Founders Breakfast Stout

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

The Lure:
Decadence meets in the balanced gathering of roasted coffee beans, dark chocolate and dollops of wet cream. Sweetness pushes them onwards into a fantastic saturnalia.

The Festivities:
Oh my god, this is a cousin of Péché Mortel!! Sweet chocolate blended with malt roastiness into a devilishly smooth and intensely flavorful stoutuccino. Sudden desires of being alone with this one.

Transcendence:
That baby is going to be a fat and happy kid.

When this was initially poured out in the glass, I thought I was in for a special treat as I saw a beautiful black stout with a brown head and small delicate bubbles, but my enthusiasm ends there. Smells like day old coffee rinds smell if they have had a full day in the trash can. Tastes like Sanka with some minor chocolate and nutty notes. I’m not seeing what people find so great about this one.

Bottled: Pitch black coloured. Has a dark dense brown headd. Oh my god. The aroma of this beer is out of this world. It start long before the glass is anywhere near the nose. Incredible. Coffee, chocolate, malt, roast and some sweetness. Like sniffing espresso. Flavour unfortunately dosn’t live up to the aroma, but still its good. Sweetness, roast, coffee and hops is present. Ends on a grassy, espresso note, that take over the palate for minutes. This is a totally espressoshock. I love it. Thanks to my Secret Santa BBB63 for this gem. I’m addicted. I need more!!

12 oz bottle. Dark black, tending toward purple. Thin tan head. Massive aroma of coffee overlies an almost spicy oatmealy character. Oily texture apparent in the glass. Going down is like drinking silk with a complex coffee, chocolate, cocoa, with the faintest touch of soy on the finish. Hard to describe the complexity in words. Nice roasted finish is almost charcoal flavoured in intensity. An absolutely fantastic brew.

It’s what I’ve always wanted. A coffee infused stout fit for a morning drink... honestly, there are times when I wanted to crack a Shakespeare or Chocolate stout in the morning for a pick-me-up. For someone who can only drink high octane dark roast coffees, I love them thick, black, bitter and hearty. Founders Breakfast Stout is everything I love about coffee put inside a great stout. Hearty, thick nose of espresso beans and dark chocolate... some light toffee notes hidden away deep, and to be honest I can’t find much else behind the montrous nose of dark roast coffee beans. Not that it’s a problem, the aroma is well formulated and soothing on the senses. Initially a little biting bitterness on the lips, then milky thick and creamy sweet bakers chocolate and rich, sticky fudge cake, before a medium potency explosion of aggresive, bitter black coffee flavor over the tongue. Finished out with a moderate coating of coffee beans, toffee, cream, chocolate pastries and a kick of ultrasour butterscotch and high octance java. It certainly is unique. What would make it one of the best stouts in the world? How about a slightly higher gravity with some alcohol and smoky, burnt malts showing up. I guess that is what I find so appealing and addicting about Speedway. This one is not far off, however.

(sampled at the Düsseldorf RB gathering)Black coloured with a short brown layer. Thick roasted grains and rice aroma with coffee and liquorice. Light sweet flavour with roasted bitterness, full to medium bodied with a smooth carbonation. Fat and oily chocolate-like taste with roasted grains; dry-ish, moderately bitter finish with notes of coffee and chocolate in the aftertaste. Well rounded brew.

Bottle, from trade with the_epeeist. Jet black pour, with a small, tan head. Dry, coffee-ish nose with chocolate and some burnt malt. The flavor has coffee, bittering hops, roasted malt, pines and chocolate, leading to a finish with coffee and chocolatey bitterness and piney, resiny and hoppy bitterness. Oily, full, slightly warming mouthfeel. The hoppiness in this one is a tad better than in Terrapin Wake ’n’ bake oatmeal imp stout, else that one is just slightly better. Both being just lovely. Yum! By the way, the commercial description says you have to love coffee to appreciate this beer. That’s nonsense. I do not like coffee at all. (070719)

Whaddya know? This stuff does make a good breakfast! This pours a solid, light-eating black color with a slender creamy brown head. In the aroma, the chocolate dominates, but that doesn’t mean there’s any shortage of coffee and roasted malts... with traces of smoke as well. This has a very rich mouthfeel. In the taste, coffee comes to the forefront, more of the Kona than the Sumatra. The chocolate is close behind, followed by roasted malt and anise. This finishes strong on the coffee note with a hint of the 8.3% abv coming through. Great way to begin a day.

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