I guess I’m a fickle little bitch when it comes to beer.
Last night I was so excited to come across some four packs of Founder’s Backwoods Bastard sitting in the cooler of my local beer shop. Backwoods Bastard got me into whiskey-barrel-aged brews, and once upon a time it topped my list of favorite beers. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve had one, and I quickly grabbed up two quads of the stuff. My wife poured one right after I got home. I eagerly stole a sip, and, boy, how times have changed.
Instead of the boozy treat I remember, I tasted an okay beer that was a little out of balance, with the whiskey notes from barrel overwhelming the malt backbone and producing a peppery finish that was a little punishing. It wasn’t awful, mind you, but it wasn’t as awesome as I remember it.
I think there might be two factors at work here. One is that beers change from year to year, and perhaps this year’s batch of Bastards isn’t as balanced as bottles of yore. The other (more likely) factor is that I’ve been spoiled in the intervening years by New Holland Dragon’s Milk and Schlafly Imperial Stout, both which manage to provide huge whiskey flavor, but deliver it in a more refined way than Backwoods Bastard.
I had a glass of the stuff last night and enjoyed it, but it used to magical, and now it’s just serviceable. I still have some bottles left, so we’ll see if I can catch a spark of the old feelings I had for this beer, enjoying it for the wild backwoods ruffian it is. I’m hoping that’ll be the case now that my expectations have been moderated a bit.
Anyway, I hate it when I beer I love fails to thrill me. It’s like kissing you sister. 😦
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Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
I don’t anything at all refined about Dragon’s Milk. I love it, so don’t get me wrong, but it for my palate it is very wood heavy and hot and is out of balance for at least the first 12 months of it’s existence. I haven’t had a fresh Dragon’s Milk that didn’t make me grimace a bit like I do when I drink bourbon.
I agree that Dragon’s Milk isn’t the smoothest thing out there, but I find it to be far richer and more pleasurable than Backwoods Bastard.
I think there are a couple of other things to consider:
1) One’s tastes change as one grows older both as a result of experience and as a physical reality, i.e., one loses taste buds with age.
2) What tastes great one day, doesn’t taste nearly as good the next, this may be due to a difference in your emotional state, or perhaps you ate something with a strong, countervailing flavor; or that you’re coming down w/ a cold;, etc., etc.
So give the Bastard a break fer now and try it again another day.
I plan on doing just that – giving it a breather and trying it again. I’m hoping it’ll be a different experience next time.
I think it’s both of the factors you mention. Most of the seasonal/small-batch stuff from Founders this year has tasted differently. Some of it good, some bad. I don’t know whether it’s their processing or the ingredients and materials they’r using. For example, Devil Dancer (their triple-IPA) tasted really bizarre this year. I liked it, but a cicerone friend of mine claimed all he could taste was onions. Brewing big beers depends on huge amounts of ingredients. If those ingredients have changed or are a little bit off their normal character, the results are magnified.
That said, I think our tastes change a lot. I remember when Bells Two-Hearted Ale use to be too much for me. Now, it’s like a session beer.
I wonder if there have been changes to the brewing process as well. I’m not sure about Founders, but many breweries have been experiencing growing pains as demand for their products rapidly rises. Lagunitas comes to mind here…
Yeah, their growth has been pretty ridiculous. I’m sure it’s possible.
Quality issues caused by growth are the best kind, as they tend to get ironed out pretty quickly. It’s a good reason to suck. 🙂
I felt the same way about the Devil Dancer. Onions. I think that I have some propensity to pick out that flavor.
That’s like me and olives. For some reason that flavor leaps out at me in stouts that have been aged carelessly. Fortunately, I never age anything, as I can’t stand NOT to drink any stout I come across! 🙂
Why do you have to say that, Jim? I HATE olives – all kinds. I’ve tried to like them. I just can’t. Now, all those imperial stouts aging in my cellar don’t seem as appetizing as they used to. Thanks a lot.
You’re welcome. 😉
Zac, you said “…If those ingredients have changed or are a little bit off their normal character…” Are you talking about terroir here?
No. I’m just saying that if a certain year’s hop or barley harvest is off, the imperfections are magnified due to the large amount of each ingredient needed for these big beers. Also, the barrels they’re using might be different. My real suspicion is that Founders is going through growing pains and will rectify the situation soon enough.
Maybe it’s because you know so much more about beer now & probably have tasted many more, you just thought it was better back then?
That’s probably true. Backwoods Bastard was my first in-yer-face whiskey beer, and made quite an impression the first time I had it. You never forget your first!
Your scaring me, I have the same batch at home right now, and I’m really excited to pop one open.
Now you’ll enjoy it even more because I’ve tempered your expectations. 🙂
Backwoods Bastard is one of my favorite beers. Maybe sit one a few bottles (figuratively, not literally) and see how you feel.
Compare it to something like, umm, the first time you and your now wife hooked up. I bet it was pretty awesome back then, but after a few years of marriage, it just isn’t the same anymore once things are different (i.e. you’ve had other whiskey beers or had kids).
Things are still awesome with my wife, as we’ve grown and changed with each other.
Backwoods is more like my first-ever hookup, which was awesome at the time but I’m sure deeply embarrassing to relive now.
For her as well, I’m sure.
Embarrassing for me, soul-crushing for her!
I was gonna write hook-up or one-night-stand, but I thought your wife might be one of the 12 people who read this blog, so I refrained.
12? More like 15, buddy! 🙂
Jim, I believe you’ve been PWNED!
Shall we pull out our stat sheets gentlemen and see whose is longer? 😉
So, that’s why you do this blog thing: because YOU HAVE A SMALL PENIS?
No I do it because DON has a small penis!
I’m just a good brother!
