Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
Country: USA
Size: 35.5cl
Alcohol: 8%
Price: 39kr
Systembolaget: 11424
I love throwing weird beers into my tastings. Anything that is completely different is great for getting people to talk and debate. When I read that this was being released here in Sweden, I knew it would be on the list for this tasting. Founders have a good reputation when it comes to producing quality beer but sometimes they do go way over the top with things. So I was interested to see just what they would do with an imperial golden ale brewed with coffee, cocoa nibs, vanilla and milk sugar. This it turned out pushed the boundaries of the palate but still remained a very easy and full tasting beer.
This was golden to amber with a rather high carbonation. The head was virtually non exisent strangely enough but the body was clearly quite full and sticky. The aroma was intense but just simply amazing. There were massive hits of thick cream and cheap milk chocolate coupled with an espresso backbone. It was reminiscent of melted ice cream in the smell. The taste was just strange but not in a bad way. It almost felt a bit wrong drinking it as it really did feel like a golden ale and a milk stout mashed together in a glass. It shouldn’t have worked but somehow it did. The taste was again cream and cafe latte with a big sweetness continuing long into the aftertaste. The alcohol wasn’t noticed so at 8% this could be quite dangerous. The body was incredibly silky and left the lips feeling sticky.
It was so weird to have a beer this pale that tasted so much like an imperial cream stout. Big bold flavours fused together nicely to produce a rich and potent beer. It was easy to drink but rather sweet, so I don’t think I would want to drink more than one of these in a night. Overall though, another winner from the Founders team. I’m already looking forward to seeing what they come up with next!