Founders - Kentucky Breakfast Stout

Today friends, I review a beer that needs no introduction.  I knew that cracking open my sole bottle of KBS was drawing near immediately after I was unable to procure tickets to this year's KBS Release Party due to some errors on the part of some 3rd party ticket brokers.  I, like many people, had a ticket in my cart, but to no avail.  But I'm not worried!  The past has passed!  I will not be broken-hearted or bitter over things I cannot change nor correct.  All I can do is enjoy the current bottle I possess, given to me by my good friend Matt D.  The last time I was fortunate enough to get a pour of KBS was at 2011's Screw City Beer Festival in Rockford, IL.  It looked a little something like this.

This is what it looks like when I poo my pants.

I think it goes without saying that I have been looking for an excuse to drink this beer for quite some time.  Let's pour!

Aroma 12/12

This is like dark, melted chocolate made violent love to black, gourmet coffee after a bourbon-soaked evening.  The coffee is bitter and strong, burnt, dark roasted malt is abundant, and dark chocolate's sweetness rounds things out nicely.  Warmth is more present than the actual aroma of bourbon at this point, but it is not overpowering and you'd never guess this was an 11.2% ABV beer.  I want to wear this as cologne.

Appearance 3/3

I hate to make the generic simile that this beer pours like motor oil, but... it's more like filthy motor oil.  It's a host of cola and coffee browns with a yellowish tinge around the edges.  The head was barely present, but was a shockingly dark shade of brown.  This beer had legs like road tar.  It stubbornly hung on the sides of the glass and refused to be moved.

Flavor 19/20

I don't believe that there is one milliliter of this beer that is not dedicated to being saturated with flavor.  It's not the most intense thing I've ever tasted, but nothing is wasted to deliver all the intended flavors to your waiting taste buds.  It begins with a oatmeal-y, sweet creaminess, which blossoms beautifully into the sweeter aspects of the rich, rich chocolate.  Then the bourbon rolls in and things get rowdy.  This goes from being a luscious, savory, delectable slice of German double molten chocolate cake with a side of coffee, to a beer that tastes like every bite of cake is first dipped lightly in bourbon.  The chocolate and bourbon are definitely the stars here and the coffee takes a supporting role.  When held in the mouth, however, the coffee is the most persistent of the flavors and makes itself known once the others have faded.  Be patient though because, sweet Holy delicious chocolate booze cake, are those flavors strong and it's going to take a while.  The finish is mocha coffee sweetness plus the tingling heat from the bourbon while the aftertaste is pretty much the same aftertaste if you combined how your mouth feels fifteen minutes after drinking coffee and two minutes after sipping bourbon.

Mouthfeel 4.5/5
Wait, can I even give half points?  To that I say in my best Eric Cartman voice, "It's my blog, I do what I WANT!"  I've never done it before, but I've never felt compelled to do it before.  I basically want to say that the mouthfeel of this beer is remarkable, but I cannot say that it is perfect.  The bourbon is simply too strong and covers some of the other flavors that I know are in there.  To add to that, this beer is from 2012!  It has aged for almost an entire year!  I can't imagine how aggressive this beer would be were it fresh.  It is just shy of being full-bodied and while the carbonation is wonderfully subtle, the alcohol warmth adds enough tingle to be as interruptive as a higher level of bubbles.

Overall Impression 9.5/10 
Well, if I'm gonna start issuing half-points I might as well use two so that the final score is a whole number, right?  This is a supremely tasty beer and for a guy that hasn't eaten dinner yet, its 11.2% ABV is definitely a force to be reckoned with.  This coffee-licious, chocolate oozing, bourbon monster simply must be tried.  It tries extremely hard to live up to its gargantuan reputation and does an admirable job, even if it doesn't taste like God himself lactated it into each and every bottle.  This is a chocolately delight that I will be aging even more next time to mute the bourbon into submission.

Total 48/50

I know, I know... It doesn't take a whole lot of fortitude nor prowess to drink a great beer and give it a high score.  Big surprise, right?  However, I was expecting to give this beer a perfect score and perhaps that expectation worked against it.  It is a towering giant of chocolate and bourbon warmth with coffee riding its coattails the whole time.  The warmth is not insane, but it is enough where I do feel that it overpowers some of the other flavors that should definitely be making a contribution, namely the coffee.  If you're fortunate enough to see some after the April 1, 2013 distribution date, buy it.  Even if it doesn't live up to its ludicrously lofty expectations (and what could), you won't be disappointed.

