Founders Nemesis 2010
The 2010 release of Nemesis is best described by our brewing team as “a dark barley wine that pours black with a subtle mahogany hue. Brewed with 5 malts and no shortage of hops for a pleasantly bitter booming flavor. Roasty and toasty with a multitude of tastes that melts on your tongue”.
3.9
429 reviews
Grand Rapids, United States
Community reviews
A- Pours a deep, murky, dark black with little to no head.
S- Light maltiness, toasted bread, huge citrus and hop notes.
T- Light fruits, citrus up front, large wave of hops followed by a coffee like burnt malt flavor.
M- Thick with low carbonation.
D- This is definitely more of a big stout than a barleywine. There was a strange aftertaste that didn’t sit quite right with me. Definitely not as drinkable as it could have been.
Pours a dark brown color with no head. Aroma of vanilla, toffee, oak, and dark fruit. Vanilla, toffee flavors with raisin, oak, and toasted malt. Four year old bottle and no hint of alcohol. Impressive.
Ridiculously deep dark brown body with a non-existent tan and oily head. Aroma of strong alcohol, nuts, earth, pit fruit, oak, vanilla and quite a bit of toffee - deep and very strong. Full-bodied; Pungent and showing a ton of alcohol and warmth with the roasted malt, chocolate, pit fruits and especially oak flavours really coming out. Aftertaste shows a nice earthiness with a super complex finish having the roasted malt, chocolate, alcohol, pit fruits, oak, toffee and nuts all a part of the mix. Overall, a super pungent and complex beer with a great flavour profile and even better richness throughout. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Norm’s in Vienna, Virginia on 05-March-2011 sampled at home in Washington on the day of the closing ceremonies for the Olympics to celebrate Team USA in Sochi during the past four years.
2010 Vintage // Purchased in 2011 // Drank in 2014
Bottle shared at RBWG! Pours a thick blackish brown with minimal head or lacing. Aroma is big barrel aged ridiculousness. Taste follows, big and sweet, a little nuts, woah, too much for me.
This is a terrific American barley wine. It is a little sweet but top notch taste, aroma, mouth feel and texture. Enjoyed from a glass at the Raye beer festival in Asheville.
[Bottle / 3+ years old] Thanks, Jeff! Burnt mahogany body with a slight, java-cream head that forms on top & fades quickly. Aroma has big notes of toasted caramel candies, toffee, faint licorice, ripe plums, prunes, & lots of sweetness, almost in the form of residual, Candi sugar. Notes of molasses & very mild roastiness in the back. Taste includes lots of burnt brown sugar up front, molasses covered raisins, prunes, sticky toffee candy, & an undercurrent of booze that shines through & warms the throat. Kind of nutty in the finish, definitely malty sweet with some finishing notes of dates & plums. Big, sticky, coating mouth feel... Very nice beer.
Pours basically black with some light tan head that fades to a large bubble head on the rim of the glass. Nose is nutty, caramels, toffee, sweet malts, light chocolates. Flavor is chocolates, nutts, caramels, roasted toffee, darker cooked caramels. has quite the astringent flavor or all the sweetness in there. Pretty good but didn’t hold up anywhere close to the 2009 we just had.
Bottle received in trade. Thank you pushkinwow (iirc)! Pours murky dark reddish brown with a thin beige head that quickly dissipates without leaving much trace on the glass. Smell is sweet and malty with caramel, sweet dark bread, alcohol, resinous wood, dried orange peal, biscuits, toffee, pine needles, burnt sugar and molasses. Taste is sweet, heavy bitter and malty with biscuits, roasted malts, caramel, resinous wood, sesame seed cookies, moist soil, cocoa powder, mixed dried citrus peal, moist grass, pine needles, alcohol, dark bread, moist tobacco, raisins, molasses and liquorice root. Mouthfeel is round, soft, oily bitter and near full bodied. Finish is sweet, bitter and malty with biscuits, caramel, toffee, resinous wood, pine needles, moist soil, alcohol, toffee, tobacco, raisins and subtle hints of iron. Heavy heavy bitter but pretty close to balanced with the thick malt profile. Tasty if close to too extreme. An American barley wine indeed...
