Toddzilla

Frootwood

Final bottle from my barrel-aged cellar. Exquisite brew here, cherry ale aged in vanilla-oak bourbon barrels. Complex, sweet, tart and warming. Beautiful!

Velvet Rush (2021)

Delicious and smooth slow sipper with subtle notes of chocolate, coffee and vanilla in a bourbon-edged brown ale. One of the last Founders beers in my cellar.

KBS Maple Mackinac Fudge

Glorious blackened imperial stout that is only rivaled by the legend that is Founders CBS. Deep chocolate, coffee, maple and bourbon greatness. Big and a uniquely great beer!

KBS

Legendary beer, at one time a white whale. Still big, strong, and a bourbony slow sipper.

KBS Hazelnut

Deep, dark, delicious imperial stout with a really developed mix of coffee, chocolate, hazelnut and bourbon vanilla vibes. Complex? Definitely. One of the top KBS variants, imo!

Highball Drifter (2022)

Superb and complex mix of orange, cherry, and a big barrel-aged bourbon burn. Really good and a unique brew.

Ultimate Oktoberfest

Final bottle of this from the beer cellar/archive. Remarkable combination of styles, rich and full yet retaining the malty drinkability of Oktoberfest marzens. Delicious!

French Toast Bastard

Exquisite aroma up front of toasty cinnamon and maple. Big swell of syrupy bourbon kick that subsides into a warm follow-through. Big and impressive!

Backwoods Bastard

A refined and deep synthesis of flavors,...caramel, scotch, oak barrel char, fruit...nice malty slow sipper. Big, boozy, bourbony and beautiful!

Belgian Twist

Really a superlative beer in the style that led me into the craft beer world. Perfectly-executed Belgian tripel with blue agave nectar. Sweet and spice melding seamlessly.

Bottle Shop Series: Mango Magnifico

Intense habanero and mango beer, deceptive at 10% and definitely a slow sipper, with the heat and sweet balance. Alright.

All Day Chill Day

Decent light session cold IPA, with plenty of citrus and tropical hop notes. Solid but certainly not a game changer like the OG All Day was.

Oktoberfest

Upping this one to a 4.0 as it is both rich, smooth, and downright refreshing. Glad Founders kept their Oktoberfest this year when another big player floundered (Sierra Nevada). Still, a 12pk rather than 15pk?

Ultimate Oktoberfest

Not sure how this can still taste like a marzen lager but with the not-so-subtle bourbon barrel treatment, but it does. Kudos to Founders for another successful experiment! Very enjoyable big brew.

Oktoberfest

Pissed that Sierra Nevada replaced their Oktoberfest beer, now Founders offers theirs in a basic 12-pack, rather than their usual 15-pack. Still, positively fine beer and pretty worthy an interpretation of the classic German marzen.

Highball Drifter (2022)

Such a smooth, easygoing 11% brew! Bourbon oak and vanilla siding with cherries and citrus peel. Delicious, subtle, and complex.

KBS Hazelnut

A so very impressive beer. Thick! Rich! Heavy! Bitter! Sweet! Nutty! Coffee! Cocoa! Bourbon! Wow!

KBS

Last night's indulgence. Always a superior, smooth, and complex beer. Rich chocolate, coffee, oak, and a boozy finish. A world-class stout!

All Day Haze

Pleasant little NE IPA. Really no bad beers from Founders, ever! Looking forward to finding the new All Day brew soon...

Frootwood

Now this is a wonderful brew. Smooth as can be, with the cherries melding with maple and a hint of vanilla/oak bourbon. But this doesn't feel boozy. It's subtle, complex, and wholly unique. Wow.

Backwoods Bastard

Tasty sipper with tons of malty character, peaty and boozy but somehow easygoing, especially as it warms. The bourbon blends in nicely with the Scotch. Superb!

Velvet Rush

Very good dessert-style sipper, with plenty of chocolate and vanilla notes, a touch of coffee, and a warming bourbon finish. Rich and exquisite! Founders does a beer right!

