Founders Brewing Co. - 2018 "Curmudgeon's Better Half" English old ale

Although we're almost to spring, it still can be pretty chilly, so here's something to warm up with! I grabbed this last year, when we only had two cases of these delivered into D'Vines. I'd never heard of it before, but because Founders has such a good reputation when it comes to darker, barrel-aged beers, I bought it on spec for $18.99 for a four-pack of 12oz bottles. Of course I had one (or three) fresh, which is the basis for this review, but I also cellared one for a year and a half so I'll incorporate those notes at the end.

It's called "Curmudgeon's Better Half," and starts out as their base "Curmudgeon", an English old ale which becomes "Better Half" after aging for precisely 254 days in ex-bourbon barrels which had recently held Michigan maple syrup. The final product weighs in at a respectable 12.70% ABV.

Pours slowly, generates a whiskey nose, definitely with notes of dark maple sugar. Lighter in color than expected.

Interesting - this beer is super boozy and thick, and initially, I'm picking up some raisin sweetness, like an amped-up version of Sam Adams "Tetravis". But that soon gives way to a major wave  of maple and sticky, syrupy flavoring that bulldozes everything else. They must have added a ton of molasses because this kind of weight can't come from the cask aging alone. After swallowing, the flavor sits on the tongue for what seems like minutes.

In terms of aging, a year and a half did very little to mute the flavors I noted above. I guess that's to be expected, given the ABV and flavor profile, so it's good to know that aging in the short-term doesn't do much to change to profile of the beer. I'd be curious to see how this would hold up after three years.

First and foremost, this beer is sweet. It's heavy in the tummy, warming, and somewhat sticky on the lips. If you like maple and molasses, and are looking for a great beer for a winter's night in front of the fire, then you can't go wrong with this. In general. $18.99 is a lot for a four-pack of 12oz bottles, but in this case I think it's worth it. Fans of Founders' "Canadian Breakfast Stout" would also enjoy this for sure.