Founders Breakfast Stout

Brewed by Founders Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Grand Rapids, Michigan USA

[Bottle] Pours a very deep brown with a smallish tan head that dissipates quickly. Aroma initially is dry chocolate, french press coffee, and roasted malts. Flavor is quite chocolaty with lots of bakers and bittersweet chocolate, remarkably dry, lots of coffee, hints of oats more on the texture than flavor, a touch of astringency, and a dry bitterish finish. Rich, smooth mouthfeel. A winner all around.

From the bottle, courtesy of Secret Santa, pours black with a brown foamy head. Aroma is bitter, of coffee and dark roasted malts. Taste is smooth and lightly bitter, coffee, caramel. Lighter than expected, pretty good beer here. Thanks, Santa!

2/23/2009 from 12oz bottle received in trade ~6 months ago. Aroma is great. Mostly coffee in the beast. Chocolate comes through in the finish. Finish is oily and really strong, quite good. Palate could be thicker. 9/4/9/4/17-4.3 Re-rate. 2 bottles mid 05/2009 purchased 4/2009. I can’t tell if this is too young or too old. I’m thinking too young because I got it so recently, but it has some alcohol character. Nothing too much, but it doesn’t work well with the beer. It is slightly vinous-could be the first signs of oxidation. Greater chocolate to coffee ratio than the first rate. 8/4/8/3/16-3.9 7/20/09. Another bottle from the most recent 4pack. Much better. Back where I remember it. I’ll have to sit on these for just a few months before I open em. No vinous character-guess it was just young before, not oxidized. Tons of chocolate, tons of coffee, etc. Quite thick, even too thick. Aroma-coffee, good, not great. Flavor-coffee-great, chocolate-great. 8/4/10/4/17-4.3

Pours a dark body with a tan head. Aroma is coffee first and foremost. Naturally there’s some chocolate and a little bit of burnt malt. Flavor is really solid. It’s a sweet cup of coffee. I enjoy it quite a bit. Chocolate gives it a slightly rounder flavor, but coffee is really what it all comes down to here. Finishes with nice bitter burnt notes. Quite tasty beer.

Pours black with a thin brown head. Aroma is coffee, chocolate, and roasted malt. Flavor is mainly coffee, with a hint of chocolate with a bitter finish.

Midnight brown with a brown ring at the top. Aroma: Coffee, black pepper, and tobacco. Tatste: A quick shot of black coffee on the middle of the tongue. Roasty malts take over. FInishes with raw coffee grinds. Mouthfeel: Very thin and silky. Overall: Not too shabby.

Black in color with a large thick beautiful brown head. Aroma is of fresh ground coffee beans. It’s like walking into a starbucks or through central markets coffee section. It also has chocolate and roasted malts in the nose. Taste is of coffee, dark chocolate, cocoa, and roasted malts. Thisck like oatmeal, rich and creamy. I want another.

If you want all of the complex flavors of coffee without the caffeine, and all wrapped up into a beautiful beer, this beer’s for you. From the loaded coffee aroma to the kick in the mouth roasted coffee malts with bitter chocolate under tones, this beer does the trick for coffee lovers. The thick maltiness was balanced by a very solid amount of hops that really came through on tap leading to a really nice dry finish.