Brewed By: Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at Piccadilly in Urbana, IL; 2014
Style/ABV: Barrel-Aged American Stout, 11.2%
Reported IBUs: 70
Beer hype is a weird thing. Tracking down a bottle of KBS this year was darn near impossible. I didn't chase many Tweets -- I made the effort to drive out to just one of my local Binny's, only to discover they cleared the handful of bottles on hand ten minutes before they officially were supposed to start selling the beer.
Comparatively, tracking down a bottle of KBS in the Chicagoland area was harder than finding Hopslam or Bourbon County Stout. I'm not complaining, Founders has a huge release event for this beer and word on the street is you can find this beer in Michigan. I'm just saying, there's a lot of hype at work here.
And people are totally behind the times. I understand that with each passing year craft beer grows a little and gains new followers, and those followers join the rat race to track down #epicwhalez or whatever. "But that's not how you stay ahead of the curve," notes someone, somewhere, as they drink a coffee stout from some brewery you haven't heard of yet. Anyway, about Founders:
Big shocker here: the KBS pours into an opaque, pitch black body, kicking up a finger of brown head. As the head drops off, you get nice lacing. And there are some legs. Woo.
I'm not going to lie to you, the aroma on this beer is magical. I've had a lot of coffee stouts over the past few years, and the aroma on KBS rivals just a handful of beers. There's big hazelnut, espresso, macaroons and coconut, slight acidity from the coffee, chocolate, oats, and some booze. Yeah, there's booze on the nose. There is some light oak and bourbon sweetness on the aroma, and tons of rich oats, chocolate, and coffee. The coffee is stupid in your face, and it is awesome.
While the bourbon takes a back seat to the coffee in the aroma, it definitely does not hold back in the taste. This beer has tons of bourbon that coats your mouth. You also pick up hints of wood and barrel. Along with the bourbon is intense coffee goodness, oats, chocolate, espresso, roast, and some big hazelnut character. There's a macaroon and coconut thing going on too, along with dark fruits hiding beneath the surface of the base beer that will likely unravel with age. There's also a lot of straight up whisky on this fresh bottle, notably in the back. The whisky comes with all the whisky trappings, include hints of raisins.
This is a full-bodied, big beer. On one hand, it's a sipper, and on the other hand, the coffee cuts through the alcohol like crazy. 11.2% ain't nothing to fuck with, and yet I find this surprisingly quaffable. I just want to pour a bottle of this to pound with some pancakes or whatever. It's truly a "breakfast stout," and I expect the BJCP to roll that category out in 2020 or whenever. This beer has a perfect mouthfeel, but the complexity leans towards chocolate-coffee-bourbon. It's a very simple beer in its execution...but sometimes getting back to the basics is how you gotta roll. Palate: up front is huge chocolate, coffee, oats, and bourbon; the mids go bananas with insane coffee, hazelnut, macaroons, coconut, espresso; the back end features waves of lingering chocolate and coffee, and then you get nice whisky burn on the finish along with lingering coffee and barrel. The finish isn't too hot, it's not too sweet...it's pretty damn near perfect.
Comparatively, tracking down a bottle of KBS in the Chicagoland area was harder than finding Hopslam or Bourbon County Stout. I'm not complaining, Founders has a huge release event for this beer and word on the street is you can find this beer in Michigan. I'm just saying, there's a lot of hype at work here.
And people are totally behind the times. I understand that with each passing year craft beer grows a little and gains new followers, and those followers join the rat race to track down #epicwhalez or whatever. "But that's not how you stay ahead of the curve," notes someone, somewhere, as they drink a coffee stout from some brewery you haven't heard of yet. Anyway, about Founders:
Contrary to what you might expect, the KBS is not brewed using the Founders Breakfast Stout base. And by the way, the Breakfast Stout is one of the best beers you can buy, and it seems plentiful these days. No, the Founders KBS is brewed with massive amounts of coffee and chocolate, and then cave-aged in oak bourbon barrels for a whole damn year. This one punches in at 11.2% and pack 70 IBUs. Coffee, chocolate, bourbon...what could go wrong.
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| Founders KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout) |
Big shocker here: the KBS pours into an opaque, pitch black body, kicking up a finger of brown head. As the head drops off, you get nice lacing. And there are some legs. Woo.
I'm not going to lie to you, the aroma on this beer is magical. I've had a lot of coffee stouts over the past few years, and the aroma on KBS rivals just a handful of beers. There's big hazelnut, espresso, macaroons and coconut, slight acidity from the coffee, chocolate, oats, and some booze. Yeah, there's booze on the nose. There is some light oak and bourbon sweetness on the aroma, and tons of rich oats, chocolate, and coffee. The coffee is stupid in your face, and it is awesome.
While the bourbon takes a back seat to the coffee in the aroma, it definitely does not hold back in the taste. This beer has tons of bourbon that coats your mouth. You also pick up hints of wood and barrel. Along with the bourbon is intense coffee goodness, oats, chocolate, espresso, roast, and some big hazelnut character. There's a macaroon and coconut thing going on too, along with dark fruits hiding beneath the surface of the base beer that will likely unravel with age. There's also a lot of straight up whisky on this fresh bottle, notably in the back. The whisky comes with all the whisky trappings, include hints of raisins.
This is a full-bodied, big beer. On one hand, it's a sipper, and on the other hand, the coffee cuts through the alcohol like crazy. 11.2% ain't nothing to fuck with, and yet I find this surprisingly quaffable. I just want to pour a bottle of this to pound with some pancakes or whatever. It's truly a "breakfast stout," and I expect the BJCP to roll that category out in 2020 or whenever. This beer has a perfect mouthfeel, but the complexity leans towards chocolate-coffee-bourbon. It's a very simple beer in its execution...but sometimes getting back to the basics is how you gotta roll. Palate: up front is huge chocolate, coffee, oats, and bourbon; the mids go bananas with insane coffee, hazelnut, macaroons, coconut, espresso; the back end features waves of lingering chocolate and coffee, and then you get nice whisky burn on the finish along with lingering coffee and barrel. The finish isn't too hot, it's not too sweet...it's pretty damn near perfect.
Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)
I'm feeling a Strong Divine Brew on this. For a barrel-aged coffee beer, this is damn near perfect, minus some potential for a touch of added complexity. It's not quite as good as the Bourbon County Coffee, but then that beer is a whole different beast. The KBS has a simplicity about it....chocolate, coffee, whisky, macaroons, and coconut. It's not here to waste your time with hop kisses, dark fruits, molasses, or other roasted goodies. No sir, this is a breakfast beer straight up and simple. I would pair this beer with chocolate chip pancake, french toast, bacon and eggs, doughnuts, and anything breakfast. Seriously, I know drinking with breakfast is taboo, but this beer BEGS to be paired with breakfast.
Random Thought: BJCP, call me plz. We need to talk about breakfast beers.
I'm feeling a Strong Divine Brew on this. For a barrel-aged coffee beer, this is damn near perfect, minus some potential for a touch of added complexity. It's not quite as good as the Bourbon County Coffee, but then that beer is a whole different beast. The KBS has a simplicity about it....chocolate, coffee, whisky, macaroons, and coconut. It's not here to waste your time with hop kisses, dark fruits, molasses, or other roasted goodies. No sir, this is a breakfast beer straight up and simple. I would pair this beer with chocolate chip pancake, french toast, bacon and eggs, doughnuts, and anything breakfast. Seriously, I know drinking with breakfast is taboo, but this beer BEGS to be paired with breakfast.
Random Thought: BJCP, call me plz. We need to talk about breakfast beers.
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