Bottle. Garnet with minimal head. Fruit and candi sugar. Dark fruit, tannins and very malty at the end.
Bottle of the 2010 vintage. Dark ruby brown with a small pale head. Aroma is toffee, raisins, dates, molasses, caramel, candi sugar. Medium-full bodied, sweet on the palate with some balancing bitterness. Taste is burnt bread, toffee, flambé mandarin, raisin, dates.
Bottled: Aug, 2010
A: Pours a dark, dark , ruby ale with near excellent clarity. Little head formation and a thin sheet of light latte sits atop the ale. Spotty lacing. Darker the barley, the better IMO.
S: Malt, caramel, toffee, bitter hops. Reminds me of Pike Brewing Barley Wine. Hopefully the hops don’t over power the sweetness the malt offers. Hints of vitamin smells.
T: Bitter and alcoholic. Plenty of malt, but much more bittering hops. Seems like there may be some anise/licorice in there. The alcohol is poorly addressed. A salami flavor as well.
M: Medium body with high carb for the style. needs lowered carbonation. Dry finish.
O: This beer needs time. Additionally, I’m unsure the time would offer much more than polish for the alcohol flavors. The nose is nice, but the flavor is dominated by too much chemistry from the hops and alcohol for my preferences. It’s called a Barley Wine because the barley should dominate - here the beer doesn’t do itself justice.
Serving type: bottle
05-22-2011
Bottle from TODD. THANKS!A: Dark mahogany almost black. Good cappuccino head, albeit a touch foamy. Leggy.N: Big malt, toffee, and ample hops remain with pine, earth, and pineapple. Some cola and burned toast. Barleywine flavors abound.T: Powerful bitterness and a wooden flavor like a floorboard. Medicinal and already oxidized. Strong aleywine?M: Chalky and round. Assertive.O: I guess. This is American barleywine territory - untamed and bitter like a jilted teenager.
12oz bottle. Pours a dark brown with almost no head. Aroma of sweet caramel, dark fruits, and earthyness. Taste is boozy, molasses, roasted malt, tobacco, and some dark fruit. I enjoyed this immensely
Very balanced, and quite good. Nice a sweet, without being overly so with a nice full hop profile. Has some nice citrus flavors with some nice burnt sugar, vanilla, and caramel flavors. Very good.
12oz bottle, thanks to chuckaduck. Pours a very dark brown / red color, pretty much black. Good thin khaki head. Leaves impressive mountains of lace. Nice big spicy earthy roasty malty aroma. Big coffee, dark herbs and spices, earthy hop, some licorice, hint of bitter dark chocolate. Hint of smoke, dark fruit. Very interesting, complex aroma. Big body. Lighter carbonation. Sort of sticky, but a more dry finish (with the alcohol). More sweet taste, light bitter, sort of a bigger spicy character to the taste. Alcohol works well with the flavor, no bite in the finish with sips, just a very slight warmth. Very enjoyable, easy drinking complex dark barleywine. Held up to the age pretty well.
Bottle shared by Mike. Pours a dark chocolate brown. Some interesting coffee and earthy notes to complement loads of butterscotch. More and more barley wine boozy sweetness in the finish. Interesting with the coffee addition. It works.
Deep brown, little brown head. Real nice toffee notes. Burnt sugar. Thinner body. Nice beer.
12oz bottle thanks to Scott and Dave. Pours a deep dark brown with almost no head. Aroma of sweet caramel, dark fruits, and earthyness. Taste is boozy, molasses, roasted malt, spices, and some dark fruit.
Bottle split at the Croydonia Tasting, big thanks to Paul, 13/07/13.
Dark mahogony brown with a very thin off white head that clears to the edge.
Nose is dark fruit tang, prunes, sugars, light boozey notes, bready malts, light chocolate and dark toffee.
Taste comprises toffee fudge, dark fruits, dates stewed in sugars, light booze.
Full bodied, fine carbonation, fruity finish with a good boozey note pitched well.
Decent BW !
Bottle shared at Croydonia Tasting. It pours opaque brown with a small beige head. The nose is earth, toasted malt, caramel, toffee, dark fruit, brown sugar, pine, resinous, prune and plum. The taste is earthy, dark fruit, lots of sweet plum, raisin, decent bitterness, toast, earth, touch of alcohol cocoa, salted caramel and toast. Medium-full body and fine-moderate carbonation. Good body and flavour. Nice.
