Founders - Breakfast Stout (2012)

Ahhh, the first blog of a New Year.  A clean slate on which to begin and a new archive point in the right hand column.  It didn't take long for me to decide how to begin the new year of Sud Savant.  Maybe it was the desire to start the year strong or maybe it was simply all the "New Year's Baby" images floating around, but I knew I had to start the new year with a bottle of "the baby."  I'm referring of course to Founders' Breakfast Stout.

For those that don't know, Founders' Breakfast Stout is one of the premier go-to stouts brewed in America today.  You should be able to find a 4-pack for around $10 and it is worth every penny.  Its label lists it as a "double chocolate coffee oatmeal stout," and if that doesn't get your tastebuds all hot and bothered then I don't know what will.  In case that doesn't sound amazballs enough, Founders also makes special varieties of Breakfast Stout called Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS) and Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS).  CBS is another imperial stout, but it is aged in maple syrup bourbon barrels.  KBS is somewhat the more sought after of the two and it is cave aged in oak bourbon barrels for one year.  If you see either of those beers you should never hesitate to pick them up because their availability is extremely limited and they are without question some of the finest stouts available.

For those that do know, I hope that this review can accurately put into words the sensations when drinking this national favorite.  This beer was bottled on 08/02/2012.  Let's pour!

Who could say "no" to those eyes?

Aroma 11/12

When served at a temperature colder than what is ideal, the beer has rich aromas only of coffee and a roast so dark you'd swear it was charred.  Slowly but surely, the sweetness begins to creep out as the beer approaches a proper serving temperature.  Chocolate tones are first and are especially sneaky since they had blended so well with the abundant coffee.  Then the beer simply begins to open up; aromas become larger and richer, a bit of warmth can be detected, and a bit of that lactose-like sweetness from the oatmeal all come forward and waft zealously from the glass.  You can smell this thing from across the table.  It's not like a mocha, that would be too light for this beer.  It's more like someone poured melted dark chocolate into your double shot of espresso.  Not complex, but it is beautiful.

Appearance 3/3

It's black.  Plain and simple.  Sure you might get a glimmer of a cola brown if you hold it right next to a light bulb, but for the most part it is an opaque, black hole of a beer.  The head was disappointingly small, but makes up for it by being a tan color with earthy red tones - almost as if cinnamon were part of this beer.

Flavor 19/20

Strong roast flavors begin this beer and then quickly meld into the chocolate and coffee storm that is raging inside this beer.  All dark flavors, all the time.  Darkest chocolate battles black espresso for supremacy of your taste buds and it is brilliant.  Lots of roast is present as well and adds a lovely smokiness to the whole.  A bit of a salty note is present when holding the beer in the mouth which I'm assuming is from one of the coffee varieties.  The blend as a whole is remarkably rich, fudge-y, bitter, and harmoniously blended.  The finish is a splash of pure coffee and a vibrant, albeit lesser, chocolate as it makes its way down the throat.  The aftertaste lingers as much as real coffee would, remaining bitter and inducing fears of future bad "coffee breath."  Oh, and the 8.3% ABV?  Invisible, unless you slurp.

Mouthfeel 5/5

Wonderfully smooth, but without falling into the trap of most stouts of being almost non-carbonated.  Quite the contrary, this stout has a level of carbonation that makes it much more lively that most stouts, yet does not distract in the mouthfeel nor butt heads with the smoothness inherent when using a ton of malts.  Also, I can't get over how the alcohol in this beer is completely camouflaged.  Well done!

Overall Impression 9/10

Truly, a first rate stout: delicious, big, well made, well blended, and deserving of its national acclaim.  Thankfully, this brew is not as hard to get a hold of as its big brothers.  This is not the biggest, baddest stout attainable, but should certainly be viewed as a treat whenever it is consumed.  

Total 47/50

I know, I know... some of you may find this rating a bit low.  In fact, most of the folks at BeerAdvocate and RateBeer would certainly find this score low as that FBS currently rates a 99 and 100 on those sites, respectively.  However, if one gives a perfect score to this beer, what are you supposed to give its big brothers, the CBS and KBS, which are even more highly regarded (even if that may be partially tied to their rarity)?  This is an excellent score for an excellent beer, but it is also given with a strong consideration to other contenders in the style.  It's actually quite the accolade to be compared to other amazing beers that are brewed on a much smaller scale.  FBS is one of the best widely distributed stouts in America.  Period.

