Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS)

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

Bottle, Aroma of coffee, dark dried fruits and bourbon. Tastes strongly of coffee, dried fruit, chocolate, vanilla and bourbon. Not too strong on the bourbon side. I really liked this one.

Courtesy cdumler. Thanks for sharing! Dark brownish black. Head is touch, but retention is okay. Coffee and malts, with chocolate notes. It’s quite reminiscent of a Coffee Crisp bar (more familiar to the Canadians, I believe, though it can be found in the US, as well). A nice blend of the two. Very deep roasted malts and coffee flavours. Some bitterness and a touch of astringency that stings a little. A creamy mouthfeel and light on the carbonation... almost like heavily creamed coffee in some ways. Tasty, and somewhat candy line in some ways. The coffee flavours might be a little on the artificial side, but definitely taste great. I’d happily have it again, though it’s almost sinful.

Crush with Jakebra in a random parking lot. Pretty overwhelming in every way. Not overly bourbon-ized like some other brews. So much to enjoy with this one.

Ok...I knew this beer was going to be great, but, for some reason I was thinking it was a hype thing and wasn’t expecting it to be nearly as good as it appears. I was wrong. It pours with a black body topped by a thin to medium thick, light brown head with a good amount of lacing left on the glass. It’s sweet and malty with notes of roasted coffee and chocolate, as well as a nice underlying vanilla, bourbon note. Amazing...just the right amount of bourbon comes through. Full bodied, creamy and smooth.

Poured into a Stone Old Guardian tulip glass, "Is good for everything a stout ought to be good for"!!! Appearance is thick and dense brown-to-black motor oil, minimal brown head mostly disappears but there is some cream and bubbles on the edges, very mild lacing. Smell is huge roasty malts, espresso with tones of bitter chocolate, bourbon, woody oak, and vanilla are prominent, touch of dark fruits and molasses/ brown sugar. Taste is predominately bitter coffee/espresso complimented well by the bourbon alcohol and wood presence and backed up with bittersweet chocolate, there is great balance here between those primary flavors, some molasses and alcohol warming in the finish. Mouthfeel is very full-bodied, thick and viscous texture you need to chew through, ample carbonation. Drinkability is good, I liked this considerably better than the original Breakfast stout which was much more coffee-forward and not as balanced, the alcohol is subdued despite the 11% level, this was definitely a treat, hopefully I can get my hands on more in the future.

12oz twist-off bottle. Vintage 2006. Big bourbon barrel aroma. Lots of vanilla, coffee, wood, big chocolate. Smells of charcoal. Big bourbon and vanilla flavors. Full bodied Stout.

Thanks to a friend for picking up an 07 4-pack of this in Indiana for me. A vigorous pour into my glass leaves a one inch dark, oily mocha colored head that fades to some lacing. This one is pitch black. The smell is coffee grounds, cocoa, slight bourbon/vanilla and astringent oakiness. Flavor is much of the same with a huge hit of coffee and oakiness followed by a smooth chocolate and bourbon finish. So Texture is velvety smooth. Alcohol is slightly present at the finish with a slight burn in the back of the throat but it also warms the belly. Compared to fresh I much prefer the aged smell and flavor; the fresh was much more coffee centric and a year+ on this one has allowed more character to come forward and made it much more balanced and flavorful.

12 oz. bottle courtesy cdumler. Thanks Chris! Dark brown pour with a small brown head. Very strong and very bitter roasted coffee aroma with oak and vanilla trying almost in vain to fight their way through. Taste is strong coffee, very roasted malts and oak and vanilla notes. Full bodied. People who don’t drink coffee beware, this will be over the top for you, as it was for me, but it is a damned good beer.