best but my latest (Jan. this year) was the second best, the three in the middle were various degrees of not as good but still solid.

Doom is tasting pretty nice these days..

 

Still has that gross artificial hazelnut taste as of the one I drank a few months ago. I don't expect that to go away, and now, the base beer is even less noticeable. This one was one big batch of fail.

 

I have no issue with your opinion, I can appreciate it, I do struggle with this general sentiment that is shared by far too many.

It seems that far too many people want to apply their own hopes and desires to the series and completely disregard what Founders intention was from the get go. As stated on their website "The Backstage Series brings some of our most sought-after and experimental taproom beers to a much larger audience". It seems to me that Founders has done exactly what they set out to do with each and every release.

As stated in a previous thread, I think some people have completely bypassed Founders "Brewed for Us" motto and have not bothered to look up the definition of Dissenter. They are obviously doing what they want and they seem damn pleased with it. It really does not matter if someone liked the beer, thought they should have made something different or produced more. They are doing it their way, and all signs point to that being an excellent business model at this point.

 

Absolutely - and I should have said that I actually enjoyed Dissenter. Comment was more around all the beers up until now.

Either way - taste is absolutely subjective of course. And while I don't expect you to read every post I make, trust me that I am not one to start shitting on breweries or claim they're overrated etc. I love Founders - FBS, FIS and Reds Rye in particular I will buy whenever I see them.

But honestly - in your subjective opinion, as someone who I assume has been to the brewery, are the beers being bottled in the Backstage Series really of the same quality (again, yes, fully aware this is all totally subjective, i'm just genuinely interested in your opinion) as some of "sought after and experimental taproom beers" that were being served there prior to the implementation of the Backstage series?

 

I had a bottle of Frangelic Brown back in February and thought it was good. Still plenty of hazelnut. Had a bottle of CBS back in May and thought it was amazing. I didn't get any of the off flavors other people were talking about and I thought the maple was still lingering.

 

I honestly believe that the Backstage series is a fair representation of the taproom beers that have been seen over the years. Founders did start out early with a heavy lean towards the sought after labels, the recent releases are definitely what I would expect from the experimental batch that end up on tap at Founders.

I will say that I feel some of the experimentation that was happening at Founders took a hit during their expansion projects. I understood this to be growing pains and having to allocate the available resources to the production side temporarily. I mention this because during this time, the one offs and experimental offerings available were often beers from the Backstage Series. From a local perspective, I see the Backstage Series as an extension of the experimental program in the tap room. I am not sure that I can separate the two and say that the fewer experimental taps at the brewery and the beers that were chosen at part of the series were not related. The experimental taps have seemed to increase as of late, returning close to the pre-expansion, pre-backstage levels. I am curious to see what that means for future Backstage releases.