Founders - Backwoods Bastard

I remember trying Founders' Backwoods Bastard when it was fresh and being blown away at the intense bourbon flavors in this beer. It was almost too much!  For that reason, I aged a few of them to see how that booziness would mellow out after a year or two.  This bottle is part of that experiment and is a Backwoods Bastard brewed in 2011.  Shall we see how things have progressed?  Let's pour!

Aroma 10/12

Time does not seem to have settled this brew down one bit!  The bourbon aroma and strong warmth are immediately and intensely present and not far behind it is a rich, raw sugar that almost comes across "mapley"  at first.  The oak is easily detectable behind these two strong aromas and as the beer opens up a dark vanilla is added to the mix.  It's a great flavor and blends excellently with the earlier sugar/molasses note.  Eventually it all but surpasses the sugar notes, and soon the dark roast of the malt can be faintly discerned.

Appearance 3/3

This beer is much darker than I anticipated!  It looks black in color, but when held to light reveals lots of nut and coffee browns and even a magenta shade or two.  The head is tan in color and creamy in appearance.  Were it not for the smaller amount, it would not look out of place atop of a Guinness.

Flavor 16/20

The flavor on this has not mellowed either, at least not to my recollection.  It starts with a smooth, medium-bodied wave of molasses and vanilla, but transitions very quickly into the bourbon/whiskey flavors and loads of oak.  To be quite honest, it's difficult to find much beyond the bourbon, its warmth, and the sugary vanilla goodness.  The finish is still boozy and sweet, but does add a layer of bitter to things as the beer sticks to the back of the throat and leaves the mouth slick.  The aftertaste is a less intense of version of what one would find after drinking bourbon on the rocks.

Mouthfeel 4/5

Obviously the warmth is a major factor in the mouthfeel of this brew, yet surprisingly the alcohol does not achieve any sort of drying effect on the mouth.  The beer instead makes the mouth water and makes it slick or even sticky in the back of the throat (must... refraining from... "That's what she said").  It also begins by feeling fairly substantial in the mouth, but soon becomes thin despite all of the malts inevitably used to achieve the high levels of sweetness.  It's a 10.2% ABV, but the warmth is done well in this one.

Overall Impression 6/10

As mentioned eariler, the bourbon in this is simply too masking of other key attributes of the beer.  All that is detectable is bourbon, sugary vanilla, and wood.  The roasted malts that were detectable in the aroma are completely lost.  Thankfully, the warmth settled when compared to a fresh bottle.  It was never overbearing, but added just the right amount for the bourbon flavors to come across as truly authentic.

Overall Impression 40/50

This is not a bad beer by any means, but I've certainly had others in the style with much more to offer.  I've had Wee Heavy beers with dark fruits detectable and stronger secondary malt characteristics (ahem, the roasted malt).  I've also had them with more substantial bodies that truly carried the immense flavors within them.  I enjoyed the boozy/sugary balance in Backwoods Bastard, but ultimately it was a fairly simply beer.  It does what it does well, but minor tweaks could make this yet another beer from Founders that garners national attention.

Beer Filled Weekend

This tale of ale begins because my wife was made a Matron of Honor at her best friend's wedding and so we sallied forth to Chicago for the weekend. Most things happened at the Drake (um, WOW!), but as my wife had any number of responsibilities to attend to, this left me with quite a bit of free time in between scheduled activities. Needless to say, I got my Chi-town drink on.

Thursday: To be honest the weekend seemed to give me a preview of things to come when I received my Maker's Mark "newborn" notification. I became a Maker's Mark Ambassador back in October of 2011. This is simply a neat program they have where you can learn quite a bit about the Maker's Mark process, get some cool promotional items, your name on a barrel of whiskey, AND purchasing rights to said barrel. Well, more than half a year later, I finally received notice that my name is on a barrel and aging as we speak. You also get rights to purchase your barrel plate with your name on it. To check out more about the program (or to sign up) you can go here.

