Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout

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

2009 Hand bottle thanks to hellomynameis! - Pops open with a hiss, success!! Pours out thick and almost black with a medium sized brown head...aroma is cocoa and coffee, slight barrel wood, creme, roasty malt...flavour is bold and assults the palate immediately, burnt wood, dark chocolate, vanilla, I get very little maple presence other than a slight barrel quality, nothing specifically maple tasting...overall a good stout, bittersweet...

Enjoyed via draft in a whiskey snifter. The beer pours a jet black with a slight tan head that is nicely retained for several minutes. The nose brings a very strong character of coffee grounds, along with some roasted and crystal malts. The latter becomes more prevalent as the sample warms. Nicely complex. The palate is smooth, especially for an imperial stout. Coffee flavors come through, along with a nice caramel character toward the mid- to end of the palate. Especially pleasing is a distinct lack of hop bitterness, which often only seems to make the roasted malt character too strong. A relatively obvious alcohol character also begins to come through as I work through the beer. Overall, good but not the life-changing beer that some have noted.

An awesome rarity thanks to ditmier at Toby’s tasting, thanks Eric. Pours a pure black color with no light getting through, a small head. The aroma was dominated by rich milky coffee notes, some sweetness was noticed and a bit of wood. The flavor was great; the coffee was strong as ever, but the powerful syrupy goodness was sweet and very noticeable. Vanilla and wood as well. A great beer. Wow! Number 1,400.

Growler @ C-bus tasting. A lot of similar characteristics as the breakfast stout with a few differences. The maple adds a sweetness to the aroma, mellowing the coffee/roast aroma. The flavors with the added sweetness are also tamed but not overpowered, it’s a nice rounded maple flavor that takes the edge off the bitterness of the roast/coffee element and works well with the rest of the flavors. Great stuff, shame it is so limited but a nice approach to a different sort of barrel aging.

thanks riversideAK! Charred charcoal and gritty, dense black and a tan head. Slick sweet i get maple i think full bodied and rich. Very satisfying. Really great.

Handbottle provided by Gunhaver. Poured pitch black with no head. Maple is definitely prominent in the nose but also present are some rich bourbon and coffee notes. Mouth feel is creamy and silky, the body is very full. Complex flavor profiles pairing maple syrup, chocolate, coffee, bourbon, and a touch of vanilla. Very roasted with lots of residual molasses sweetness that borders closely to being cloying. I don’t know how much of this beer I could drink in one sitting as it’s pretty sweet however, it is extremely tasty and intriguing absolutely breakfast in a bottle. I highly enjoyed trying this.

Courtesy of Gunhaver. Pours black with no head. Holy shit this beer smells good. Huge aroma of maple syrup complimented by chocolate, caramel, roasted malt, a touch of booze, and more maple syrup. Taste is the same as aroma. Medium full mouthfeel with smooth alcohol. Delicious!

Big thanks to Gunhaver for sharing this mapley beast. Pours deep dark with no head. The aroma is rich fabulous good ole -yum- with oak crushed into smooth rich maple syrup and fudge brownie. Wow. The taste has loads of roasty malt goodness moving into oak and rich maple yum. The oak gets a bit brighter by midway with a dash of nearly burnt malts. So balanced and oh so good.