Founders Backstage Series # 8: Sweet Repute
It’s not always a good thing when your reputation precedes you. But the complexity of this powerful wheat wine will give it a Sweet Repute no matter where, when or how your paths meet. Our brewing team painstakingly choreographed each layer of this beer’s characteristics, starting with a healthy wheat and roasted malt base and adding clean, fragrant hops. It’s one-hundred percent barrel aged in maple syrup bourbon barrels and bourbon barrels over the course of sixteen months, then blended using carefully calculated ratios for the ultimate final product. The resulting 12.6% ABV liquid pours a bright warm russet with a stubborn ivory head and an intoxicatingly sweet nutty aroma. Take your time allowing the layers of flavors to unfold… Because it’ll only get better.
3.8
271 reviews
Grand Rapids, United States
Community reviews
Had this chilling for a couple of years before drinking it this year. I’m glad I let it mellow down a bit, because, for a 12.6% beer, this was a very easy and mellow drink. The aroma is vintage Founders wood-aged malt bomb, with the sticky sugary character dialed up three notches: honey, vanilla, maple candy, bourbon, molasses, and sultanas manage to overwhelm what little comes through in the way of hops. There’s a prickle of alcohol throughout, but it’s just there to cut through the stickiness. The mouthfeel is unsurprisingly firm and sticky, with a little effervescence. The taste is largely sweet, with moderate malt bitterness brought up by some mild booziness. On the tongue, molasses, maple, and bourbon shine above the rest. Greatly enjoyable, though certainly not for all. Oh, no. I’d love it if they release it again. I’d save it for the coldest night of the year.
On tap at the Founders Cellar Raid on 1/29/16. Clear amber to copper in color with a medium white head. Aroma of booze, honey, maple and wheat. Malt and honey flavor with caramel and maple accents before a boozy finish.
Pours clear golden orange with a small of white head and some floaties because of a bad pour. The aroma has a lot of thick malt, some mushiness, light maple and some warm alcohol. It has a full smooth body with a mild amount of carbonation. The flavor starts with rich caramel malt, vanilla, alcohol and some cooked apples. The finish has some maple, spice, alcohol and a hint of oak. Very nice.
Crisp, clear copper coloured body with a nice, dense, three centimetre tall tan head that leaves a pretty ugly lace. Aroma of alcohol, pit fruits, bright hops, pine, spruce, caramel and a good dose of oak from a barrel. Full-bodied; Strong sweet flavours up front of pit fruits, apricots, caramel and cereal, along with a good strong and drying oak flavour with a lot of bourbon and alcohol flavours around as well. Aftertaste is quite complex, but relatively mild and subdued with some sweetness, pine/spruce notes and a good oaky, boozey flavour at the end. Overall, a nicely subdued and nuanced beer with good flavours and somehow (despite the high ABV) smooth and relatively easy-to-drink beer. I sampled this 75 cL (any barley wine should not be in a bottle anywhere close to this size!) bottle purchased from Whole Foods in Tyson’s Corner (Falls Church), Virginia on 12-December-2013 for US$16,99, sampled at home in Washington on 07-January-2016.
I was a little worried about the age on this, but dang what a unique and tasty brew! All kinds of weird fruit notes from the beer opening up nicely with maple and light bourbon barrel character. Still had some bite and got better as I sipped.
November 22, 2015 - bottle from AV3. Clear dark orange pour with some head and sediment. Aroma was sugary sweetness with a very mild bourbon. Taste is dominated by the sweetness, but there was enough heat to provide some balance.
Pours a slightly cloudy, dark golden amber color with golden copper edges and a two finger, pillowy white head that very slowly settles into a thick, lasting ring. Excellent retention for the style and high ABV, taking a while to settle and coating the glass with streaks of soapy lacing on the way down. Looks great!
Intense yet inviting aroma with a strong barrel presence that’s decently integrated into the wheat wine characteristics. Strong charred oak/toothpick character along with some toasted coconut, faint vanilla and prominent boozy sweetness. In addition to the bourbon there is a heavy dose of booze/ethanol. I’m not picking up much maple syrup but there’s a decent amount of spirit without interfering with the prominent leathery malts and ester-y fruit notes. The barrel masks most of the wheat character but the Barleywine elements stand out in the nose with notes of leather, fig, raisin, caramel and toffee. Complex and well balanced aroma but it could use more maple and wheat beer character for my preference.
Chewy full body with prominent barrel flavors that remain nicely integrated into the flavors of the base beer. The maple that was missing in the aroma really stands out providing syrupy sweetness that compliments the oak barrel and boozy spirit. Subtle hints of bourbon along with dry, toasted oak and silky vanilla flavor. Has a lot of the flavor of a high end bourbon without any of the heat. There is plenty of boozy sweetness but nowhere near as much as the nose hinted at making this complex beer dangerously drinkable. Underneath, there is some nice wheat wine flavor with bready yeast, banana and faint light fruit notes followed by boozy sweetness, dark fruit and leathery malt. Overall, I was really impressed with the balance of this beer. There are some intensely flavorful barrel notes that provide multiple layers of complexity without completely obliterating the Wheatwine characteristics. Each sip reveals something different and the high ABV is excellently masked. Another great beer from Founders!
Bottle sampled at studio 1 with William and Holly. Another odd brew that turned out great. Notes of wood, booze, maple, vanilla, some ginger bite. The warming finish topped it off quite nicely.
Bottle: Poured an amber/copper color ale with a small foamy head with OK retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of toffee notes with intense bourbon notes and loads of residual sugar. Taste is quite the extreme mix of huge bourbon notes with warming alcohol with some toffee and caramelized cereal notes. The level of residual sugar is too high in my opinion which lessen the drinkability of this beer. Body is pretty full with OK carbonation with quite a bit of warming alcohol. Type of beers that needs to be share 15 ways in order to enjoy small sample due to limited drinkability and too mush residual sugar notes.
