Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout

Brewed in: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Style: American Imperial Stout

ABV: 11.2%

Served: Bottle

Tasting Notes:

I wanted to get everything I noticed about this beer down on paper immediately. When I first popped open the bottle I took a smell and my first instinct was alcohol. Upon further invesigation there are other spice-like aromas present. Its almost a dry alcoholic aroma. It pours very thick. There's absolutely no head out of this bottle and it's very black but there is a brown color around the rim. The aroma softens out in the glass but remains that same dry alcohilic aroma.

It has a very thick mouthfeel. That dryness continues to exist in the taste but all the breakfast flavors are present, as well as the barrel aged notes. The most obvious flavor is likely the coffee, mostly present at the finish. The front and middle are mostly dominated by the alcohol that stings a bit but is never overpowering. The chocolate notes are more of a strong, dark chocolate as opposed to the sweet chocolate you'd get in a desert beer like a Rogue or Southern Tier Chocolate Stout. It's a bitter chocolate like that which you'd bake and not necessarily snack on.

Expectation surrounded this tasting and I never expected the KBS to live up to them however when it comes to Imperial Stouts, Russians, Americans, whatever, I would call this the best of the bunch I've had to this point. It balances the alcohol, the mouthfeel, the flavors and the consistency very well. It's not the best beer I've ever had and it might not even be the best stout I've ever had but its a top notch brew.