Tag: Wheat Wine
Founders Brewing Co. Nemesis 2009
Every batch diabolically brewed to decimate ordinary-average-run-of-the-mill tasting beer.
With a slogan like that printed right on the logo, it’s clear that Founders isn’t pulling any punches with this beer.
But then, do they ever pull any punches with their beers? The number of barrel-aged beers that they offer seems to be increasing all the time, and now includes bottled versions of Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Backwoods Bastard, and Old Curmudgeon, alongside draft-only releases of Hand of Doom (barrel-aged Double Trouble), Sappy Slappy Bastard (maple syrup/bourbon barrel-aged Dirty Bastard), barrel-aged Imperial Stouts, barrel-aged Red’s Rye Ale, barrel-aged Porter, Canadian Breakfast Stout (maple syrup/bourbon barrel-aged Breakfast Stout), and a brewery-only maple syrup/bourbon barrel-aged brown ale. An impressive lineup for fans of barrel-aged beers, and indicative of one aspect of Founders’ approach to brewing – take big, already impressive beers and make them bigger, and more impressive.
Lined up against this is their impressive lineup of seasonal and annual beers that don’t ever see the inside of a barrel. Red’s Rye is one of the most drinkable, flavorful beers out there, the Porter is as thick, creamy, and delicious as most breweries stouts, their Imperial Stout is a perennial favorite of mine, packed to the gills with flavor and body, and who hasn’t loved Double Trouble and Breakfast Stout?! And then there are the one-offs, such as Solid Gold or the MPG IPA (mango, papaya, and grapefruit), that I’ve been lucky to try at festivals and during my visit to the brewery.
In all, Founders nearly always blows me away with their top-notch, top-to-bottom selection. There are few breweries whose releases I look forward to more than theirs.
When news of the imminent release of Nemesis was announced, I knew distribution was going to be super limited, apparently a tiny amount of this beer was made, and I knew it would be foolish to run around chasing down bottles. And so I mostly tuned out the frequent posts on forums (“Anybody seen Nemsis yet?”), and patiently (or rather, less impatiently) awaited the Extreme Beer Fest when I hoped they’d be tasting Nemesis. Lo and behold they did!
It was the first beer we tried that day, and man…it was amazing. My taste buds were psyched! And so I shortly thereafter got lucky and was able to arrange to have a bottle saved for me at a local shop.
Nemesis is the name that Founders is reserving for a special one-off beer that they will brew each year. Here’s what they have to say:
What you have here is a rarity. A special, one-of-a-kind ale that is only made once a year. Sometimes that’s all. Forever. No more. Nada. Limited-time only. You never know what you’re gonna get. But you can be sure that it’ll be damn tasty.
This was the first year they brewed it, and it’s a big ol’ wheat wine weighing in at 12% ABV and 70 IBUs. After brewing, the beer spent 9 months aging in bourbon barrels that had previously been used to age maple syrup (same approach as with the Canadian Breakfast Stout and Sappy Slappy Bastard).
Tasting Notes
Nemesis pours thick and viscous, like caramel sauce, with a 2-finger creamy white head that surges up out of the beer and then drops leaving a thin layer. It’s orange amber in color and hazy with a bit of sediment in the glass. The nose has notes of salted caramel, orange cream, browned butter, and lots of oaky bourbon. The spectrum of flavors in the nose is just amazing, massive, rich and appetizing, and perfect for bourbon lovers. The palate has a soft, heavy, creamy mouthfeel, and subdued carbonation. Flavors of smoky oak resins, vanilla, creme brulee, caramel, warm, wheated bourbon, and shortbread. All in all, it’s sweet without being cloying, and it gained in balance and composure as it warmed. There is a notable hop bitterness when just out of the fridge that dissipates as the temp rises. The finish has elements of candied walnuts, mellow citrus, butter cookies, and a little lingering hop bitterness.
The overall verdict: this is a hugely flavorful, massive beer. A full, 12-oz bottle was about all my tastebuds and senses could handle, and I was thankful once again that Founders only uses 12-oz bottles nowadays. Am I glad I got to taste this? You bet! So much flavorful, it was a joy to drink, and rather inspirational from a homebrewer’s perspective. Imagine brewing up a couple cases of a beer this flavorful and stowing them away in a nice, cool basement to age slowly and gracefully? Trying one every month or two would be a blast!
Now if there were only a few more bottles of Nemesis stowed around here somewhere…