Founders 'KBS' Bourbon Barrel-Aged Chocolate Coffee Stout

Founders Brewing 'KBS' Bourbon Barrel-Aged Chocolate Coffee Stout. 12.3% abv. Black color, dense, with thin mocha head that fast falls to a sustaining collar and scattered surface. Moderate retention, decent lacing. Nose of bourbon, charred oak, dark chocolate, vanilla. The bourbon aroma steps forward as the temp rises.

Front taste is bittersweet chocolate, black coffee, plum, with vanilla and wood notes on the back end. Aftertaste is tall bourbon, bitter cocoa, raisins, molasses, with a dry finish. Full body. Mouthfeel is warm-hot, round, creamy, sticky, viscous, astringent, boozy.

Two of my recent reviews were also Founders beers, with one being a surprisingly solid experimental wood-aged red, while the other turned out to be one of the worst beers I’ve had in years. Comparing notes with other beer enthusiasts, it would appear that Founders is one of those breweries that is bold and fearless to a fault, so daring that it affects their batting average. They’re hit-and-miss, particularly with their novelty offering. However, I went into today’s review unafraid, as it’s not only one of their classics, but one of THE classics of modern craft beer, a benchmark of its category.

Simply put, this is an extraordinary, big, rich, full beer, a true BBA stout, with a boozy aroma and flavor profile supported by chocolate and coffee, wrapped with a mouthfeel you can sink your teeth into. This is a sipping beer. A dessert beer. It’s meant to be a an occasional decadent treat with a complex taste, and it delivers on its promise.

Consistently ranked as one of the best beers in the world, this beer now has battalions of competitors who have met or exceeded its high standard. That being said, even in this day of bourbon-barrel aging mania, in a time when every brewery is experimenting with a barrel program, and mostly succeeding, KBS is still a knockout and a standout, still one of the best, with quality and craftsmanship evident in every sip and sniff. I’m sure you’ve had this famous brew before, but regardless, I highly encourage you to seek it out and let it warm you inside-out during a cold winter. Strongly recommended.

From the brewery:

"What we’ve got here is an imperial stout brewed with a massive amount of coffee and chocolates, then cave-aged in oak bourbon barrels for an entire year to make sure wonderful bourbon undertones come through in the finish. Makes your taste buds squeal with delight."

[source: foundersbrewing.com]