Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS)

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

A: Coal black with the thinnest of espresso head. So dark I don’t know if there are any bubbles in there or not. There is no lacing to speak of. S: I am already in love with this one. Smoked coffee with a hint of vanilla. I sat and sniffed it so long I had to actually tell myself, enough drink the damn thing already. T: Oh my god and baby Jesus, this is it! WOW! This baby is quite possibly the best tasting beverage to ever pass my lips and cross my tongue. A perfect match of coffee. bourbon, cocoa, and vanilla. Starbucks wishes they had something that tastes like this. M: This baby is blended so perfectly. It is medium to full bodied and slides down my throat sooo smoothly. D: Oh yeah it’s drinkable. I put this baby down so fast I was begging for another

Bottle courtesy of Awiseman01. Pours a pitch black oil with thin brown head. Nose is full of chocolate, bourbon, coffee, and a hint of coconut. Flavors follow the nose with the bourbon becoming more predominate. Also some notes of vanilla, caramel, and oak. Mouth is creamy and a little on the hot side but not an unpleasant hot. Excellent RIS, a must drink for any bourbon lover.

Notes from 3/15/09. A super dark black color body with a single finger of brown colored head,lots of lacing left behind. Aroma of espresso beans,burbon,and chocolate.Flavor up front is charred malt,burbon,and chocolate then some notes of wood smoke,tobacco,vanilla and black licorice.Little to no carbonation,a slick slightly oily/creamy mouthfeel with a bitter finish and boozy aftertaste.I would not call this sessionable I guess but very good.For the money and the mess around to get this, I think I like the regular Breakfast Stout a little better than this.

Opens with no audible indicator of escaping carbonation. Pours placid reddish black like spent transmission fluid. Aroma is heavy coffee, with chocolate. Taste is heavy on the coffee, but quite pleasant. The character turns bourbon vanilla as it warms. Mouthfeel is thinner than expected, and carbonation is predictably low, which is good. $6/12oz

12 oz. Murky black brown pour, light does not penetrate, brown around the edges. Very limited brown head, a ring sticks around and a swirl leaves a minibubble lace around the glass. Aroma is abundant with roasted malts, espresso, vanilla, woody tones, caramel and molasses. All this does nothing but increase as it warms. Mouthfeel is near creamy, surprisingly a bit lively for the dissapation of the head. Taste is everything in the nose intermingling. Great barrel and vanilla one second, dark chocolate, molasses and espresso the next. Finishes with just a hint of coffee, and molasses. There are no negatives in bitterness/sourness or anything overdone in this. As long as you are ready for what you should expect from this, there is absolutely no dissapointment. This is the best double stout I have had sans aging flat out. There is no need to cellar this to get what you are expecting. I have several to age, but I’m guessing this will be one that does not change much from age. The Alesmith stouts are the only others I’ve had that can equal this without age.

Poured into a snifter. Oily black pour with almost no head. Dark chocolate, fresh roast, vanilla, and bourbon in the aroma. The flavor is sweet with chocolate and vanilla on top before giving way to lovely bourbon notes and a bitter coffee finish. Very good.

11.2% poured to trappist glass at cellar temp. huge aroma of crunchy coffee beans. a touch of vanilla but still very subtle (if at all) on the cocoa or wood. appearance is pitch black with filthy brown head that recedes very quickly. flavor is very bitter of acidic coffee grounds. bourbon burn makes its way through my chest and even into my arms quickly. wood becomes more apparent, truly earthy and organic. alcoholic burn continues to make its way through the body but taste is not prevalent. bitter acidic aftertaste continues to wane. vanilla comes in flashes when you least expect it. bourbon and chocolate flavors are hardly present at all suprisingly. overall one of the biggest ’big beers’ ever, yet still unto itself amongst its peers, remaining unique and worthy of its reputation. alcohol notes and strong bourbon character is one thing, but this remains too acidic like a poorly brewed cup of coffee to offer advantages that its brother (regular breakfast stout) cannot.

Ink black with a light brown head. Deep, rich dry chocolate aroma with vanilla and wood. Smooth medium/full body with soft carbonation. Great black roasted malt flavors with tobacco and sweet n’ boozy wood and vanilla. Very freaking good. Thanks to Brad for this bottle.