Mango Magnifico

Sweet up front before packing a heated habanero punch at finish. Complex flavors mixing pretty well here. Enjoyable enough and a unique brew.

Belgian Twist

With all the emphasis on IPAs, I miss where my beer education began, Belgian ales. This is a faithful Tripel, with loads of candi sugar, brown sugar, dried fruit...yeasty and potent at.10%! Very nice and welcome on my palate.

Bottle Shop Series Highball Drifter

Last year's bottle. Still pretty delicious with lots of cherry and brown sugar notes. The bourbon barrel aging adds some vanilla and leather notes to the mix. A recent favorite from Founders. Now in the Barrel-Aged series, rather than the Bottle Shop.

Porter

Porter/stout fans, don't ignore this beer. It's just about a picture perfect porter with deep notes of chocolate and coffee. Delicious and so drinkable.

Dirty Bastard

Classic Scotch-style ale here at 8.5%. Big, malty, peaty and with a sweet, boozy finish. Don't have to love it to respect it.

KBS Hazelnut

One of the more impressive of the KBS variants. The hazelnut comes through loud and clear and works surprisingly well alongside the chocolate and coffee. Bourbon dialed back in here. Fantastic beer!

KBS

Deep dark delicious. Fantastic heavy chocolate and coffee up front with a lingering vanilla oak bourbon heat bringing up the finish. What a complex and tasty sipper! A classic.

All Day Haze

Founders don't do bad beers. This is an easygoing smooth IPA packed with stonefruit and citrus juiciness. Nu-skool, as some may say. I say another top-tier sessioner.

Bottle Shop Series Highball Drifter

Deep dark goodness from the vaults. Fruit notes here (cherry and orange peel) alongside big bourbon barrel oak. Unusual and inventive brew.

Nemesis (2021)

From the beer cellar. Year-aged, but still a pretty formidable nemesis. Big, tongue-lashing malts and substantial hop overload. Yep, a strong and well-done barleywine.

KBS Cinnamon Vanilla Cocoa

What a crazy coalition of cocoa coffee cinnamon vanilla bourbon. Big! Boozy! Brazen! Maybe not my favorite variant of the KBS family, but certainly an imposing and formidable brew worth tasting.

Panther Cub (2021)

Complex and unique porter with loads of vanilla and maple and a big oak-bourbon finish. Tasty sipper!

Velvet Rush

Smooth sipper with plenty of cocoa, coffee, vanilla, and warming bourbon. And pretty snappy at 11.1%!

Frootwood

What a well-composed brew here! Immediate cherry and vanilla with a smooth bourbon finish. Unique, inventive, and downright delicious!

Solid Gold

This should be replacing Bud, Coors, Miller, etc in every fridge and cooler. Delicious and flavorful yet light and sessionable. Could drink these anytime.

Backwoods Bastard

Delicious beer with so many subtle notes...and not too boozy. Easy slow sipper with peaty malts, chocolate notes, and a bourbon barrel oaked edge. Top.

Velvet Rush

Super rich and potent blend of chocolate, vanilla and coffee in a warming 11.1% bourbon barrel finish. Not surprisingly, another inventive and complex dark ale from Founders.

Scarlet Dawn IPA

Interesting mix of caramel malts and grapefruit citrus hops. Nice balance and a very drinkable session IPA.

Breakfast Stout

Aged nearly a year, this one holds up well. Always a respected, even legendary beer, Breakfast Stout brings huge coffee and bittersweet chocolate notes alongside a smooth, viscous body. Delightful!

Big Luscious (2020)

I think this is my final bottle of this remarkably decadent and rich dessert stout. Like drinking dark chocolate-covered raspberries! Founders doesn't fail, especially with stouts!

Panther Cub (2021)

Big smooth blackened deliciousness from Founders. Rich notes of maple, coffee, chocolate, vanilla and some bourbon rounding it all out. Something special to close out the night.

All Day IPA

It's been a while since I had this. One of my all-time go-to beers. Delicious citrus and floral hops. Easy-drinking and always a winner!

