(Grand Rapids, MI) – Confirming prior message board chatter, BeerPulse has learned that the next Backstage Series release from Founders Brewing Co. will be Frangelic Mountain Brown. Look for 750mL bottles to become available starting on July 2nd (tentative and some places may sell them early). Devil Dancer is slated to return on the same day. Here is more…

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Part of what makes Founders Backstage Series so much fun, for both the brewery and consumers, is the period of speculation before the next release is announced. But the purpose of the series is to bring some of Founders’ most sought-after beers, which have been available primarily in the taproom and at a few select events, to a much larger audience. Frangelic Mountain Brown will be the fourth release in the series, joining Blushing Monk and Canadian Breakfast Stout from 2011 and Curmudgeon’s Better Half, which was released in February of this year.

Frangelic Mountain Brown is the quintessential taproom “one-off” beer: Founders’ brewers created the Mountain Brown series for their taproom in Grand Rapids in 2007. Frangelic Mountain Brown is the 16th iteration in the series of popular brown ales—and it likely won’t be the last. The singular characteristic of this beer comes from the use of hazelnut coffees in the brewing process. The beer has distinct aromatics with sweet and nutty flavors beautifully balanced. Founders is known for its beers made with coffee (i.e., the Breakfast Stout series), but this is both the brewery’s first brown ale and its first beer brewed with hazelnut coffees to be bottled. It clocks in at 9% ABV.

“The goal of the Backstage Series is to allow those beer enthusiasts who don’t have the ability to make it to our taproom an opportunity to experience some of the beers that, historically, have been limited to our taproom and a handful of high exposure events,” Engbers said. “Although these beers are not brewed in large volume, it is our intention to distribute them to all of our markets.”

The next beer to be released in the series later this year will be a celebration of the brewery’s fifteenth anniversary, though the style is yet-to-be revealed.

Founders Brewing Co. opened its doors in 1997 with the vision of creating some of the most unique craft beer in the world. Today, Founders has a loyal following, with several beers lauded nationally and internationally as award winners in their respective categories. In 2009, they were ranked as the 2nd fastest growing brewery in the United States and they are currently rated the second highest brewery in the world by ratebeer.com

Founders Brewing Company, 235 Grandville Avenue SW in downtown Grand Rapids, is a proud member of the Michigan Brewers Guild (www.michiganbrewersguild.org) and the Brewers Association.