They even throw in business cards!

Friday: We headed to Chicago.  One of the first things that needed to be done was to take the wife and the bride to get their nails done (technically, they were "Mani pedis," but I can never bring myself to say, or even type, the phrase "Mani pedi" without feeling like a complete idiot.  I was informed that this would take an hour and a half, so on the recommendation of a good friend (@vmoon54) I left in search of The Pour House.  This was a really nice, big place.  If you have a Granite City by you, the interior is decorated sort of like that.  There's lots of dark wood, exposed limestone, stainless steel, etc.  It's very modern and clean.  There are also TV's covering virtually every square inch of wall.  They were all Panasonic and one was easily the largest TV I've ever seen that wasn't a projector or lots of smaller screens piece together to make on big screen.  Oh, and then there was the beer.  I counted 72 (6 bunches of 12) taps close to me, then there was a break, and then there were another 72 taps.  I don't know if they were duplicates, but I can only assume some were different since they advertise 90 taps.  I had the good fortune to wander downstairs to the restroom while the door to the cooler room was open.  The cooler room is about 9 feet wide and seemed about 50 yards long, all filled with kegs, lines, and pumps.  Since I don't generally bring my camera with me to the rest room I was unable to take a pic of this.  While there, I tasted a Jolly Pumpkin ES Bam (WOW!), a Lexington Brewing Co Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale (like a boozy creme brulee!), and my very first Sixpoint Resin!  Let me say that it's reputation is well earned.  Oh, and Old Town Pour House also gets bonus points for showing Euro Cup soccer matches.  Not that I'm a big soccer fan, but there were a ton of England fans there drinking, cheering, and making for a great atmosphere.  I couldn't help but get into the game! The rest of the night was an open bar at the rehearsal dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant call Le Colonial. While their food was ridiculously tasty, their beer selection was subpar (Amstel, Stella, Heinekin, something else, and thankfully Sierra Nevada) so I mostly stuck to rye and whiskey the rest of the night.

Look at that monstrous TV!

Saturday: The day of the wedding. My wife was needed first thing in the morning so I had a bunch of time to kill. The first thing I did was show up at the Map Room. It's just a little corner place that seemed like it could barely contain the reputation it has. Funny story about how I came to choose this location. About a week or two ago, I posted on Facebook if anybody had any Two Brothers - Hop Juice Black for sale or trade. I was unable to attend their Hop Juice Festival this year, but still had a yankerin' for that once-a-year, festival released brew. I get an email from a good friend saying he saw some on Craigslist Chicago. Long story short, I bought 4 bottles of Hop Juice Black from a guy off of Craigslist AT COST. If there are any BeerAdvocate folks out there, you can do a trade with "dlello2" with no problems. He couldn't stay long, but we shot the bull a little bit and I continued to drink beers that I normally do not have access to, namely: Stiegl Goldbraü, Ommegang Abbey Ale, and Unibroue Maudite. Well, we have access to some of these beers, but only via bottle. Also, because I see these bottles all the time (with the exception of the Stiegl), it's harder to make that purchase. When I get bottles, I want to try something new or that I might not be able to get again - to jump on those opportunities. In any case, it had a pretty casual vibe with great beer at good prices. They even have pint glasses full of pretzel rods at each table. Nice touch. My only complaint is with the bartender that day. He recommended to me the Ommegang "double." I asked what it was called since I didn't know Ommegang had a beer called a "double." He looks at me and shrugs, "Just double." Clearly, that is not accurate. If you don't know, that's OK, but please say so. Also when a customer at the bar (I was eavesdropping from one of the tables) asked what dry-hopping was, he gave the long answer of someone who doesn't know but is doing their best to BS it. His answer revolved around an analogy between fresh herbs and dry herbs vs. fresh hops and dried hops. This, of course, is completely false. Maybe he was new, but Map Room still needs to make sure their people know their stuff. Even on a Saturday around noon. In his defense, he was very nice and even offered me a few unusual coasters they had lying around.

Stolen from chicagoblogger.com

Sweet, sweet, Hop Juice Black.

