This duel has been sitting in my fridge for over a week. This means every time I opened the refrigerator door to grab a snack, make lunch, dinner, or get some water, I’ve been staring down these beers waiting for the day I was going to drink them. So to say I was looking forward to this one is an understatement.
The Founders Backwoods Bastard is part of their barrel-aged series. This series also includes KBS, Mas Agave, CBS, and a yet-to-be-revealed mystery beer coming out in September. I’ve been told this beer tastes more refined with age, and, admittedly, the sample I have was bottled in January (as I type this in April). Maybe it’s not aged as well as some may prefer, but I’m sure there will be other opportunities to work it into another duel down the line in its more refined state.
Up against the Backwoods Bastard, Central Waters presents its Scotch Ale. The closest I could come on their homepage to a description of this beer was here (side note: time to update that website, Central Waters). In visiting the site, I was hoping to gain a little more knowledge about their brewing process, but no such luck. Oh well. Let’s see how it shook out.
HopDuel Survey
| Better label | Founders Backwoods Bastard |
| Better aroma | Central Waters Scotch Ale |
| Better taste | Founders Backwoods Bastard |
| Better finish | Central Waters Scotch Ale |
| Winner | Central Waters Scotch Ale |
Tell us about it
Fantastic duel. I went back and forth three times. After each sip, I declared “that’s the winner,” only to change my mind again on the next sip. In the end, I just felt that the Central Waters Scotch Ale was a bit smoother and richer with more barrel flavor sitting on the taste buds for a longer period of time. If I dueled these beers twelve times, they would each win six, so don’t let the results fool you. Each beer is worth its cost, and I’d highly recommend trying them both.
In the event you didn’t know the movie reference from the excerpt for this post; 1. watch a movie, brah, and 2. here’s a little help:
HopDuel 