Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS)

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

Super dark pour, aroma of coffee, malt and a bit of smoke. Virtually no carbonation, but the beer is pretty active and lively in the mouth. Given the name, I was expecting a bourbon blast once the glass hit my mouth, but the barrel aging seems rather subdued. There are so many of these big bold barrel aged stouts out there that you really have to be excellent to make any kind of impression. Prior to this beer, I had a Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, and it was miles ahead of this. This one left me a bit unsatisfied.

Bottle from STFUN! Dark black color, small toffee colored head that dissappeared quickly. Nice aroma of bourbon and coffee. It is really smooth. Taste is vanilla, coffee and hint of bourban. Texture was medium. Over all, a great beer. Thanks josh!

re-rate 4/26/07 Got a fresh bottle, wow what a difference between this beer and the aged one I am glad I finally got my hands on this the bourbon isn’t as strong and taste better the coffee comes out nice a small amount of smoke this was a far better beer. I guess the bottle I had didn’t age well my 1st rating was on 3/28/07 and was a 2.5 I have had this bottle for about a year and decided to give it a try a couple of days ago. All I have got to say is that either I got a bad bottle or they used some cheap bourbon barrels, ( I like jack and I do like bb beers) unless this did not age well or like I said I might have gotten a bad bottle.now the rating. poured black with a tan head that didn’t last long. aroma cocoa alcohol, coffee, smoke,did get some vanilla. flavor a nasty bourbon, ash tray, some coffee, the chocolate come out at the very end. I went looking for this beer today to buy a 4 pack at my favorite beer store and they didn’t have any I am glad they didn’t.

Picked up at Brawleys in Charlotte, North Carolina. Poured like motor oil, big time! No head, but the small head was a heavy chocolate color. Perfrect looking beer. This is how I love my stouts to look. Huge wood and roast aroma. Not hard to smell at all. Just an amazing aroma, of wood, chocolate. Chocolate is very aromatic. A delicious smell. Wish it had some bourbon smell, but very aromatic. Oh man, perfect flavor. Nice thick chocolate, slight coffee taste, with an awesome bourbon finish. Just a wonderful bourbon taste that lingers. Nice woody taste. A perfectly nuanced beer. Overall, my favorite beer. Nice hop taste mixed in wood that bourbon/wood aftertaste. Let this sucker warm up and it just gets better. I was raised in Kentucky, so this is a providential moment in my life.

Pours a lasting ring of tan head with a dark brown body. Coffee, oats, and earth aroma. Flavor notes of coffee, oatmeal, hint of cocoa, some vanilla, roasted. Oily body with a lasting finish.

# 500. 12oz bottle thanks to my guy mrchopin. Pours pitch black with creamy tan head. Aroma is bourbon, coffee, vanilla and roasted malt. Flavor is very complex with roasted malt, bourbon, vanilla, coffee, molassas, smoke and a little chocolate. Mouthfeel is perfect for a BA imperial stout. Smooth and creamy but with full carbonation. Much better than the regular breakfast stout. This really a great brew and a good choice for # 500.

Bottle. A hard pour gives the balck, opaque liquid a nice half inch tan head. The aroma is certainly full of coffee, chocolate and I suppose a hint of bourbon...much more subtle than some of the other bourbon aged beers. The flavor is where it’s not so subtle, it’s like an attack of coffee, bourbon, and dark chocolate and some dark fruits in there somewhere...very rich and bittersweet all around. Velvety over the tounge, juicy at parts, with a semi-sweet finish. A great dessert beer and/or night cap...certainly nothing one would want to start the evening with. I’m really going to have to factor in price on the overall score...while this is an excellant beer...it’s no more excellant than its non-bourbon aged brother which is almost half the price.

update: 05/06/07. After having not only a slew of this years batch as well as a side by side of 06 and 07...I gotta give this one some higher marks. Both this year and last year seem to bring out the bourbon elements that should be there while leaving behind things like hot booze and an overbearing amount of coconut. These elements are in fact here, but they give way to a nice rounded oak flavor...both chocolate and vanilla coming out in layers over tones of coffee and light smokey malts. ANother thing worthy of mentioning is the absolute velvet pour, it’s almost like silk pouring out of that bottle which gives pretty thoughts to what the mouthfeel is like...smooth as silk...that’s what it is. A few bottles I’ve even encountered what could only be described as "sludge", while surprising it is certainly not unwelcome. Also, while I find the price a bit steep, it seems worth it when compared to others in its categorey.

This one just hits me in all my good spots. Smooth bourbon burn....check. Coffee, vanilla, oak......check. This just has so much going on and I can’t get enough.