Terrapin - Wake N Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout

Readers, I thank you for your patience.  I've been a bit under the weather the past week and while I do not completely endorse "tea totalling" during illness, I would not have been able to tell you the aroma of a beer if I tried.  That said, I will be making up for lost time and writing one review every day for the next week.

This week's beer is Terrapin Beer Co.'s Wake N Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout (discretely labeled on the bottle as "W-n-B").  To me that sounds like a mouthful.  The only types of stout the left out were oatmeal raisin, oak aged, milk, and several types of overpriced, caffeinated beverages (espresso, mocha, cappucino, etc).  While this will make the beer harder to categorize under a single particular style, I will hopefully be able to differentiate some characteristics it takes from each.  Big thanks to Brent C. (Bartender Extraordinaire) for the suggestion and Keith for the bottle.  Let's pour!

Picture is my own.  Bottle art image used without permission for educational uses only.

Aroma 9/12
First sniff is of dark chocolate, but boy has he brought some friends!  There is also the essence of a milk stout and a bit of smokiness, though in subsequent sniffs I determined that the smoke was merely the dark roasted malt.  You can even smell the warmth in this one!  Exciting!  I love a good, stiff brew.

Appearance 3/3
This beer poured thick, which is almost always a good sign in a stout.  In the glass, it did not take much effort to produce a nice-sized, brown head on top.  The beer is pitch, friggin' black, which is exactly what I like to see in a stout.  Not only is the color awesome in the beer and the head, but the latter had some decent retention as well.  If I could give bonus points, I would.

Picture is my own.

Flavor 20/20
If you think I am about to drop every stout description in the universe, it is because I may.  Do not forget, this is called a "coffee oatmeal imperial stout."  Long story short, this beer is complex and I love that.  Initial sips are sweet.  The milk stout (ahem, the oatmeal which GIVES the milk stout flavor) of the aroma makes itself known and is accompanied by rich, dark fruit flavor.  Other times, it will also include a dark caramel in the  initial flavor.  The dark fruit-based sweetness is the primary flavor in the beer, but far from solitary.  This sweetness will hang around in your mouth as long as you let it.  It waits for you to take the next step (which is really cool).  Once you do begin to swallow, this beer performs a perfect transition from its current sweetness to the bitter tones beneath it.  As I drank the pint, I thought the sweetness was fading into a dark chocolate flavor just before a drier, coffee finish.  However, I now think the chocolate flavor was just a perfect melding of the sweet and the dark bitter.  The warmth from the aroma makes its appearance in the aftertaste along with the coffee bean bitterness.  Note:  not "coffee", but "coffee bean."  Very balanced and very tasty.

Mouthfeel 4/5
This had a good body for a stout.  It did not drink as thick as it poured, but was still a heavier-than-medium body.  The carbonation (appropriately) faded away to low levels quickly after the pour.  The warmth in this beer was a very nice touch.  It was not until later that I looked at the bottle and discovered it had a 8.1% ABV!  No wonder I could smell the warmth!  In fact, this is also VERY appropriate to the imperial stout style  as high alcohol contents were need to preserve the beer while shipping the long journey to Russia.  The body and warmth make this a sipper, but the flavor always has you picking up the glass for another taste.


Overall Impression 10/10
It hits the nail on the head and I have no idea how.  OK, so I see how its feasible to nail the appearance since all three are stouts (coffee, oatmeal, imperial), but the flavor?!  Yet, all three are there without the compromise of any other.  Its an amazing accomplishment.  This beer is dark, balanced, warm, complex, opaque, and a very exciting combination of styles.

Total 46/50 (Outstanding)
This beer promised us a lot in its name and it delivered.  While it is primarily a imperial stout, there is certainly coffee present and the oatmeal shows itself in milk stout and caramel tones.  I initially had ranked this beer lower in some categories, but as I was reviewing the scores I could not justify them.  Of course it deserves a 10 in overall impression!  Not only did it peg one style, but three.  Of course it deserves a 20 in flavor!  What more do I want?  More complexity?  More experimentation of the style?  If I gave it a 19/20, what more was looking for in this beer?  What was I hoping to see that I did not which would have made it perfect?

I could not answer that.  I have a hard time finding this beer, but I am in a much smaller market.  If you see this, buy it.  Kudos to the boys at Terrapin.  We owe you one.