Pour is a deep red with a big white head. Aroma is truly wonderful. Its a spicy,hop and piney goodness that will leave you asking for more. Flavor is lots of piney and citrus hops with a dose of malts hits you at the end. A wonderful beer experience. Founders is bar none my favorite brewer in the world.

On tap at Founders. Appearance of apricot puree: dull, murky, and yellow-orange, with a thin off-white head. Wheaty aroma with grapefruity hops and a touch of spices. Flavor starts with big grapefruity hops, settling to tangy, grainy, fruity wheat malt, finishing bitter with a touch of pine. Creamy yet a bit tingly on the tongue. This was a pretty good beer.

Vintage 2003 Bad Habit Quad, Extreme Beer Fest 05 Draught. Dark, brown and orange, almost purple toned beer, with no head and big bubbles in the body. Smells like concord grapes, vodka, light chocolate and dry strawberries. Flavor is even more fruit juice tasting, with some vinegar thrown in to top it off. Grapes, cider vinegar, black berries, sour yeast presence and some dry, almost astringent notes on the finish. Watery body that I quickly label as "fruit juice".

A later sample at the fest would prove to be better. Strange, but perhaps it was a different keg, or perhaps the first sample had sat out too long. Much less wateriness, a good caramel sweetness, with a trace of candi sugar. Not nearly as much vinegary/cidery fruit juice as I remember. But still nowhere near the class of a true Quad.

2005 draught XBF05.
Dark black, mostly likely opaque body with a surprisingly decent-sized head for a barrel-aged beer. Sharp notes of brandy soaked prunes, Spanish coffee, Irish coffee, vanilla blossoms. Pretty interesting aroma, all told. Flavor has some sharp alcohol notes, syrupy bourbon, light bakers chocolate and plenty of harsh dryness on the finish. Medium-full flavor, but a bit loose in texture. I keep finding some out-of place syrupiness. And what I loved about the Breakfast stout (lack of astringency and acid/alcohol) really seems to be a problem here. Sharp, bitter and too alcoholic. 7/4/6/3/12
Draught at Redbones, 8/6/06
Stuff only lasted 2 days and I can see why. First sip cold actually produces a perfect breakfast stout flavor up front, with chocolate and lightly dry roastiness following. The bourbon comes on the end, and is at first, quite sharp and apparent, with harsh tannins and vinousness. However, that was only the first sip or two. As it warmed, it actually got to the point where it was only minimally noticeable. Just adding some dryness and another layer of complexity. In short, another one of the few times I’ve had a barrel aged stout done correctly and not dominated by it. Very slick, lightly chewy body on draught with near-perfect carbonation levels. Some vanilla and coffee, with some warm bourbon notes trail off very pleasantly. 7/3/8/5/16.
Draught at Redbones on 5/4/07
Hmm, not that this was overly bourbony this time, nor was it too hoppy or messy. But this time, it actually seemed a little bit muted/dull what have you. Somewhat chalky and very roasty, but the brilliant sweetness matched with juicy, fresh hops seems to be gone this year. I’m still impressed that it’s not overdone, but it didnt seem to have much character this batch. Lots of dry chocolate, heavy, dullish roast and probably a lot of neutral barrel tannin accounting for the more lackluster feel/flavor/aroma this time around. Bound to happen as the barrels get used. Score is a rough average of my 3 experiences with it thus far.

XBF05 draught. Deep red/orange body, lightly transluscent, with a large off-white head. Great aroma! Juicy, fruity, fresh hops. Tropical fruits abound, backed by a hint of caramel malt. Aroma dosent seem to prepare for what’s to come. First sip. This goes beyond getting slapped in the face with bitter hops. This has someone taking a cricket bat and repeatedly winding up and driving it in to your face. Looking at others’ comments about this one, I’m not surprised to find little description of the malts here. That’s because there’s little thought of them in this beer. Some lightly sweet caramel that is just horribly overtaken by bitter hops. As I swallow the beer, I cringe and snap my head to the side; like doing a shot of whiskey or tequila. Gross alcohol burn exacerbated by bitter and astringent hops.
Is this a novelty beer? Did they brew this as a joke, like cave creek chili? Because there dosen’t seem to be much here dedicated to quality brewing. True, it’s not poorly brewed in the sense that it has infections, or DMS, or skunked hops, etc. . .but it is poorly brewed in the sense that there is no attempt at balance. Medium-full body, some syrupiness on the aftertaste (or is that pine sap?), moderate carbonation.

2005 bottle had this on 10/25/2005. A 4 is generous for the appearance. While there is some spotty lacing, the head is not well-retained, though it stays at a slight cover. Bottle conditioned and only lightly filtered however, so I’ll let it slide. I also think I’m being generous in the aroma. There are high alcohol esters, sharp and too overbearing, with not as fruity and complex a hops bouquet as I would hope for. The flavor is good enough to start, this bottle having more dry/toasty malt than I remember, with almsost a cigar like smokiness in the background. Towards the middle of the bottle, as it warms more, it gets way too alcoholic, with the sharp, perfumey and bitter hops overpowering and being quite one-dimensional. Poured out the last third of the bottle, but it still gave me a headache. This is a far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far cry from Pliny.

XBF05 draught. Very dark black pour, maybe hints of dark brown around the edges. Seemingly opaque, with a perfect light brown/ash colored head that sits lastingly above the beer. Aroma screams coffee. There is some very dark, heavily roasted malt, plenty of black malt and maybe some dry cocoa notes. . .but it’s mainly the coffee. Flavor begins with a roasty, oily, nutty coffee flavor. It’s very distinct and dominant. Incredibly authentic tasting and what I liked most was, with all of the coffee and dark roasted malts, this beer does not have the typical acidic/astringent notes that seem to come with this type of beer. The brewers did a very good job controlling the pH level, and that deserves a couple points in my book. Wonderful smooth mouthfeel that is unique and not easy to describe. It’s not quite creamy, per se, more like a smooth, almost chalky (but not in a bad way) texture. The beer just glides down the throat. Must be the oats! My biggest complaint was a lack of sweetness. I would like to see some more caramel and chocolate sweetness, to balance the dry coffee flavors. Full body though, with a low carbonation.