If one were to view the craft beer sensation as this decade’s version of the 1970s designer jeans craze, Founders Brewing would surely be marketing-savvy, trend-setting Sasson, or perhaps Jordache. Each time Founders doles out a limited release brew, mania spreads through the industry and beer fashionistas compete for bragging rights over who went to the greatest lengths to obtain a bottle, who spent the most to buy it, and who has the most pairs in their closet – I mean cellar.

Backwoods Bastard – though not the most coveted item in the collection – is only released in November. This makes it elusive, and boast-worthy enough to compel beer fans to pull out their wallets and buy up the supply wherever they spot a four-pack hanging on the rack. This Scotch ale is the barrel-aged cousin of year-round favorite Dirty Bastard.

And with good reason. Backwoods Bastard is a couture garment. This runway frock glistens with a khaki head that’s at once frothy yet form-fitting and sticks to the curves of the glass in a double layer of lacing. Compact CO2 bubbles pop politely when they reach the surface of the opaque, root-beer-colored liquid.

Earthy malts and hints of vanilla heavily inform the aroma. The flavor is suffused with caramel and syrup flavors, appropriate to its Wee Heavy style and cultivated by time spent in oak bourbon barrels. The 10.2 % ABV and 50 IBUs are so deeply buried within the taste so as to be almost imperceptible, though as is usual, the alcohol becomes more prominent as the beer warms up. The body is as sturdy as a proud old oak tree, and the liquid coats the tongue like sweet sap.

Backwoods Bastard may not create the frenzy of – for example – the recently released Canadian Breakfast Stout, but it’s a beer that earns its prime position on the catwalk. At the end of a glass, I’m pleased to report that nothing comes between me and my Founders.

Photo via The Perfectly Happy Man