Founders love

Agreed, Backwoods Bastard is one of my all-time favorites. Right up there with KBS, in my humble opinion.

 

Not sure they had a ton of hype per se, but we got Urban Chestnut here in MA last summer, and I was thrilled. Love me some Schnickelfritz. Unfortunately, after the first shipment sold through, I haven't seen shelves restocked with it... which sucks...

 

Though I am lucky to have relatively easy access to a lot of much-hyped (TH, Trillium, HF, Heady, various Maine breweries) beers, Founders is probably my top bottle shop purchased brand. Keep a steady supply of, BB, FBS, FIS, & Curmudgeon when the time is right and All Day IPA & Centennial IPA are cooler mainstays/backups in the spring/summer/fall!


Love me some Founders

 

My first ever perfect 5. Who would've thunk it. Cheers!

 

I haven't had much from Founders yet, but what I have had (Dirty Bastard) was one of my favorite beers so far... so if the rest of their lineup is on a similar level I'd say they deserve every single positive comment they get.

Which reminds me, I should be grabbing another four-pack or two at some point before this year's over, since I'm trying to stock my fridge entirely with previously-tried beers (and especially those I liked when I had them, but for some reason never ended up reviewing or buying a full pack of before) rather than going too crazy trying every new beer I see.

 

I love Founders, especially Breakfast Stout, KBS, Red's Rye and Porter. However, they can get a little ahead of themselves and create some not so great stuff (see Mango Magnifico). I don't think we get their full lineup in Ohio, but North Coast has never disappointed me and the variety of styles is incredible from Scrimshaw, Red Seal, Pranqster and of course Old Rasputin.

 

From Founders, I enjoy both Bastards, Dirty and Backwoods, a great deal. Breakfast Stout is also great. Can't do Porter - it comes across as Pine-Sol to my annoyingly supertaster overly-hop-sensitive palate. Oddly enough, despite that, I remember Bolt Cutter as really tasty, despite all the reviews citing how much hop character it had. I'd assume the bottle I had was old, were it not a door prize my friend won at a Founders tap takeover back in early 2013.

I'm one of the people who wonders what the big deal is about KBS - I suppose it's statistically possible that every time I've had it, it's been a bad bottle / bad keg / dirty line, but at some point, I just chalk it up to personal palate and move on.

As far as a brewery I enjoy a significant amount of offerings from which was not originally from my state, I'd go with Weyerbacher, Avery, and Against The Grain.

 

Always enjoy Founders, picked up some Imperial Stout today, chilling a Backwoods Bastard for later tonight. If you are ever in Grand Rapids, you need to visit the brewery. My wife and I were there in April, engaged in conversation with a server, asked about KBS, before leaving he gave me a bottle of 2015. Plus the food is very good, wished I lived closer. The only one that is a bomb is Devil Dancer, it is dying on the shelf.

 

I wasn't a big fan of Azacca either but most of their stuff is a homerun with me.

 

I love Founders, but some of their triple IPAs are a bit boozy.

I can't get enough Prairie either, I can afford it! *rim shot*

 

Porter and Red's Rye PA will change you.

 

The one offs they have at the brewpub are great. Love the ba pumpkinmudgeon, it would be the best backstage release ever. I wish they made ba imperial stout too. Had CBS on draft 3x last year and it is way better now than it was out of the bottle in 2011. The backwoods bastard is a must also. The remodeling and expansion have made their patio awesome. Definitely make the trip for KBS one of the days they release it even if you don't have a ticket for an allotment. Can't complain about the food or people either.

 

I liked Dirty Bastard, but Backwoods Bastard tasted pretty much like watered down bourbon to me, I couldn't really detect any of the base beer. Does the bourbon fade to a manageable level with a little time?

 

Oh yeah it'll mellow out but compared with other BA beers the bourbon is super mellow. For me it's one of those I can only see the flavors getting super muted over time. I like this one fresh.

 

Love Kbs and Harvest Ale, my favorites.

 

I wasn't thinking about cellaring it long-term, just waiting a few weeks or months before tackling the rest of the 4-pack. I really didn't taste anything other than bourbon in the first one, so I'm surprised that you think it's mellow already. I guess I'd better avoid other BBA beers then...

 

Recently Deschutes, everything I've tried has been fantastic, easy to find and well priced.

Back in the early 2000's (maybe late 90's) it was Bells, I remember getting Bells Pale Ale in the lot at Deer Creek (Phish) and it instantly was my favorite beer, hit up a local shop and bought a bunch to bring home so finally having it available at home was amazing. Years later Hopslam helped me discover this site and even better beer.

 

I just bought 'Breakfast Stout', and will probably be tasting it tomorrow. I've only tried their Dirty Bastard, and it was really good!

 

Hype is (think about it) nothing.

 

Every time I go to AZ, I pick up as many Founders brews as I can reasonably consume during my stay. Even though we've got great local breweries in Seattle, it would be great if Founders distributed here, and Bells too.