Founders CBS – The Review

From Founders – Canadian Breakfast Stout is an Imperial Stout brewed with a blend of coffees and imported chocolates, then aged in spent bourbon barrels that have most recently been aging pure Michigan maple syrup.

Founders Brewing – Founders CBS – 750 ml. bottle poured into a goblet. 10.2% abv.

Appearance: Pours a dark brown with a tan head that subsides to a thin film. Leaves behind sparse spotty lacing.

Aroma: Prepared medium roast coffee with sugar. Slight booze and roast. Old coffee filter grinds are present.

Taste: Dark chocolate, black coffee, sugar, burnt roast, coffee aftertaste.  Light barrel tanins that don’t pop out until the beer is warm. Not much bourbon notes. I understand the second use of the barrel was for maple syrup.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied sliky modest carbonation.

Overall: It pains me to go against the grain here, but I’m going to do it anyway: I did not enjoy this beer. I didn’t enjoy it first and foremost because it tasted just like Founders KBS, another beer that I don’t jive with.  I don’t care for the coffee profile in the Imperial Stout base, and it overpowers the entire beer for me.  Compared to many similar bourbon barrel aged imperial stouts on the market, this beer had almost no sign of wood or bourbon for me. I’m very familiar with “real” maple syrup, not that yummy Log Cabin stuff, but the stuff you buy on vacation in the northern states. That too got lost in the large coffee and chocolate presence. Also, Founders makes some amazing beers that aren’t on the old hype train. Let’s not lose sight of that.

This beer has been at the top of my wants list for years, and after the crazy amount of hype surrounding this release, I had set the bar as high as possible for this beer. Perhaps that is not fair to do to any beer, and it’s not fair to Founders.  With that said, you should try this beer, and judge for yourself.  Is it worth $17-22.00. Most definitely. Is it worth $100 on eBay or $200 worth of beer to trade. Most definitely not.