Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS)

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

Black in color with a decent sized dark brown head. Aroma is dark roast coffee, roasted malts, dark chocolate, leather, oak, bourbon and earth. Taste is coffee, oatmeal, dark chocolate, bourbon and oak.

New label bottle, courtesy redlight, Thanks Brent! Pours a dark brown color with a small brown film that slides back into the body. Just by the aroma you can tell this one is going to be a slow sipper. Rich dark chocolate, fresh roasted coffee, oak, and bourbon dominate the nose. The flavor shows the same dark chocolate and roasted coffee up front, but the roastiness is mellowed by the oak and bourbon. Vanilla from the oak comes in and sweetens things up a bit. There is some nice heat from the alcohol on the finish, but not overly hot. Medium-full bodied and very smooth with subtle carbonation, but this is still a slow sipper from all the rich flavors and alcohol. This is a really nice bourbon barrel stout.

Pours a nice dark brown with hardly any carbonation.Hints of Vanilla, coffee, chocolate and hints of oak flavoring. One of the worlds best.

On tap at the Beer Engine in Lakewood 8-2-09. Served in a glass mug, which at $2.00 for the glass, it was quite a bargain...unlike the beer. At like $9.00, it was well worth it honestly. The aroma is rather relaxed, notes of coffee are well hidden with the vanilla and oak scents. The flavor is equally relaxed, but the coffee is still there. It has this amazing buttery-nutty taste to the coffee flavor, not the burnt coffee flavor that is often in the big stouts. It really has mellowed nicely and doesn’t come off ’hot’ at all, even for the 11.2% which snuck up on me like the Hillside Strangler.

Serving: 12 oz. bottle. Appearance: Pours like black tar with a thin, brown ring around the edge of glass. Aroma: Dark, roasted malt, coffee, smoke, and bourbon. Taste: Dark roasted malt, coffee, a little alcohol, raisin, light bourbon notes, and bittersweet dark chocolate. Palate: Low carbonation with a rich mouthfeel and amazingly short finish. Overall: The alcohol is well hidden and the bourbon blends nicely (not overpowering like some). Simply put: one of the best impys I’ve had. A must try!

Bottle, thanks to the folks at Hopcat for this. Pours black with a 5mm chocolate milk head. Aroma is big. Chocolate hits first, then the whiskey notes of smoke and some tar, roasted malt, bbq, dark fruits. Flavour is full. Smoke, wood, coffee, chocolate. Fairly intense espresso finish. Some alcohol is felt when it warms a little. Thick body. Definitely a sipper. Can’t quite put my finger on what I feel is lacking, but it’s not perfect.

Sampled side by side with the Canadian version. I was happy to see the differences between both, and after all was said and drank the KBS faired better with me. Upfront aroma of strong coffee, burnt malt, and blended whiskey. Notes of chocolate, raisin and nuts came through. Opaque dark brown body with low carbonation, a pencil thin head and spotty lacing. Loved the overall taste of this one, a really strong and robust blend of heavy malts, bittering hops, and smooth whiskey. Typical imperial stout taste that is moved up a level or two across the board. Roasted, burnt grains and plenty of coffee with a woody nutty almost fruity aftertaste. Drinks slow and deserves to be done so. Heavy and good. A wonderful treat.

Wow. If I only had one thing to say it would be wow. Poured from a bottle with virtually no head and is very, very dark. The taste unparalleled. The aroma is amazing. I actually started laughing after smelling this beer in anticipation of the taste. Has a tingly aftertaste. You can taste and smell a hint of coffee. This was truly nailed on the head. Wow.