Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout

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

12oz hand bottle from a growler. Initially, the aroma was all spent coffee grounds. But as the beer warms, that subsides and actually balances out rather well. Dark chocolate, some wet leather, plenty of coffee. Charred sugar (I’m guessing it’s the maple?). Plenty of wood tannin. Some charred oak. Surprisingly, for being only 9.4%, the alcohol shows itself rather prominently. Chocolate, roasted malt and coffee seem to be the dominant aromas here. Pours the requisite thick, oily black with a dark, rich, khaki head. I’m not quite as taken with the flavor as I was with the aroma. There is a lot of fusel alcohol. Charred wood, alcohol soaked vanilla bean, coffee grounds, bitter, dark chocolate. The alcohol really cuts through all of the flavors though. Maybe some Kahlua infused creme-brulee. Little to no maple detected on the palate. Velvety texture. Fairly silky initially but becomes a bit more aggressive toward the finish. Mostly full bodied. Slightly greasy. Boozy and astringent finish. A better than average Coffee Imperial Stout. Would be better if the alcohol were masked some, though. Thanks a ton for this one Zac! You ’da man!

Served on tap at Capones Pours a oily complately opaque black color with a .5 finger chocolate coffee colored tan foam head that slowly dissipates into a thin ring and cap that lasts throughout. Very minimal splotches of lacing. The maple is pretty prominent in the aroma balancing out the strong bourbon alcohol presence of the KBS. There is a nice roasted coffee presence that’s accompanied by some chocolate malt, toffee, burnt toast, caramel and a healthy dose of bourbon. The mouthfeel of this beer is silky smooth due to the additional aging in the maple barrels. The high ABV is extremely well masked even with the strong bourbon presence. All of the other roasty and malty flavors are balanced out by this sweet honey, molasses-like syrupy texture. This beers is ridiculously quaffable considering all that’s going on and the high alcohol content. As mentioned above, there are a lot of complex flavors going on here. Nice big roasty coffee presence, chocolate, chocolate malt, toffee, oatmeal, burnt toast and a very nice bourbon presence all wonderfully balanced by the sweet maple syrup flavor coming from the additional aging. I could drink this beer all day and I’m looking forward to trying it again soon.

On tap at the Glass Nickel clusterf*ck. Poured rich, deep black with a creamy cap of dark tan head. The aroma picked up deeply-roasted dark chocolate and coffee notes accented by sweet maple syrup, toasted oak, and some earth.. more of the coffee as it warmed up.. sweet overall and good, but not spectacular. The flavor rode the coffee again, which was very well-roasted at the base.. chocolate, vanilla, oak, and a swig of rum laced through there.. didn’t get much maple at all.. long coffee-ee finish. Medium-plus bodied with rising bitterness through the palate.. carbonation was on the high side and not ideal for this brew.. some good stuff going on here, but middle-of-the-road for the style.

#1350. On draft at Capones. Pours an oily black with a small light beige head. Aroma of roasted coffee, creamy dark chocolate and maple syrup. Taste of creamy chocolate, coffee and maple syrup. Very nice breakfast treat.

On Tap at Capone’s in Philly. Super black with a short tan head. Smells sweet, smokey, and a little alcoholic. Tastes sweet brown sugar, burbon-y, maple, chocolate and coffee. Dark flavors, with an alcohol burn. Long finish, med body with lightly creamy mouthfeel. Not really appropriate for 11 am with a hangover, but rare enough to suffer for...

Wow, what a great beer. Had this little surprise on tap at Smokin’ Joe’s in Pittsburgh. Looks a beautiful black liquid with a small but pillowy tan head. Smell is that great founders stout scent with some barrel and a little maple. Not as strong as I had imagined, but still very very good. Taste is similar to smell, reminds me of KBS with brown sugar. Coffee, roasted malt, barrel, brown sugar. Mouthfeel is out of this world, thick and low carbonated but not flat, a real pillowy mouthfeel with some coaty goodness. Worth the hype and drive.

On tap at Capones. Pours black with a nice amout of tan head. Has a smell of maple, chocolate, and caramel. Has a smooth taste of maple, coffee, caramel. Sweet on the finish.

Draft at Capone’s. Dark brown, thin cream head. Nose of heavy vanilla, also some maple and roast malt. Smoky roast malt combines with chocolate and heavy maple, maple that sticks forever into the very long finish. Great melding of sweet flavors, lots of nuance despite the combination of sweet elements. Creamy body, long malty finish where the maple evolves as it sits. The balance in the flavor is better than anything else I’ve had from Founders.