Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Breakfast Stout

Beer Name: Founders Breakfast Stout
Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
ABV: 8.3%
Serving method: 12-oz draft (?) in a stemmed pilsner glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

I think this was on draft, but I can't be sure because I didn't see it poured. It felt drafty though, so that's what I'm going with. This beer is supposed to be one of the best beers brewed in America, and I've been searching for it for a few weeks now. Unfortunately, it's a seasonal, and it's very popular apparently, which makes it tough to acquire.

Founders Breakfast Stout is a very dark beer, basically black. It arrived with just over a finger of thick head, which faded very slowly and left a heavy lacing pattern on the glass. This beer has a delicious coffee aroma along with some cocoa and roasted malts. My experience with many stouts is that they benefit nicely from being allowed to warm up a little, so I just sat and smelled it for a few minutes. I probably looked like a weirdo.

The first few sips were dominated by bitter coffee flavors, with the other roasted flavors in the background. Those were primarily chocolate, but there were other roasted malts as well, along with something grainy, like oatmeal. The beer has a very thick mouthfeel. It's lightly carbonated, and very smooth. The aftertaste has a little bitterness, and then that fades away leaving a pleasant coffee flavor that lasts for a while.

Final thought - This beer was definitely worth the search, and next fall I'm going to have to get out there early and get myself some more. It had all the best qualities of a good stout, and only a little bit of bitterness that might upset the more sensitive palettes out there. Perhaps next time I'll have to have one with breakfast.

-Jon

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