I knew you’d figure out a way to tell everyone that DON HAS A SMALL PENIS. (I wonder how many times we have to type that to get more hits for “DON HAS A SMALL PENIS?”)
Well, I’m not gonna sit here all day typing DON HAS A SMALL PENIS. I mean what benefit could we see from typing DON HAS A SMALL PENIS again and again?
I bet if you google DON HAS A SMALL PENIS this thread won’t show up. As a matter of fact, I just googled DON HAS A SMALL PENIS and we didn’t Rank on the first page!
Maybe I’ll google DON HAS A SMALL PENIS later and see what pops up…
You do realize that no matter how many times you type DON HAS A SMALL PENIS that your Google search results for DON HAS A SMALL PENIS will only show up when you click on sites that are similar to the ones you normally click. So, typing DON HAS A SMALL PENIS might be just as useful as screaming DON HAS A SMALL PENIS or writing DON HAS A SMALL PENIS on a small piece of paper and mailing it to Don just to get him to say DON HAS A SMALL PENIS. Not really sure where all this DON HAS A SMALL PENIS stuff is going, but it certainly is fun to type DON HAS A SMALL PENIS over and over.
DON HAS A SMALL PENIS.
Here, let me Google DON HAS A SMALL PENIS for you.
Yoda: “A small penis, Don has.”
I see what you did there. You took DON HAS A SMALL PENIS and inverted it Yoda style to say A SMALL PENIS, DON HAS. Brilliant. Either way, DON HAS A SMALL PENIS should come up in a Google search. We may have to create a meme for DON HAS A SMALL PENIS.
BTW, where is Don?
He’s probably off crying about his penis. Because DON HAS A SMALL PENIS.
Dude, that’s taking it too far. Remember that he is your brother. Who cares if DON HAS A SMALL PENIS. He’s still your flesh and blood. Blood that you share. Blood that contains genes that make up your body composition…things like hair and eye color, mouth shape, height, personality, sense of humor, intelligence, and…well…penis size. So, maybe you really are calling out page view numbers just because your family’s curse is penis size, SMALL PENIS SIZE. Just sayin’.
Or maybe it’s all just cuz DON HAS A SMALL PENIS.
BTW, this isn’t as fun as it’d be if he’d defend himself.. 😦
True. I guess Don wins despite his small penis.
Don tiene un pene pequeño
Even in Spanish, it makes me giggle.
We’ve been having the same conversation hereabouts recently. One beer company that keeps coming up is Sam Adams (the regular release 6-packs, not the better Imperial-series 4-packs). Still good, but not as stellar anymore as Schafly’s, Founders, Oskar Blues, Stone, etc. Maybe because most of us cut our teeth on them, and have moved on. Same for Harpoon, Saranac, Long Trail, etc.
Yeah, the gateway beers aren’t as stellar afterwhile. I used to love Bass, but I’m sure it’d be a letdown to have one now.
the first backwoods I had were AMAZING. Then the next time I had it I thought the style of beer and the barrel aging didn’t mesh upon further review. I think I even posted that thought on one of these blogs here.
I think the style of beer is great for barrel aging (it’s malty enough) but the execution of the beer disappointed me this time around…
You execute your beer? I may have to start a petition about your heartless cruelty (not to mention your family’s widely-publicized genetic shortfalls (i.e., short penises, or should that be peni, or perhaps penae?)
Off with their caps!!
I have an enormous PENIS! (actually I wasn’t here, because I tried to “LOG ON” and it is hard to do with a small penis. 😉
So we should be typing DON HAS AN ENORMOUS PENIS here?
Yeah, Don’s comment sort of suggests that he thinks he has a large penis when it’s actually quite small.
Maybe he needs no glasses – that prescription might be too strong!
Jim’s PENIS is only bigger because he views it through Beer Goggles!
Nice. Funny. My brother and I NEVER talk about each other’s penis. You two have a special relationship.
It is a THICK, HARD, STRONG bond! 😉
Okay there tiger…
Yes 🙂
Try using your fingers instead.
Ummm guys yer Irish.
Ha ha! Was waiting for someone to chime in with the Irish Curse!
I thought that curse was Asian, no?
It’s Irish
No wonder we drink so much!!!
I think I am going to delete this blog as a Favorite.
Me too. Screw these dudes.
Too much PENIS talk!!
Sound like a couple of backward bastards to me
You mean like the guys who run this site? 😉
The beer that tends to do this to me is Ommegang’s Three Philosophers. When it’s on (or I suppose *I’m* on), it’s among my favorites. However, there have been times when a bottle has been a drain pour for me, which I’ve always felt odd about, because I can tell that when it happens, it’s not because of the quality of the beer itself.
I’m going to assume that a significant degree of our enjoyment of particular foods and beverages is dependent on our physiological and psychological state at the time we consume. Brain chemistry can do funky things with our senses, and GI, respiratory, and other systems can radically affect how we enjoy what we’re imbibing.
That’s a pretty intense love/hate relationship you have going on with that beer, Gordon. From love it to pour it is a pretty extreme range, but it goes to show how much expectation and mood can affect taste.
This happens to me fairly regularly, sadly. My favourite beer is a local IPA and occasionally I go to a bar that has had the keg tapped a little too long or grab a sixer that has been on the shelf a while and the beer has lost some of its amazing aromatics and hop profile.
It’s much more depressing when I notice on the first can of a six pack as then I have 5 more still to go!
I just grabbed several (of the last) bottles at a local store and I wanted to share it with all of my friends it was so good. I love Backwoods Bastard. It scares me.
On the plus side, I live about a twenty minute drive from Founders, New Holland Brewery, and several other amazing West Michigan breweries, so location is definitely in my favor.
That a pretty good part of the world for a beer geek to live!