All Day Vacay

Finishing off Summer beers. Decent wheat beer here. Didn't love it, but easy to drink. Sharp wheat taste with light hopping.

Nemesis (2021)

Superb heavy-duty big beerness here. Bitter hops and chewy burnt caramel malts. A superlative and on-mark barleywine. Couldn't be better in class.

Bottle Shop Series Highball Drifter

Very unusual and complex barrel-aged brown ale, taking notes from the Old Fashioned cocktail. Lots of cherry and orange notes collide with vanilla bourbon warmth. Delicious!

Breakfast Stout

Always a great beer, original and influential among Founders' numerous legendary brews. Deep coffee and chocolate notes, smooth-bodied and complex.

All Day Vacay

Decent light-drinking Summer beer for another stanky-hot Summer day in Eville! Sharp wheat taste and mild hoppy finish.

Nemesis (2021)

Huge beast of palate-wrecking hops and malt overload! Delicious and massive! Take it easy with this, boss...

Big Luscious (2020)

Luscious dessert beer packed with bittersweet chocolate and tangy raspberries. Nobody does stouts like Founders.

4 Giants IPA (2021)

Huge IPA here with a wallop of bitter citrus/grapefruit and tropical hops, plus a comparably thick malt backbone. Chewy hoppy resins coat the tongue. Yes, please!

Panther Cub (2021)

Superb and complex bourbon barrel-aged porter from the masters at Founders. Deep, robust notes of cocoa, maple, vanilla, and oak barrel warmth. Great slow sipper.

Más Agave Prickly Pear

Final part of my 6-day Mas Agave "tour". This one more of a sour variation. I prefer the lime, best of all. Still, not bad here, either, if you dig the tangier gose flavor.

Mas Agave Clasica: Lime

Remarkable approximation of a margaritas here! Salt, lime, tequila barrel all there...big and tasty brew from Founders.

Más Agave Premium Hard Seltzer Grapefruit

Not bad, just my least favorite of Founders "hard seltzer" line. A caveat though...I'm not a fan of grapefruit. On to the Founders Mas Agave goses next.

Más Agave Premium Hard Seltzer Lime

Decent light-drinker here with nothing coming across as artificial. In tribute to our beloved Meow Meow, who we lost last night. R.I.P. big boy.

Más Agave Premium Hard Seltzer Strawberry

Light and drinkable, not tasting artificial or weird. Really pretty ok, if you're not in the mood for something heavy on the gut.

Hazy-O!

Super-smooth oat/oat milk-infused hazy IPA with tropical juiciness galore. Deceptive at 7.1%. Very tasty.

Campfire Amplifier

Solid milk stout, smooth and roasty. The exotic ingredients seem a bit lost in the flavor, though. I don't get any s'mores vibes.

KBS Maple Mackinac Fudge (2020)

Pretty well the "best" beer I've had since my initial experience with the similarly-intense Founders CBS. Deep melding of chocolate with maple, coffee, and bourbon. Wow.

KBS Espresso (2020)

Heavy-duty dose of coffee flavor to notch up the legendary chocolate-coffee-bourbon imperial stout. Took me a while but superior brew for coffee fans.

KBS

Nearly a 2 year-old bottle. So smooth and complex. Chocolate and coffee heavy, bourbon/oak finish. Lovely.

Big Luscious (2020)

Pretty good mix of dark chocolate and tart raspberries. Dessert stout indeed! "Celebrating" our quarantine days.

Harvest Ale (2020)

Dank wet hops. Maybe the CBD beforehand had an effect, but this old favorite now feels quite reefer-ish. Still a lovely brew, worth finding.

Unraveled IPA

Pretty lovely juicy hop beast here. Easy to drink and smooooth all the way. Founders rarely fails.

Oktoberfest (2020)

Ideal companion to a pretty great pizza from Dontae's Highland Pizza Parlor. Candied jalapenos? Mushrooms? Yes, please!

Oktoberfest

Solid German-style Marzen from the reliable Founders. Malty and balanced.