Founders Brewing Dick Kicker Malt Liquor (2017 ed) - Review by: @Robyn_Seto

Mar 31

Mar 31 Founders Brewing Dick Kicker Malt Liquor (2017 ed) - Review by: @Robyn_Seto

For my final entry of Mature March, I decided to go with a real kicker of a beer. Actually it’s a malt liquor. Before you stop reading now, this is a “craft” malt liquor by our friends at Founders Brewing. They produced the now discontinued CBS I reviewed earlier in Mature March, and they also produced this one-off brew in 2017: DMKL (Dick Kicker Malt Liquor).

My beer tasting partner and I found a bottle of DKML in a local supermarket in Grover Beach, California the summer of 2017. It made the long journey back with us to Sacramento, and has remained in the beer fridge until now. At that time I was fairly new to the craft beer world, and the 14.2% ABV scared me. In four years, both this beverage and myself have matured and mellowed.

Founders has somehow taken the humble malt liquor and elevated it to a craft brew. After four years of aging, the harsh alcohol nose has faded drastically and leaves behind sweet brown sugar aromas. The flavor is of bittersweet caramel, and yet there is also a distinct corn taste. Despite the high ABV, it has a fairly thin viscosity but still leaves a pleasant lacing on the tongue.

DKML is a great example of how even the heaviest of brews can become delightfully drinkable given enough time. Mature March is meant to showcase the benefit of aging high ABV craft beers. Not every beer can or should be aged, but typically beers over 10% ABV are good candidates for aging. It can be almost like opening a time capsule when you finally drink one!

4/5 Burps