Founders DKML

As anyone that drinks enough beer could tell you, there really aren't any hard and fast rules dictating which of the many beer styles a particular brew should be beyond the whims of the brewers who produce it. 


Traditionalists may point to certain aspects that make up a pale ale, but throughout the 20th Century brewers, keen on a commercial edge, renamed and re-branded; tinkered and tailored the names and styles of their beers until that same pale ale could be seen as a bitter,  mild, ordinary, special, best, light, amber, golden, summer or who knows what other name brewers thought up to make it seem unique.

In other words, getting bogged down on styles isn't really worth it. A good beer is a good beer and should be judged on that simplest of terms no matter the style it purports to be.

And yes... that right there is a HUGE proviso because I'm just about to get bogged down in styles and I wanted a get out of jail free card.


I've been a fan of barley wines since I tried a bottle of Young's sadly departed Old Nick many years ago. Unlike many beer styles that have names that can occasionally sound contradictory and confusing to a new beer drinker (strong Milds... not particularly bitter Bitters etc...) barley wine is a fairly apt description as it describes beers that have alcoholic volumes around that of a wine, but are generally made of grains (barley) rather than fruit (grapes).

However, this being beer, there is still ample room for abuse of the term as barley wines can range in colour from an IPA to a Stout and can be as low as 7% abv onward past 20%. Along the way any barley wine in that range could have been called a Strong Ale, Old Ale, Imperial Stout or Aged Porter and no one would have batted an eyelid.

So, now we're bogged down in all these names, let's extricate ourselves and get back to the review. I tried a bottle of Founders DKML a few nights ago and immediately thought it was a very good Barley Wine. Then I read the back label and discovered Founders were marketing it as a malt liquor, a term from the US I'd never heard of.

A little research found that malt liquor is an old term used in the US for beers with a high abv and had, over the years, become a slightly derisory term given to cheap, strong beers with a bad rep. Think of the reputation Special Brew had in the UK. (Although I have a fondness for Special Brew... did you know it was produced in honour of Winston Churchill? A story for another time).


As with many old styles, the craft beer revolution has helped to reinvigorate this old term as Founders decided to produce a Malt Liquor that was, in their own words, worthy.

But to my mind what they've produced is a damn good barley wine, with the characteristic rich, fruity flavours. In other words... who cares. It's a great beer.

DKML is a surprisingly smooth drink, despite its herculean abv of 14.2%. It pours much paler than you would expect of a barley wine, keeping closer to its true nature of a malt liquor with deep golden hues and a fine pale head. The rich, malty, bourbon notes are soon replaced with a fruity, raisin finish which is extremely moreish. It's a perilously easy beer to drink at that volume, stronger than most wines, but at the end of a long day a bottle can be savoured with pleasure.

Founders beers are increasingly popular here in Malaysia and have become a regular sight in bars and stores.

2022 EDIT: As it turned out we only ever received one batch of DKML here in Malaysia, which I probably drank a fair portion of myself. As stated above, Founders beers did indeed become more popular here and their Centennial IPA and Breakfast Stout can be found often amongst their other brews.


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