philip

Azacca IPA

This is gonna be my must have beer when I come in until it’s not available.

KBS - Chocolate Espresso

New variant! Nose is a blend of strong coffee with semi-sweet chocolate that ends with slight bourbon. Smooth body with same flavors as in the nose. Bourbon/slight warm booze at the end. Basically a chocolate version of the OG espresso variant.

Pale Ale

Another founders classic I’m excited to have for the first time. Big floral and resinous old school hop nose. Smooth and medium bodied with an excellent and balanced hop bitterness that doesn’t dry you out too much. Perfect example of the style.

Azacca IPA

Never thought I’d see the day that one of my favorite IPAs of all time would make a return! Nose is fantastic blend of caramel malts with fruity and grassy hop notes. Flavor is malty sweet upfront with a big punch of azaaca fruity bitter hops.

Five Star Pale Lager

A crisp, refreshing and full flavored lager. Enough hop bitterness that matches a clean and slightly sweet malt note.

All Night IPA

May say all night, but this can be good on a great day like this too! Same great balance of Roasty malts with excellent hop pine bitterness with a slight citrus end.

Barrel-Aged Peanut Butter Stout

Finally get this on tap! Nose is much more bourbon and barrel forward with subtle peanut at the end. A great blend of bourbon, natural PB, and chocolate notes. The beer ends with a very satisfying roast PB flavor. Smooth and no booze burn. Just warming.

Tangibly IPA

First time back since the renovation. Place is fresh! Nose is an orange pith with a nice what I think is viennna malt note. Light-Medium bodied with a citrus orange peel and floral hop character. An easy going IPA that won’t destroy your palate

Mortal Bloom

Last day I can get here before they take a month off for renovations. This is a run of the mill NEIPA. Has all the notes of tropical juice hop notes. Body is rather light and ends a little hop dry.

KBS Espresso

Glad to see this variant back! Nose is pure coffee and bourbon with slight oak. Body is thick and smooth with the extra rich coffee notes playing well with the bourbon and bitter chocolate notes. Coffee really stays on the palate with oak notes.

All Day Grapefruit

Newest All Day variant! Nose is pungent with grapefruit, juicy hops, and slightly dank. Light but full bodied with a great balance of grapefruit, citrus, and hop bitterness to not make it a NE juice bomb. This is one of top variants IMO.

MI Pilsner (MI P1LSNER)

Nose has notes of hay, spiced sazzer hops and yeast. Light bodied and refreshing with flavor of wheat, sweet malt, and slight bitter hop at the end. Tastes like a better PBR.

Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS)

Got some bottles to age. Cracking open a fresh one. Smooth, velvety body with a lot of chocolate notes upfront that turns to maple and bourbon. Coffee comes up more at the end and blends well with the other flavors.

Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

Aged 9 months. Vanilla is barely noticeable, leaving room for the cognac and bourbon notes. Also very oaky and booze heavy.

Maple Barrel Aged Frangelic Mountain Brown

Happy New Year all! Opening another special brew. Aged 2 yrs and tastes just the same as fresh! Hazelnut upfront with good bourbon notes along with sweet maple. Hope this comes back one day.

Devil Dancer

Happy to try this legendary IPA. Nose has ton of malt/bread notes with a huge resinous and grassy hop profile. Flavor is incredibly balanced with bready malts and hop notes of pine, citrus, and grassy vibes. Very drying and bitter, but not off-putting.

Marzen Lager

Not to be confused with their Oktoberfest beer. Same style, but different flavors. This marzen is lighter and brighter in flavor. Similar German malt but this one seems sweeter.

KBS Maple Mackinac Fudge

Cracked open this special one for my early birthday weekend! Aged 3yrs. Notes of barley roast, coffee, and bourbon stand out the most. Chocolate and maple on the front but less strong. Still an amazing beer, but probably best to only age 1-2yrs.

Double Oaked KBS

KBS 20th Anniversary event! Nose of this beer is all the great notes of KBS but more barrel. Flavor is layered with coffee, bourbon, chocolate, and a big punch of barrel.

Harvest Ale

The one downside to harvest ales…you gotta drink them quick. Sadly My last bottle. All the flavors and smells of fresh hops is still there, just slightly less bright.

Kokua Indian Pale Lager

Also from yesterday. Crisp and easy drinking brew with classic lager sweetness. Definitely get a good citrus and subtle pine nose and flavor. Easy drinking and tasty.

