Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout

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

On tap at Churchkey, Washington DC. Pours an opaque, oily black with a huge creamy, lacing tan head. BIG nose, maple syrupy, brown sugar, candy, woody, a touch of coffee. Close your eyes, take a sniff and it smells like butter melting over pancakes. Flavor starts with coffee bitterness, molasses, dark fruits, a weird cherry-like sourness, brown sugar, wood pulp, booze, coffee with cream. Wet, oily, sour finish. While the aroma is one of the best I’ve ever experienced on a beer, the rest of the beer is a bit over hyped. There may also be some lingering infection as the sour cherry notes are definitely not supposed to be there.

(draft) Large tan head atop black body with brown edges. Aroma is sweet, maple, caramel, some chocolate, some alcohol. Taste is sweet, maple, some chocolate, caramel, alcohol, light coffee. Smooth medium-full body. Very good, but the sweetness makes it hard to drink a full serving.

On tap at Uncle Mikes Highway Pub. Midnight onyx with a foamy tan head that leaves nominal lacing. Aroma of chocolate, roasted malt, vanilla, coffee, mild maple and light alcohol. Taste pretty damn good… the best of the breakfasts stouts I’ve had so far (BC/KBS/CBS). Chocolate, vanilla, roasted dark malts, moderate coffee are accentuated by a touch of maple. Goes down pretty smooth and finishes up with a minor alky/roasty bite.

(Handbottle, thanks StFun!) Pours black with a small brown head. The aroma holds strong notes of heavily roasted coffee beans up front. Green bell pepper, gravel, fried parsley and mild jalapeño. Under all the coffee there is some chocolate roast, vanilla, salt liquorice, burned nuts, earth, dark bread and green hops. Almost no oak or maple on the nose. The nose is nice but not super complex, the coffee covers too much of the interesting undertones. The flavour is near medium sweet, light to medium bitter and light acidic with tones of coffee, chocolate, vanilla, light caramel/fudge, light maple and light oak. The mouthfeel is round, soft and light oily with light carbonation. Coffee and maple blends well in the finish. Bit hoppy. Some warming alcohol is notable. Medium to full bodied. A nice coffee beer but I would have loved some more maple character.

Nip handbottle from StFun. Pours basically pitch black, with perhaps just a faint glint of deep mahogany. A small, frothy head of dark mocha colored foam leaves micro-spot rings of lacing on the glass. The aroma is striking, huge notes of sweet maple and vanilla showing atop a massively roasty espresso bean and bittersweet chocolate base. There’s a spicy, green, leafy hop element that lends resinous notes. The flavor follows suit, huge coffee roast and bitter, dark cacao balanced by maple-vanilla sweetness. Leafy, peppery hops again show strong. The palate is nearly full and well carbonated, but finishes just a little chalky and overly dry. Great, unique beer. Still a little heavy on coffee roast, the maple barrel suits the base beer considerably better than the bourbon barrel does. In other words, CBS > KBS.

on tap at the Saucer, KC. thick and black with very little head, brown bubbles of different sizes around the edge. boozy, coffee, sweet aroma. flavor is awesome, of course. the main thing that sets this apart from the regular breakfast stout and the KBS is the sweetness. all the other normal components are there- coffee, chocolate, roastiness, alcohol, etc. they are just dominated by the sweetness that has a nice element of maple. great beer. i was kind of irritated at having to show up two plus hours early to get a ticket for 4 oz but ended up getting multiple servings and it would have been worth it either way.

Sampled on tap at Kansas City’s Flying Saucer, $4 for 4oz. ... this better be good! I’ve had regular Breakfast Stout four or five times, and honestly, it’s not my thing. Too much raw burnt coffee and extra-dark chocolate, not a lot of refinement or melding of flavors. I grabbed my tiny tasting goblet and noticed the thick black liquid with a tiny tan head that coats the glass more than it leaves noticeable lacing. The abusive black coffee aroma of the base beer was gone, replaced by a noseful of cafe au lait and dark fudge, quite enticing! The flavor was also much more pleasing than the original, with the familiar coffee and dark chocolate, but no sharp edges. Barrel aging plus the stick sweetness of maple syrup had caused the strong flavors to blend beautifully. Lingers on the tongue with the sticky sweetness of a maple donut, truly a breakfast meal!

On tap at the Flying Saucer in KC. 4oz special tap night. Pours a syrupy black body with just a slight ruby tint. Thin, frothy, chocolate ice cream colored head that never completely dissipates and leaves a light, sticky lacing. Aroma is sweet cocoa up front with a mild roasty coffee. A light maple syrup sweetness keeps this relatively even-keeled. A hint of woody, barrel and vanilla comes in more as this warms too. Flavor is sweet up front with a delicate dark chocolate, maple, dark caramel, and just a touch of sweet bourbon flavor. A mild coffee roast keeps the sweetness in check and maintains flavor into the finish. Ends with a sweet chocolate maple, a hint of booze, vanilla, and a lingering coffee and dark chocolate. Palate is medium to full, syrupy, and has a subtle dryness. Overall, a very sweet, but well rounded impy. The maple really adds a nice, thick and subtle sweetness that accompanies the big cocoa nib, dark chocolate, coffee roast flavors. Not a huge wood barrel taste, but just a touch to give off a light vanilla flavor. Very enjoyable, well made, and glad to have the opportunity to sample this rare beer.