While I was sitting in the Map Room, I happened to get a message from the Twitterverse saying that I should come to the Haymarket Brew Pub.  My first experience with Haymarket was at the 2011 Midwest Brewers Fest in Plainfield, IL.  They rocked my socks off at that time, so I figured this was as good of an excuse as any to venture over there.  I picked up some friends en route and we got ready to sip some brews.  We had gotten our first drink when I finally met @ChicagoCousin from the Twitterverse.  His name is Gary and not only was Gary a pretty cool guy, he's also enough of a regular that he proceeds to give me a full tour of the place!  I even got to meet Brewer Pete Crowley.  Very cool!  We had to leave all too soon, but I bought a hat, had some brews, and know that I'll be back there again.  Thanks Gary!

Sort of a back room area.  To get to this separate room, you must pass
through a corridor which shows off all their brewing equipment and tanks.

Sunday:  Fortunately, that is not the end of my weekend of craft beer related fun. When I arrive home Sunday afternoon, inside I find a monster 26.4 lb package that has been awaiting my arrival home since Friday. This is the first half of a tremendous beer trade from trading buddy Eric. I'll just let the picture do the talking.

L to R: Baudelaire Beer, E.S. Bam, Bam Biere, Weizen Bam,
Fuego del Otoño, Calabaza Blanca, Maracaibo Especial, &
Madrugada Obscura

That's right, there's 8, count 'em, 8 bottles of Jolly Pumpkin for my drinking enjoyment! This is an enormous haul for me, especially since I have absolutely none of this in my area. Needless to say, I'll have to find a way to make it worth his while. This is kick ass!

Note: After I was packing up all these beer post-photo, I discovered an ADDITIONAL beer tucked away amongst all the bubble wrap and packing peanuts!  I've been wanted to try this and  will be reviewing it very soon.

In Chicago & its surrounding burbs, there is a huge beer scene waiting to be discovered, place by place.  Don't pass that up!  Especially if you live there!  You never know what new cool thing lurks through the next doorway: unusual taps, cool bartenders, raucous customers, knowledgable acquaintances, different ambiances, and  maybe even some new friends.  There's still lots of places I need to see (Finch's, Publican, Metropolitan, Hopleaf, Rock Bottom, Wild Onion, etc), but this was a darn good start.  My kind of town....

Goose Island - Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout

Holy cow!  You guys have easily made this my best month ever despite the fact that I was gone for a week to Washington D.C. and wrote no new posts during that time (minus a pending photo spread of Port City Brewing in Alexandria, VA).  In thanks for your dedication and in apology for that pesky thing called "life" getting in the way of craft beer reviews, I'm breaking something extra special out of the cellar today!  All the good vibes I'm feeling call for no less than to break out a bottle of Goose Island's Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout.

 Being religiously revered by the craft beer communities (100/100 on both beeradvocate.com and Ratebeer.com) makes these bottles pretty hard to get and I consider myself lucky that I was able to snag two.  However, this may not be as much of an issue in the future as Goose Island has announced that due to a large increase in barrel-aging facilities, BCS will be available year round!!!  Such an occasion also gives me an opportunity to break out my new "sampling" glasses that I picked up while at Port City.  They have a mark on them to indicate the proper size of the pour, a nice wide body to permeate the air with its aromas, and finally a very narrow opening so that the nose may better do its duty.  Despite the aforementioned perfect ratings, I will be giving this beer the most unbiased review that I can.  Let's pour!

Aroma 12/12

OK, so those perfect scores are on to something.  The characters in this aroma (chocolate, bourbon, and coffee) are certainly not new to the craft beer world, but the way in which they mingle is unmatched.  I attribute this somewhat to the Anjilanaka coffee beans used in the brewing process, as the coffee aroma is completely unique.  The rest I attribute to the craftsmanship used when brewing this beer.  The chocolate aroma is thick, rich, and has more than a little bit of lactose behind it, implying a chocolate milk.  The bourbon is the next aroma and its tingle is unmistakeable.  Already the sweetness of the malts is harmonizing with that of the bourbon and it's very exciting.  The coffee starts out in third place, but grows in prominence as the beer warms.  It truly does the work of tying all three ingredients together.  The darkness of the coffee compliments the malt, but it bitterness also helps balance it.  Meanwhile, its bite takes a note from the bourbon's warmth and earthiness.  This is a blend of the gods.

