Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS)

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

Black with insignificant cap. Vending machine coffee, whole oats, burnt malt, wood, bittersweet chocolate, and subtle vanilla. Full, smooth palate. The vending machine coffee is a turnoff, otherwise a solid brew.

12oz bottle (2009) into a snifter. Rating #1300! Pours deep black with shimmering brown when held to the light. The small head is dark leather brown and dissipates quickly into a small ringlet. The aroma is honestly comprised of mostly a big dose of fresh roasted coffee. Underneath this is a small helping of nice bourbon and oak characteristics including a lot of vanilla and a touch of wood. The sweet aroma of whiskey touches through but not much. A drink taken in while inhaling starts quite sweet and flows into wood and vanilla mixed with a touch of citrus. The mid is all added coffee and this is definitely what lingers with undertones of very dark chocolate. As it warms the chocolate comes out more and more. There is a nice carbonation that mingles perfectly with the silky mouthfeel. This is honestly good but I was expecting more bourbon stout and less breakfast stout.

Tap at Sunset Grille. Aroma of smooth bourbon melding with lots of milk chocolate, cocoa powder, lightly roasted coffee. Flavor again a wonderful melding of the bourbon and the expected notes from the stout and the coffee. Impressed me a lot more than I expected.

12 oz. bottle - drank this side by side with the regular version; the KBS comes off much darker (if possible) in the pour with darker brown head; bourbon is obvious and overpowers the chocolate and coffee aromas from the BS; more roasted malts and nuts come out though; you can feel the bourbon as it warms the back of your throat and it drinks very smooth; I miss the chocolaty flavors and texture of the BS and maybe just a little much on the bourbon for my palate; the KBS does have a thicker and more chewy texture with an even drier finish; as with the BS, the KBS keeps getting better and better through the glass and I’m glad I have a few more to enjoy over time (thanks to TMC!!)

# 600 Bottle from sliffy. Thanks for the killer bonus, Dan! I actually like this version quite a bit better than the Breakfast Stout. Everything seems more rounded and balanced and without the bitter coffee astringincy. Aroma of wet wood, coffee grounds, some bourbon, and both semisweet and milk chocolate. Pours oily black with a thin dark brown head. Flavor has lots of sweet and dry roasted malt, chocolate, some toned down coffee notes and lots of wood. Rich and creamy on the palate. Finishes quite woody and dry with a pleasant alcohol kick. Thanks again, Dan!

Coffee dominates the aroma,there is no hint about it,every sniff gives you a different sensation,always coffee ,but next time with oakiness and chocolate,next time with vanilla and smoke.What at first seems a single aspect aroma, quickly becomes very complex. Just to much of everything for any bourbon to come through. The taste is heavy coffee mocha and as you start swallowing,that bourbon taste starts becoming evident. Very full bodied,a perfect balance of bourbon aging,just a touch to much coffee to get a perfect score. The bourbon becomes a little more evident as it warms

Bottle thanks to Arbitrator on BA. This beer owns something fierce, almost but not quite equall to the legendary Canadian Breakfast Stout. Pours a viscous, oily jet black with a small, creamy tan head that leaves a ring around the glass. This has legs like a Swedish bikini model, i.e. they’re very good. Aroma is coffee, roast, chocolate, and high-quality Kentucky bourbon. Flavor is coffee, dark chocolate, roasted malt that adds a little sweetness, vanilla, oak, and of course loads of bourbon. Not too much though. Almost but not quite as good as Goose Island Bourbon County Stout. A little boozy, but certainly not unpleasantly so...or maybe I was just too drunk to notice (and you can’t blame me since we had all three Breakfast Stout incarnations at this tasting + other awesome stuff). Palate is smooth, creamy, and oily with low carbonation. Overall this is a top-notch imperial stout.

Velvety, impenetrable black pour. Certainly blacker than many, proving this with an almost chestnut shaded head. Nose of a seared espresso mocha and a bourbon-soaked german chocolate cake. Initially, an offensive one-dimensional canvas of coffee grounds skirting the surface of a bourbon pool. With warmth, the malts and the barrel arrive hand in hand. Dark chocolate, sultry vanilla vapors and smoke. Smacking, soy sauce finish with a hint of wet cardboard. The astringency of the dark roast never completely gives way. Not artfully rendered, and quite bombastic without much of true substance. Age should help. Thanks Adam!