Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout

We have in our lives the hard facts that we know and believe in. What are some of mine? What are some of the things that I know that I love? I'll list three off the top of my head. I love hearing the tenor saxophone sound of Hank Mobley when I least suspect it. I love the brush strokes in a Walt Kelly "Pogo" comic strip. And I love a truly deep and satisfying stout, no matter what make, brand, creed, or category.

Some things I truly know I don't like? A really mushy, icy day like today. (I want spring so badly right now, I honestly don't care how lame our winter was.) Bad art being passed off as good. Half an 'r' and three orange stripes, with newspaper clippings added, that's art, right? It must be, if someone paid for it, and hung it on a wall. And, to complete the rule of listing three things, when a perfectly good, even utterly excellent beer is totally super-ceded by a flashier, hotter hipper one. Such as, "yeah, yeah, Furious is good, I can get that anywhere/drink that any day, but it's not as good as Abrasive." Or, "oh, Breakfast Stout...ho, hum...if only it were KBS. Or, ...CBS?!?!"

It's not enough to have a magnificent coffee chocolate oatmeal stout, but Founders has to come out with these variations that get all the geeks twisted up in their knickers. And they are good. But come on, the other beers are still great. And these other varieties are so difficult to find, so quick to fly off the shelves, that I've never seen a bottle of KBS for sale anywhere, or a precious CBS, naturally. I just don't have time to visit these stores on the day of release. They are so hard to find that I thought that I'd never reviewed a bottle of KBS, but lo, and behold, I got one in a trade five and 1/2  years ago, and wrote a review in July of 2006. I have a bottle today, because Meagan O'Brien is moving to Wisconsin and was kind enough to let me take a bottle off her hands. Much thanks and appreciation to her, and best of luck representing Tallgrass Brewing in her native Wisconsin, as I drink down this delicious Kentucky Breakfast Stout, and share my notes from my first tasting. And they start...now.

Deepest ebon hue, an impentrable blackness, above which nestles a modest ring of earthy brown, espresso tinges. 

Aroma is chocolate first, followed by coffee, then molasses, brown sugar, and licorice. 

Taste: Full and thick as it boards the mouth, slipping rich, deliciousness everywhere...this is stoutness of the highest order. Bourbon flavor is here, but feels less sweet than the same stuff straight from the bottle, an impressive blend of flavors. Further in, I can taste the charcoal, even. 

So huge, and rich, and very rewarding. Each sip has enough flavor to taste a good 20 minutes, if you're not too thirsty...definitely a sippin' stout! If you don't take your time, you're spoiling a wonderful experience. 

I must say, this is a hyperbolic label, but it's all truth in advertising. Gotta wonder how they slip it past the beurocracy, with it's jesting claims of giving relief from all manner of ailments. It is most assuredly "good for everything a stout ought to be good for." 

Very nice bedtime brew. Wish I had a case or three to last me a spell. 
Way to go, Founders, another impressive ale! 

(currently the label states: "DOES NOT GIVE RELIEF FROM: rheumatism, neuralgia, sciatica, lame back, lumbago, contracted muscles, toothache, sprains, swelling, and all manners of distress." Did I read it wrong, or did they change the label?)