Appearance 3/3

I'm not sure how to score this, as I feel the head is simply not up to par.  Then again, are head and its retention going to be possible in a 14.0% ABV?  Granted, it was present initially in a handsome dark brown, but only it poured a half a finger tall and fizzed down to nothing as I snapped a few photos (see above photo).  As far as the rest of the appearance, it's as black as tar and even has that slight yellowish outline when held up to light.  Pretty cool.  

Note:  I eventually scored this beer 3/3 instead of 2/3 after considering the mouthfeel.  If one does not hold a minimal carbonation content against the beer when in the mouth because of its style and high ABV, then I feel it's hardly fair to do so when in the glass.

Flavor 20/20

I'm pretty sure this just made my tastebuds each put on their favorite NCAA mascot costume and begin a violent, marathon orgy.  The beginning is a eye-closing harmony of world-class chocolate and bourbon's sweetness.  It literally made me close my eyes in a moment of requiem.  The bourbon fades away briefly to showcase the chocolate, which is an ohmygoshIjustpaidhowmuchforchocolate type chocolate that you only wish you could get for your significant other on Valentine's Day (hell, you wouldn't mind receiving it either).  With the coffee's light bitter it is simply extravagant.  The bourbon then re-enters, but this time it brings its heat and not so much its sweetness; it's not about to let this Bourbon County Stout go without its namesake, after all.  The result is a confectioner's dream of silky milk chocolate, bourbon's sweetness and warmth, and hints of coffee.  My tasting glass has definitely warmed and I'm finding the coffee to be quite understated, but the bourbon to be quite prominent.  Unless this strange type of coffee bean is helping contribute to the Godzilla-sized portions of amazing chocolate in this beer.  In that case, I can find it pretty easily.  The finish is fantastic, but probably only if you like bourbon.  It's a whole lot of alcohol warmth that spreads it wings across the chest, but does allow the coffee bitter to come through a bit more to give a "very dark" chocolate sensation.  Detecting any other flavors past those two behemoths is going to be insanely difficult.

Mouthfeel 5/5

This is a little bit thinner in the mouth than I expected after the thick pour and heavy lactose smell, but thankfully so.  Had it been as thick as one expects, the beer might border on undrinkable.  That said, the initial mouthfeel is a bit thin, but sits heavily upon the tongue as if it takes a while to realize what it is there to do.  The carbonation is minimal, but in a beer this big and alcohol laden it is not completely inappropriate nor unwelcome.

Overall Impression 10/10

Color me impressed.  You can't be mad at a beer that promises you bourbon and then delivers.  Or rather, one that delivers, but not at the expense of other flavors.  I've definitely had the products of brewers happy to blast their hard work with bourbon and call it a day.  Goose Island, while brewing a beer strong with bourbon, also gives us oodles of dripping, rich chocolate and a coffee backdrop that tops any I've tasted (although Beer Geek Brunch gives this coffee it a run for its money).  This is a monster beer that still manages to harmonize a trio of insanely delicious flavors.  You know when you've had something special and this beer certainly qualifies.

Total 50/50

They almost lost their perfect score in the "Appearance" category, but they pulled through to gain that elusive 50/50; only the fifth beer to do so, in over 140 reviews!  Right from the aroma, this beer is ready to knock your socks off.  My tasting glass sat at least two feet away from me and I could still smell the chocolate/milk/coffee blend emanating from its opening.  The taste is a wonderful conglomeration of flavors and any stout lover/big beer lover will be able to appreciate this beer.  Some could complain it's too boozy, but I counter that the warmth never overwhelms the other flavors.  It may knife fight them for the spotlight, but it never drowns out its partners.  In fact, to remedy this (and to help keep the beer at a more desirable temperature as a whole) I recommend small pours.  Those that find the bourbon warmth to be an issue may have let the beer warm too much.  Keeping it at a suitable drinking temperature helps to blend the bourbon with the other delicious flavors and keep this harmony strong.  Also, never give this beer a wine-tasters' slurp unless you wish to be lambasted with bourbon goodness.  Kudos to Goose Island on this AMAZING brew and best of luck on their barrel-aging endeavors!!!