I kept this since it was released (2013?) because I thought time would mellow out the clash of maple syrup and bourbon booziness. I wasn’t disappointed. All the flavors worked well together: maple, vanilla, bourbon, molasses, and more. Wish I had picked up another.
Bottle. Pours amber with a small white head. Sweet aroma of maple, vanilla, bourbon and caramel. Flavor was quite sweet with maple syrup, vanilla, oak, caramel, toffee and subtle bourbon.
Strong maple and alcohol aromas. Sweet and thick. REALLY sweet, with a good strength, not much burn. Very rich and mellow. Vanilla is dominant, and some brown sugar. It has a lot of flavor, but not too many layers. It punches you hard with what it’s got.
Finally opening this. Pretty, clear Amber beer, cream colored head faded to faint skiff, some lace. Aroma is raisin, date, grilled pineapple. Taste is super sweet, alcohol, some hops bitter. After getting a little used to the sweet alcohol, there’s some vanilla and bourbon under there, and caramely syrup, and oak. Palate is rich, carbonation subdued. Can’t say I enjoy this.
Bottle..Pour is golden with a hazy white head..Nose is bourbon, maple, stale..Taste is maple, spice, stale, oak, musty,
15cl sample at the Leuven Innovation Beer Festival (25 V 2015), from a 75cl bottle bought at the festival shop. This barley wine is aged on bourbon barrels, and maple syrup was added. A sweet, sugary taste is overwhelming. You can just enjoy the roasted malts, the calvados hints, the bourbon notes, the spiritful ending. Wood and vanilla also. Too sweet for me, but still very enjoyable.
Bottle at Leuven Innovation Beerfestival, thanks Beuk87 for sharing! Bourbon, vanilla, oak, very sweet, desert beer and a true sipper. Truly awesome however.
Maybe my tastebuds were all jacked up at the party I was at from all of the other beers that I had but I wasnt a fan.
Bottle from drfabulous in one of my first trades. Finally found a good time to open this. Weekend away with friends, late at night paired with cigars. Lovely dark pale pour with ample creamy head. Sweet and rich, with vanilla, molasses, candied citrus. Sweet through and through, but neither cloying nor over the top. Nice sipper, and there's a good synergy with this cigar -- I can see why people pair these together.
750ml bottle. Clear medium dark gold color, with some floaters, and an off white head. Vanilla, pineapple, toffee, sugary, bourbon, and white chocolate. Sweet sipping beer, and quite delicious.
Bottle @ WWT IV, small sample. Slight hazy amber color, short head. Aroma reminds me a bit of toothpaste and mint, cookie, bit caramel. Bit sweet in taste, slight bitter. Quite nice.
Bottle @ WWT. Aroma is big caramel malt, vanilla, light fruity notes and more. Flavour is malt, vanilla, caramel, bourbon. simple, but really thick and gooyey with huge vanilla. Like it.
Bottle @ WWT IV, courtesy of deanso. Pours a clear darker golden beer with a small off white head on top. Aroma is very fruity. slight orange, and vanilla with touches of caramel and booze. Flavor has touches of bourbon and vanilla with a big sweet and malty note in it. Very strong flavors, loads of fruit and booze. Soft carbonation and long sweet finish. Very nice!
Bottle at WWT. Clear golden with little things swimming around and very small white head. Mint, yoghurt drink with line aroma, light spices, heather honey, slight metallic touch and sweet sugary nuts. Very sweet with herbal bitter finish. Full bodied with sticky sugary feel.
Bottle @ WWT IV. Clear orange golden color with a slight amount of floaties in there, average sized white head. Smell and taste malts, sweet, sticky alcohol, a hint of cookies, some liquor. Medium to full body, soft carbonation.
Bottle shared at WWT IV thanks to Deanso. Pours floaty clear Amber with a ring tan head. Aroma of sweet malt, floral notes, marzipan, licorice, vanilla, nutty notes and caramel. Flavour is light heavy sweet. Medium to full bodied with light carbonation.
Sample at WWT IV courtesy of me.
Very thin white head. Clear golden pour. A lovely smooth barley wine. Nice barrel notes
bottle from my buddies in Wisconsin. Pour is a light caramwl. i really expected something darker from the descrtiption. head is a silk white with hues of yellow and it lasts like something bottle conditioned, but i know this is not. this smell reminds me of the first time i had a Beast from Avery. a fucking shit ton of sugar and caramel, just smells like a quick painfull death for a diabetic with a duty note underneath. wow, there is something balancing the sweetness here. sure, it is alcoholic sugar water make no mistake, but this is drinkable! and it is tasty too. some light pepper notes and just a bit of bitter citrus keep this cotton candy caramel, and toffee monstrosity in check. this is a fun sipper. i get a bunch of candy notes, then 5 minutes later some weird chocloate covered prune and candy orange flavors, then some lingering tobacco in that caramel flavor. glad i have tomorro off cause i am getting ripped and going to send some text messagres that are not worded in the most polite way. woohoo! fuck all y’all!
Bottle. Poured light hazy gold amber with white head. Aroma sweet fruity booze. Light carb med bod. Sweet toffee taste alcohol is there, grainy fruit grape.
On tap at the Brick Store. Black color, with a thin, beige ring. Nose of coffee, light smoke, cinnamon, and syrup. Sweet, with a harsh roasted bitterness. Medium body, with a chalky mouthfeel. This is a harsh, overly roasted beer.
Tap at hop cat Ann Arbor. Color is orange with thin white head. Aroma is sweet maple and malt. Taste is boozy sweet. Maple and vanilla. Very hot and sticky