Bastards of Young

Been buying up all the Founders beers since the New Mexico release? Me, not so much. Not a big fan of the Centennial IPA,or Red Rye, though I'd put the All Day IPA as probably second to Firestone Walker's Easy Jack in the Session IPA category. I get more excited for the Founders seasonal releases such as Double Trouble DIPA, KBS (naturally), and the most recent, Backwoods Bastard. Backwoods Bastard is a Scotch Ale aged in bourbon barrels, though I don't get much of the usual Scotch Ale notes, like the peatiness or unpleasant band aid that is especially prevalent in the Scotch Ale at a certain local brewery that is best known for its patio. It's somewhat reminiscent of Marble's Reserve Ale, with an amber hue and less viscosity than a barrel-aged stout or barleywine. Backwoods Bastard has been tweaked a bit for this year, with the ABV rising from 10.2 to 11.6%. A four-pack goes for around $13, and I first spotted it at the Whole Foods on Wyoming.

Anyone else been underwhelmed by Lagunitas lately? Forget that we couldn't get fresh Sucks! here when it was available, or that fresh Hop Stoopid doesn't seem to exist (and you can't decipher the bottled on date without one of those watchmaker's eye loupes), but their IPAs, from Sucks to Stoopid to Maximus to Sumpin' Extra, had a candy-like sweetness that seemed to appear in each of the different beers. But I'm happy to report that Born Yesterday, their Fresh Hop Pale Ale, is the best beer they have made this year. No candy in this one, just fresh Mosaic, Amarillo, Equinox, Simcoe, and Citra (which comes through heavily) that will have you welcoming Lagunitas back as one of the major players in the hop-forward beer category. Hop-forward, as in 11 lbs. per barrel in this beer! And they've switched to a regular old 10/26/15 bottled on dating, so you don't have to get your phone out and look up the Julian calendar to find out when your beer was made. $9 a six pack, bought repeatedly at Jubilation.