Founders Breakfast Stout

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

Bottle from ogglethorp, THANKS! Black as a moonless night with a few tiny, rusty colored bubbles appearing in the center of the glass, then Poof, the’re gone! The nose is of, what else, COFFEE, with a nice roastiness, and some faint chocolate notes. Flavor is of COFFEE, and some tongue-tickling bitterness, which lasts to the finish in the medium-heavy body. Wish I could drink a bottle every morning for breakfast!

Completely opaque with a thin ring of dark tan lace - rich aroma of freshly ground coffee (kona or harrar, I’d wager), dark chocolate - full-bodied with a slightly oily mouthfeel - just a hint of lactic sweetness - lots of dark chocolate qualities, with touches of smoke and dark fruit, followed by espresso, leading to a moderately dry finish - reminds me of Bells Java Stout, which is a good thing.

The aroma is fantastic and could even set the standard for the style. It has coffee, chocolate, cream, burnt malt, hops, and molasses. The appearance is black with a small but nice tan head. The flavor is way to burnt and bitter with a acidic burnt coffee after taste. The palate is actually a little thin for the style. Overall its a beer worth having but in the end its not fantastic.

Bottle. Black colour with a nice head. Much aroma of coffee and some roastedness. Flavour of coffee and alcohol. Ends up very bitter - and a lof of coffee in the aftertaste.

(Bottle, Monk’s Café, Wallingatan, Stockholm) Black colour with huge, frothy, beige head. Malty, roasted nose with loads of freshly ground coffee, slightly creamy. Malty, roasted taste with notes of heavily roasted coffee, dark chocolate, vanilla and a generous coffee bitterness in the finish. Full bodied, fairly dry, with smooth rounded moutfeel. Sensational balance. Absolutely lovely stout with an impressive coffee character.

Tap at Spuyten Duyvil: Opaque black with a deep brown/lacing head. Huge barley aroma. Roasted dark cocoa, old coffee grinds and a very light hop note. Dense rich body without being cloying. The flavor is pretty much a homogeneous coffee grind bitterness. There is a huge malt body to give it some underlying character; bitter dark chocolate syrup, and a long resiny coffee finish. A really well made Stout, but many of these highly rated coffee Stouts just don’t do it for me lately.

Poured deep black with a miniscule though beautifully dark head. Aroma is rock-your-socks-off bitter belgian coffee chocolate (ho ho some surprise there) with slight oats (see I’m just reading the label here). The taste is an interesting experience as it starts kinda watery and lacking though it finishes with an all out blast of said flavors, perfectly balanced and brutal though still delicate and wonderful. The coffee is not as pronounced as, say, Bells Java Stout, and makes a nicer addition rather than being an all-encompassing force. This is a delicious beer, no doubt.

Pours pitch black with a thick brown head. Sweet coffee nose, very heavy, extreme and D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!!! Coffee, coffee and more coffee in the flavor. Dry and roasted with some sweetness. I love coffee and I adore this stout. Very different and extremely nice!!!