Founder's Curmudgeon's Better Half

In celebration of Valentine's Day this week Founders, the Michigan-based brewing company, released Curmudgeon's Better Half yesterday in very limited supplies. For weeks, Tom and I have been following the updates of Shoreline Beverage's Facebook page (they're located in Huntington) like hawks. Shoreline is our go-to place for rare beers, so we figured if anyone on Long Island was going to have it they would.

 
Better Half is described as an old ale brewed with molasses and aged in maple syrup bourbon barrels. Founder's is known for their delicious high ABV beers and at 11.9% Better Half is no exception.

So yesterday morning I checked Shoreline's Facebook page again, seeing as they said they would get it in this week and was disappointed to find a post saying that they weren't getting it in now.

Distraught, upset, devastated...no words could describe how let-down I felt. BUT! There was still hope in my heart. The beer distributor at St. James Beverage came to mind and I instantly called them to see if they were getting any in. To my excitement the owner said that they WERE in fact getting a case of them in. After an hour of waiting I called back to see if the truck with Better Half on it had arrived yet. The conversation went like this:
"Did you get the Better Half in yet?" 
"Yeah we got it in."
"Alright I'll be there soon!"

So off to St. James I went to go pick-up my bottle of Better Half. After arriving and mentioning to the guy at the counter why I was there, he secretly slipped into the back room and after a couple minutes returned with a bottle of Better Half. I was happy to say the least :). 

I also ended up buying a four pack of Founder's Double Trouble, a delicious double IPA which I will discuss in a future post and a bottle of Dogfish Head Worldwide Stout. The owner of St. James Beverage, Martin, is a very nice guy and I enjoyed talking to him and trading stories of beers we've tried and ones we have in our personal supplies. I underestimated the amount of variety and rare beers that St. James would have. I'll never make that mistake again and I'll definitely be checking out the store again.

That night after I got out of work Tom and I split the bottle of Better Half and my god was it good!

We drank from Snifters (that fancy glass you see above) and this beer was a treat. Very sweet taste comprised of both maple syrup and molasses. The maple syrup flavor really stuck out and with every sip I enjoyed it more and more. The beer poured with a nice head and a reddish brown color. Out of all the beers I've had this one was definitely the reddest in color, even more noticeable when held up to light. After splitting the bottle with Tom I was feeling nice. I'm usually a light-weight when it comes to alcohol and with Better Half being 11.9% I got tipsy very fast.

This concludes the story of how I got to try Founder's Curmudgeon's Better Half for the first time and hopefully not the last! I'd like to thank Founder's personally for making yet another award winning beer! Thanks!

-Phil

Update: I had to make pancakes the following morning, since I was craving them so badly.