Founder's Brewery Backwoods Bastard Ale Aged in Oak Bourbon Barrels

Anyone who is a regular Ill-Gotten Booty reader, or has sat with me at Jake's or Yia-Yia's, knows that I am partial to bourbon barrel aged beers, especially quadruples and stouts. Backwoods Bastard isn't a stout or a quad, but is a Scotch Ale, based on Founder's Dirty Bastard, a regular Scotch Ale. Scotch Ales are similar to the English Barleywine style, high in alcohol content, with a heavy malt character and often with evident caramel notes. The Wee Heavy style tends to be a Scotch Ale with a higher ABV. Both versions often have a smoked flavor.

Backwoods Bastard takes the basic Scotch Ale profile and adds the distinctive aroma and taste of the bourbon with hints of oak. It pours a ruby-mahogany, with a one-finger coffee-and-cream hued head. Flavors that start to emerge initially are nutty with some obvious caramel. Bourbon, of course, with some dark chocolate and vanilla bean. Very subtle dark fruit hints, black cherry, fig and dates. There's some heat from the 11% ABV, but not much smokiness, as one would expect from a Scotch Ale.

Since I'm partial to the style, and think it represents the style well, I'll give it a 9 on the IGB scale.