Bottle shared at the Croydonia July 2013 Tasting - East Croydon. Thanks to Paul for this one. Pours clear, amber-brown with a light, frothy head. Nose of burnt caramel, toast, dry pine, alcohol. Medium to big sweet flavor with molasses, earthy bitterness, dry caramel, toasty bread. Full bodied with fine carbonation. Warming finish with burnt toast, more molasses, bitter pine and earth. Good stuff. (3.8)
Bottle shared with Sr. Jackson in Canaan, NH. Pours clear, amber-brown with a beige foam head. Rich and malty aroma, toasty caramel, booze, bourbon, light roast. Medium to big sweet flavor with toffee, more alcohol punch, figs, a bit of charred malts. Full bodied with fine to average carbonation. Fairly hot in the finish, some earthy bitterness and piney hops are still there, plus caramel, light maple, dark sugars, lots of dark fruits. Might be nicer with a touch more age. (4.1)
Bottle generously gifted to me. Pours a dark black/brown with medium tan head. Smell is huge sweet malts, toffee, undertone of some hops still left. Taste is more big sweet caramel maltiness, chocolate, roastiness, quite sweet, lingering bitterness, distant (very) piney hops. I like me some super hoppy barleywines, but this one was a bit too dark roasted maltiness for me. Was actually a bit difficult
Pours dark chocolate and thick. Extreme Malt taste. Boozey caramel notes. Delicious. Aged well. From the Brick Store cellar in Decatur, Georgia.
Back into the cellar menu at the Brick Store again. Split the bottle with DeadCATAtlanta. Poured what seemed like a dark, dark purple with a light tan head. The nose was booze and candy. Flavor is sweet and smoky. Finish is full of booze. Bottle - Brick Store Pub - Decatur, GA
12 ounce bottle. Thanks Tim! Pours almost black with a small tan head. Aroma of dark fruit, malt, and smoke. Taste is dark fruit, roasted malt, chocolate, hops, and alcohol. Interesting.
I pulled one of these out of the cellar and I know I’ve rated it before. Not sure if it switched listing or what (have had 2009 but don’t see rating either). Anyway, new old rate: deep brown pour. Big leathery, dark fruit aroma. Tastes are sweet bread, soy, licorice, caramel. Covers the 12% well. Nice sipper.
Whoa - rich. Very rich. Richey Rich.
Thick beer, with strong malt overtones. Surprisingly thick for a beer. Interesting flavor- not something to run from...
Bottle. This is rich. Very rich. Super backbone. Lots of malt. Bitter but overcome by sweet malts.
12 ounce bottle
This came out of the cellar just in time for the transition to warm spring weather. A fine barleywine, this is drinking very well right now. I think it might continue to change over time but if you’re waiting for the right moment wait no longer.
Aroma / Appearance - The black base pours with an oily sheen that coats the rim of the glass. An ashy brown head decorates the top like dirty snow. Chocolate truffles, black coffee, and boozy undertones make it evident from the start this thing means business. There are some soft edges to help balance out the strong centerpieces.
Flavor / Palate - Carbonation lurks in the back of each sip. Bittersweet dark chocolate coats the palate. Cool ash coated on rye toast and then held together with generous swipes of Nutella. The finish hangs in the back of the throat with a warmth. I think the 2009 was better but both are world class.
12oz. bottle. Aroma of dark brown sugar, vanilla, dark malts, faint berry, pine, peppery alcohol, dark bread, toast. Extremely dark brown in color, almost looks blackish red, head is fine and subsiding. Flavor is toasty, malt, dark, strong, alcoholic, fruity and bitter, with plenty of piney hop (an accomplishment after this much time has passed), caramelized, dark malts, some faint earth, roast and medicinal alcohol, plenty of lingering dark sweetness here as well. No carbonation felt on the hefty palate but plenty of alcoholic warmth, body is beyond huge. I like dthis but wasn’t blown away by it, and would like to try a fresher sample. Thanks to Tom and Bill!