Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout

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

Guest tap during Dark Lord Day ’09. Pours an opaque dark brown colored brew with a thin tan head that slowly dissipates and leaves behind some spotty lacing. Aroma of toasted dark malt, coffee, breakfast maple syrup and some citrus/pine hops. Taste is full bodied, smooth, with flavors of toasted dark malt, coffee, maple syrup, some brown sugar and citrus. Finish is just as smooth with a light chocolate/coffee aftertaste that even continues a maple presence. Nice combo specialty Imp Stout.

On tap at Brouwer’s "Back in Black" stout night, part of Seattle Beer Week 09. Pours black as night, with a smallish, though dense, mocha brown head. The aroma hits you right away with oak, maple syrup, vanilla, molasses and mild, roasty coffee. It starts off dry as hell, but there’s this magical sweetness that starts to come through as an afterthought. That sweetness is more prominent in the flavor - maple syrup and toasted hazelnuts come through. This one is truer to the breakfast nomenclature than anything else I’ve had. Sweet, roasty flavor, but a dry mouthfeel, leaving your mouth salivating. Thick and syrupy, with just the right amount of roastiness. Great stuff!

On Tap at DLD ... Very late on in day :-( ... When i saw the list for the day This was my number 2 pick after the Oak aged DL ... Sadly i was pretty disapointed with this... It was Still ok but Absolutly no hint of maple syrup anywhere, or at leat to my palate... deep black ... rich roast malts and coffee nose .. again deep roast malt flavours with some coffee.

Get to review this as I drink it thanks to the wireless at Founders. Dark black pour with many brown hints swirling around. Strong cream colored head that reduces to a thin layer like oil on top of water. Really sticks to the glass. When I tilt it to the side to bring some of the bubbles onto the glass and tip it the other way, they remain stuck to the glass under the level of the beer for an interesting effect. Aroma has espresso, mocha and a hint of oak and waffles(with maple syrup of coarse). Taste is also an interesting blend of the aromas. More bourbon barrel type flavors with the maple throughout the middle, than in the aroma. Almost creamy mouthfeel, similar to it’s breatheren. The kind of caramel latte finish lingers for just a bit, but not real long. Alcohol is non-existant as well. Like that there is just slightly less abv in this one compared to their other imperials. Overall it’s safe to say this is another chart topper from Founders. Would go really well with a slab of bacon. I think I prefer the regular KBS just a bit more, will be comparing to the Barrel aged Imperial shortly. Only drawback thus far is the intense grain scents from the brewing operation throwing off the aroma from time to time.

On tap at DLD 09. Pours a fairly dark brown with a small tan froth. Lovely sweet maple syrup and quite hoppy aroma, as well as the regular coffee, roast, chocolate in breakfast stout. Flavor is a fantastic marriage of coffee and maple syrup, I for sure thought the syrup was going to be annoying however it definitely is not. Med/full bodied, slightly syrupy, and every bit delicious.

On tap @ DLD ’09. The KBS improves on the regular Breakfast Stout and this took it up a notch further. Rather similar in appearance to the other two, although I thought it a bit more viscous than the Breakfast Stout. Takes the best flavors of Breakfast Stout/KBS and adds the perfect Maple Syrup sweetness to it. Less of a burn on the way down than KBS and the Maple syrup tasted surprisingly fresh. Almost a perfectly done beer- perhaps some of the coffee intensity from the Breakfast Stout has been masked by the Maple/whiskey flavors of this brew. Still, I consider that an improvement- lets hope the folks at Founders start bottling this beauty!

My favorite Stout of the ’09 EBF (I give the Canadian a slight edge over another standout, the Bells Bourbon Barrel Double Cream/Expedition Stout. I’m a sucker for the sweetness that the Maple creates without having that overbearing dry and roast kick. A thick brew with no off-setting flavors or Alcohol present.

Draft at Founders. Poured a dark brown color with a large frothy brown head that lasted with excellent lacing. Moderate to heavy roasted dark chocolate, vanilla, woody and alcohol aroma. Heavy bittersweet roasted sweet malty flavor with a heavy bittersweet and small alcohol bite finish of long duration. Full body with a smooth texture and flat carbonation. This is a standout beer.