Barrel-Aged Peanut Butter Stout

Aged about 1 year. PB flavors are dying off a bit but still get Roasty peanut notes that blend in with stout malts, chocolate notes, and bourbon.

The Headless Gourdsman

Still boozy, spiced, and rich with maple as if on draft.

Harvest Ale

Just as good as on draft. Love that fresh hop aroma and smell.

4 Giants Starcatcher Haze

Liked this beer in the can so needed to try it on tap. Much more of a dank nose on tap along with some fruity vibes. Same soft body with a good juicy fruity hop flavor that ends slightly hoppy dry.

Harvest Ale

Another great fall beer style! Even better when just tapped today. Amazing aromatics of pine, citrus, and subtly floral. Fresh hop Flavor that matches the aromatics along with a just enough malt with clean/crisp body to make it balanced.

Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

Aged 6 months. Huge coffee and barley roast nose. Flavor is more bitter coffee forward with a slight bourbon sweet in it that makes it more balanced. Cognac flavor is right at the end in the aftertaste.

Oktoberfest

May not be able celebrate the real start of Oktoberfest tomorrow, so doing it early! Happy Oktoberfest and start of the fall beer season!

Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS) (2018)

2018 aged. Huge bitter roast with big roast. Bourbon/booze comes up strong with h big roast from aged coffee.

4 Giants Starcatcher Haze

Huge aroma of tropical and dank hops. I think it’s simcoe and mosaic. Flavor is fruity hops with a grassy after flavor. Probably Founders best hazy.

Sleeper Cell

Huuuge hop nose of pine, dank notes, subtle citrus, and malt. Flavor is very balanced with hop bitterness and malt caramel sweetness. This is my kind of a traditional IPA. Dangerously smooth for the big ABV.

SMASH Bros Czech Pils

Another collab with 2 of my favorite breweries. Smells like fresh mash malt with a slight hop spice. Light bodied, crisp, and slightly bitter with a subtle lemon flavor.

The Headless Gourdsman

First pumpkin beer of the year…again I’m early to drink these, but close enough! Nose is lots of nutmeg with a hefty boozy barrel. Flavor is more balanced than expected. Pumpkin spices with sweet maple and bourbon. Smooth and flavorful.

KBS Blueberry

New KBS! Aroma is coffee and oak with a hint blueberry. Cold: flavor is medicinal blueberry and overpowers other flavors of KBS. Aftertaste improves with more natural blueberry and coffee/chocolate. Warm: flavors become more balanced and less medicinal.

Nunu Hazy Ipa

Nose has big citrus and tropical notes. Light bodied and crushable with classic juicy hop flavors that end with fruit cup flavors along with a little hop bitterness.

Barrel-Aged Peanut Butter Stout

Nice surprise in the bottle shop! Nose is amazing blend of bourbon, peanuts, PB, and malt. Flavor is an incredible balance of bourbon, chocolate, and roasty PB. All flavor with no booze burn too, so pretty dangerous for the ABV.

10K IPA

Mug club exclusive bottles! Nose is caramel malt sweet with citrus grass hops. Pretty malty flavor with some hop bitterness but not as much as I expected. Mouthfeel is a little tingly and warming booze vibe.

Hazacca IPA

Taproom says this brew has azaaca and mosaic, citra. Definitely pick up mosaic notes of earthy hops with some juice. Azaaca comes up front with some pine and tropical bitterness. Citra juice plays well but is more on the back. Just enough malt to hold up

Más Agave

Been awhile since I’ve had this brew! Seems more agave forward. Lime comes in enough with a good tequila nose and flavor. Perfect for this warm day!

Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

Same amazing flavors as if on tap. Perfect beer for this cooler rainy spring day.

Porter

Grabbing this classic/personal favorite before it starts getting too warm…not that this can’t be enjoyed all year.

4 Giants IPA

Been awhile since having this brew. A classic DIPA profile. Heavy hop flavor and bitterness with a good malt end to round it out.

TRX Double Barrel Dubbel

Long days require delicious beer.

90 Minute Imperial IPA

Last night. Hoppy as usual. Citrus pith nose with a heavy malt sweet and pungent hops. Flavor is very malty with a blast of bitter and subtle citrus hops. Can art is sweet.

Irish Creme Porter

Huuuuge dark and rich coffee nose. Creamy mouthfeel and flavor, with some sweetness, that makes this go down smooth thanks to lactose.

Lenny IPA

A easy drinking IPA. Fruity citrus nose and flavor with a decent bitter and dank hop flavor. Easily crushable for near 7% beer.

Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

Mug club early access beer! Nose is layered with bourbon, barrel, and subtle coffee and vanilla. Flavor is balanced barley and coffee roast, slight vanilla sweet, subtle bourbon, with a cognac booze warming aftertaste.

Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS)

When in doubt, always a good choice. As this ages the coffee bitterness seems to come up more and create a dark roast flavor. Dark chocolate flavors creep up with a pretty potent bourbon booze flavor. Maple is kinda dying out.

Rye Brown

Great English ale style nose. Flavor is nutty, slight caramel sweet, English malty, with a good amount rye bread and spice. Full bodied and easy drinking.

TRX Double Barrel Dubbel

Last day of Cellar Raid. Blend of rum and bourbon barrels. Nose is rum forward that plays incredibly well with the banana Belgian esters to make a tropical cocktail vibe. Bourbon flavors come in smoothly that works great with the malty base beer.

BA Marvelroast

Tastes like boozy marvelroast. Very sweet with no bourbon or barrel flavor. It only has a little booze bite. Too much lactose and vanilla for me.

Rum BA Rubaeus

Nose has light but noticeable rum smell along with big raspberry notes. Flavor has the rum notes that I think helps cut the usual overwhelming sweetness of traditional Rubaeus and adds some flavor too.

Chocolate Cherry KBS

Cellar Raid and a new KBS variant! Very surprised how balanced this is. Cherry and woody bourbon nose. Flavor is coffee and chocolate with a balanced natural cherry flavor. Warm: coffee/chocolate becomes pronounced with some cherry still there

Backwoods Bastard

Haven’t had this in years and I don’t think my palate was ready for it then. Cold: Nose is dark fruit/grape and hints of wood/bourbon. Flavor is very malty and woody with a boozy bite. Warm: malt comes in more and booze dials down. Woody flavor stays too.

100 Year Haze

This brew is a 100% centennial hop NEIPA. One of my favorite hops. You get all the great pine and grapefruit flavors and smells with a touch of juicy citrus to make more NE-like.

Maple Barrel Aged Frangelic Mountain Brown

Aged ~1yr. Cold: hazelnut is very present in nose and flavor. Touch of maple in the nose. Bourbon comes in the end with a perfect blend of chocolate and hazelnut. Warm: maple and nutty malt comes up more with slightly more boozy bourbon flavor.

KBS Maple Mackinac Fudge

One of my all time favorites. 2022 edition. More fudgy than I recall from before but maybe aging it helps bring more of the other flavors up. Still complex and different with each sip with fudge, coffee, bourbon, and maple.

All Night IPA

Happy birthday to me with a new mug club membership! Mug isn’t ready but I still get the perks! This new all day beer is light but well balanced with roasts and great hop bitterness. Good chocolate and nutty nose.

Centennial IPA

Always a favorite.

Ultimate Oktoberfest

Had to have for start of Oktoberfest. It’s actually much better after almost 2 months of “aging” since it was bottled. I got one more bottle so it’ll be interesting to see how it evolves. Really get more malt and bourbon balance.

Lil' Red IPA

Damn near perfect red IPA. Malty with slight caramel sweetness. Full bodied but easy drinking with a great hop forward flavor that doesn’t overtake. Incredibly well balanced.

Oktoberfest

Well I broke my fall beer rule of no fall beers until the start of Oktoberfest…buuuutttt this was $3 pint special and you can’t pass that up. Just as good as always. Malty, crisp, full, and all the great German flavors you’d expect.

KBS Maple Mackinac Fudge

aged ~2 yrs, the new label for this brew is releasing soon and is coming back, and I gotta quarantine, figured it was time to pull this out. Age this!! 2 yrs has way more roast/coffee with lots of fudge. Maple on the nose. Oak more present with booze bite

All Day Chill Day

My first Cold IPA. Crispy and light like a lager, but has a good hop nose and flavor. Slightly lemony and citrus. Easy drinking and crushable.

Vanilla Porter

One of my favorite porters now with vanilla! Definitely get the vanilla sweetness and pretty well balanced with the chocolatey malts. Some roasts but not as pronounced as the OG beer.

4 Giants Hazy IPA

Great haze and color. Very soft and smooth mouthfeel. Juicy and a tad grassy. Not as bold in flavor as other NEIPAs but still quite flavorful. Rather dangerous being 8%.

