Founders Brewing Co. debuts year-round, barrel-aged Backwoods Bastard

October is arguably the best month for beer. This year, a little bit of October arrived early, and it isn't going away.

With its caramel-plum-sweet, slightly-smoky complexity, the bourbon-draped scotch ale Backwoods Bastard (11% alcohol by volume) from Founders Brewing Co. just started landing on shelves, kicking off its year-round availability.

Previously released only in October and November, the bourbon-barrel-aged beer is the first in the Grand Rapids-based brewery's "Barrel-Aged Series" to be offered all year. For a suggested retail price of $14.99 per 4-pack of bottles, it arrives at a time of rapid growth for the Founders, which in 2017 became the largest brewery in Michigan.

Backwoods seemed especially fitting for an autumnal release, when maltier, stronger, gut-warming beers pair nicely with falling temperatures. With the anticipation of an annual release date gone, finding it in stores won't be quite as exciting. But so long as the consistency in quality is there, that probably won't matter.

Before Founders, New Holland Brewing Co. of Holland was the only widely distributed Michigan brewery to offer a bourbon-barrel-aged beer all year. Its Dragon's Milk (11% ABV) bourbon-barrel-aged imperial stout was described by the brewery's owner in September as the "best-selling craft stout in America."

The Founders release that gets the most attention, Kentucky Breakfast Stout (12.3% ABV), is a bourbon-barrel-aged imperial stout made with chocolate and coffee. It released in March and will not be available year-round. The non-barrel-aged Breakfast Stout was added recently to the year-round lineup.

"Backwoods Bastard was created in 2005 following Founders' first trials to age Dirty Bastard, a Scotch ale, in bourbon barrels," according to a Founders news release Tuesday, which added that there are no plans to extend any other Barrel-Aged Series beers to year-round availability.

The brewery also announced Dankwood (12.2% ABV), a new addition to its Barrel-Aged Series. This is an imperial red IPA, Redankulous, aged in bourbon barrels. It's to be available from April to June, in 750-milliliter bottles for $11.99.

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"A dank, sticky and slightly sweet sipper, Dankwood is the perfect alchemy of wood and hops," according to the news release. "Both releases reflect Founders' ability to work with a full range of beers from imperial IPA to Scotch ale in barrels, treating each style uniquely. The Barrel-Aged Series currently boasts more than 20,000 filled barrels that are stored in former mines below the streets of Grand Rapids and in an off-site storage facility, the Barrel House, with more than two square-acres of refrigerated space."

In 2017, Founders brewed 466,700 barrels (a beer barrel is 31 gallons), up 34% from 2016. Most of that beer was on the lighter side: All Day IPA (4.7% ABV) session IPA was 62% of the brewery's output.

And while this week's announcement involved beers with more-than 10% ABV, the brewery last month announced more plans for its below 5% ABV offerings. Solid Gold (4.4% ABV) lager, which recently debuted for year-round availability, is to be available in 24-packs for $18.99 – a rarity in packaging among craft brewers but likely competitive with the likes of Budweiser.

Whether you like your beer strong and in 4-packs or light by the case, the options from Michigan's largest brewery continue to grow, no matter the season.

Spirits of Detroit columnist Robert Allen covers craft alcohol for the Free Press. Contact him: rallen@freepress.com or on Untappd, raDetroit and Twitter, @rallenMI.