Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout

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

Hand bottle... This beer rocks!... Pours pitch black with very little head. The aroma is a luxuriant, velvety marriage of everything I enjoy in food, beverage and beer – vanilla, espresso, dark chocolate, whiskey and a touch of coconut with only a trace of maple syrup. Although rich and hearty, the nose isn’t in-your-face. It’s subtle and comforting and you almost have to dig for it. Full-bodied with a “heavy cream” mouthfeel and pillow-soft carbonation. The flavor is all about espresso, blackstrap molasses, pouch tobacco, chocolate and coconut. The relatively high ABV is not stand-up-and-shout hot; I feel it in my head before I really taste it in the beer – drinking on an empty stomach here. Balance is provided by a nice blend of dark malt sweetness and alcohol, hop, carbonic bitterness. The finish starts off acrid and sweet, then slowly fades to a pleasant, creamy, sweet coating of my palate. At this point, I’m certain my teeth are brown. Thanks so much to StFun for throwing this baby in the box as a bonus beer in our trade. A fantastic surprise!

Draft at the Institute 1 yr Ann: pours a drak plack witha thin tan head, aroma of maple syrup, whisky, coffee, taste of coffee, bitter dark chocolate, some oak, malty with a full mouthfeel. Excellent stuff.

On tap at The Stable. Pours very dark dense brown head. The aroma has smooth roasted malt, some maple, coffee bitterness, vanilla, cream, oak and dark chocolate. The body is thick, smooth and velvety with gentle carbonation. The flavor starts off with smooth heavily roasted malt, hints of maple, rich dark caramel, some coffee, vanilla and oakiness. Then finish has charred malt and a very nice melding of all the flavors. I really enjoyed this beer a lot and thought it was the best of the three versions of breakfast stout I’ve had.

On tap at Founders. Smells and looks like Breakfast Stout, with maple syrup thrown in, but Im thinking this is not much of an improvement. It sweetens it up a bit too much, though the added bonus is an oakey smoke note that creeps around. Damn decent.

On tap at Founders. Pours a dark brown with a bit of decent viscosity and little head. Aromas are thick with Breakfast Stout and smoke and maple syrup. Flavor is pretty good but borders on cloying and I’m not sure I could finish a large glass. Still, for sipping and enjoying slowly, this is top notch.

Draft at Founders. Well, this is just about what you’d expect from the description. Lots of extra sweetness, plenty of maple syrup that actually goes quite well with the coffee, but does tend to drown out the chocolate a bit. Not bad, but I prefer the regular BS.

Tap at DLD: Basic black with a lovely head and lace. The nose detected maple syrup and bacon, f++k yeah BACON BABY!, Oh, there was coffee, chocolate, vanilla, hazelnut, and floral hops too. The taste is sweet and syrupy but wonderfully not cloy or over the top sweetness, a nice coffee and hop bitterness kept it in minimal check. Moderate bourbon influence upon the finish. The mouth feel is far heavier and thicker than the other two versions of Breakfast stout for sure. I still like the "regular" Breakfast over this but the Canadian is better than the Kentucky IMO. Brillant and me hopes it will be at the next Black Party.

Tap at Chumley’s. The pour is Black with a rich brown head, as usual. I got to do this side by side with the KBS, and I perfer this one because the bourbon is much restrainded. I expected more maple. I think that maybe there’s a second batch and a second use of the barrel. Full body and lightly sweet finish. Really pretty good.