Solid Gold

Had to get the $3 pint. Plus, I haven’t had this on draft before. Soooooo much better. Buttery sweet, more crisp, and just overall more flavorful.

Ultimate Oktoberfest

Early for Oktoberfest, but had to try this fun take. Cold: big bourbon nose. Subtle malty smell too. Dangerously light body that is mainly bourbon flavor. Get some crisp malty lager at the end. Warmed: much more marzen smell and flavor come though.

Citra Promise

Perfect day for bar hopping with friends and family! Great juicy hops and crisp body/malts. Perfect collab between founders and Arvon

Belgian Twist

2nd Winter

Had this brew earlier today with the parents coming into town for Journey concert. Epic music. This was a classic ipa. Hoppy, clean, and medium bodied. Just a solid brew.

Belgian Twist

A perfect Belgian Trippel. Perfectly balanced clove and banana with the Belgian esters coming in strong. Little more sweet from the agave, but not overpowering.

KBS Hazelnut

Nutty hazelnut on the nose and flavor. Kinda overpowers all the other flavors of KBS. As it warms, flavors get much more balanced. Though the hazelnut flavor dies out and it becomes normal KBS at the end of the drink. Drink this boi warmer.

Blueberry Braggot

Almost too sweet and syrupy. Definitely taste honey and blueberry. I feel this drink would better to mix with something rather than drink on its own. Good for the style, just not my style.

KBS Maple Mackinac Fudge

Ok this one of my favs by founders. So fudgy with a pleasant and slight coffee/bourbon. The maple is less pronounced now due to aging

Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS)

Brought back for Cellar Raid and I’m a happy camper!

B.A. Nemesis

This is dangerous. Ridiculously smooth for the ABV. Get the dark fruits on the nose and flavor along with just barely noticed bourbon. Malty and boozy but balanced with a bitter end.

Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS) (2019)

Another vintage. Much more balanced coffee and chocolate. Similar to the other vintage, the bourbon flavor is more muted but still boozy.

Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS) (2018)

Vintage version brought out for cellar raid. Definitely has a more bitter coffee flavor coming through and stays a while on the palate.

Vino De Naranja Barrel-Aged Dubbel

Cellar Raid! Very balanced mix of bourbon and wine barrels. Get great Belgian yeast tastes with some banana. Not much orange flavor but do get it right at the end and on the nose.

Brandy Barrel-Aged Big Luscious

Very much a dessert beer. Lots of raspberry with plenty of brandy to cut the sweet of the OG beer. Tasty chocolate comes through. Too sweet for me to even think of having a full pour

Centennial IPA

Got my free birthday month entree here with this classic to match!

London Brown Porter

Great toffee flavors with a slight coffee roast and nose.

Oktoberfest

Happy Thanksgiving!

Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout (2020)

Another 1yr aged beer. Much more mellowed out. Much smoother but flavor has really gone away.

Mosaic Promise

Oktoberfest

Little late to the start, but happy Oktoberfest season and happy start to fall beer season!

Scarlet Dawn IPA

Lighter red IPA with pleasant malts and decent earthy bitter hops. Definitely sessionable.

Bottle Shop Series Highball Drifter

Yesterday. Definitely get the bourbon flavor. Some citrus and cherry too with a little booze bite. Sweet with caramel notes

DKML

14.5% for $3 and in a 16oz pint glass....we're in for a night. Sweet malt, boozy, with a touch of caramel and licorice

Red's Rye IPA

90 Minute Imperial IPA

Last night. Great hop flavors like grapefruit pine. Resinous and slightly greasy. Quite sweet due to the extra malt to balance out the hops.

Barrel Aged Quad Pro Quo

Great bourbon flavor and no bite. Sweet and smooth with a small malty taste at the end

Más Agave Grapefruit

Little less "intense" flavor than last year. Still tasty and balanced. Thought I grabbed the new prickly pear variant...happy mistake

Nemesis

Amazing roasted malt flavor. Hoppy and bitter flavors build up. Touch dark fruit nose. Dry and slight booze kick at the end

All Day Vacay

A wheat beer I actually enjoy. Crisp, some citrus, but not overly wheaty. Refreshing and easy drinking.

Imperial Stout

Wandering IPA

Tropical and fruity with a good bitterness. Run of the mill fruity/bitter mix IPA

Dizzy Double Dubbel

Sweeter and nutty belgian brown ale. Fun chocolate malts and sublte caramel end

Hazy IPA

Incredibly juicy and citrusy. Lighter body with a nice hoppy grass bite at the end