Beer of the Month Club: January 2019

January 22, 2019

Brewed & bottled by Founders Brewing Company – Grand Rapids, Michigan

KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout) & CBS (Canadian Breakfast Stout)

Happy New Year’s fellow beer aficionados! Hope your January has been filled with the perfect balance of jogging around the block followed by a pint of some cold, refreshing craft beer. I have been cellaring and waiting almost a whole year to release one of the two beers in this month’s selection for you; two critically acclaimed beers that beer nerds drool over! Hope you’re ready because “wet” January is now in full effect.

Cheers,
Brendon Pineda, Beer Aficionado,
PlumpJack Wine & Spirits

"The craft beer culture keeps on getting stronger and stronger. The best thing you can do for somebody is introduce them to craft beer. It will, literally, open up a whole new world." – Dave Engbers.

In 1997, co-founders, Mike Stevens and Dave Engbers both shared an epiphany moment to chase their dreams and open up a brewery. That then turned to writing a business plan, quitting their jobs and taking out giant loans. They figured if you’re going to live life, you ought to live it hard, without regrets. Stevens and Engbers were brewing well-balanced beers but nothing that would draw the crowds they had hoped for. On the verge of bankruptcy, they decided to begin brewing beers that excited them as opposed to beers they assumed the craft beer community of Grand Rapids wanted. The beers that excited them were complex, in-your-face ales that possessed huge aromas and big body stouts with tons of flavor. That’s exactly what’s in this month’s selection.

March 2015 is when Kentucky Breakfast Stout first made its debut in the Bay Area. It was the beer at the very top of my beer bucket list. An imperial stout brewed with massive amounts of chocolate and coffee which is then aged in caves underground for a year in bourbon barrels. It was well worth the wait. Two years later I was hearing rumors about their Canadian Breakfast Stout making its way over to California. CBS was impossible for me to get my hands on. It was only released annually in Michigan. Beer drinkers would wait hours outside their brewery on the bottle release date. After Founders Brewing decided to distribute CBS for the very first time last year, I knew I had to pair these two rare, hard to find beers together.

KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout): Imperial Stout with chocolate and coffee, then cave-aged in bourbon barrels for one year
Hops: Nugget & Willamette Grain
Bill: pale malt, flaked oats, roasted barely, Belgian chocolate malt, crystal malt
ABV: 12.3%
Sensory: Pours an inky black with aromas of chocolate, vanilla, espresso, touch of dark fruit. On the palate, huge amounts of coffee and chocolate, very full-thick mouth coating beer. Hints of the barrel are prevalent but not overpowering.
Serving Temp: 50-55°F

CBS (Canadian Breakfast Stout): Imperial Stout brewed with a blend of coffee and imported chocolates, then aged in spent bourbon barrels that have most recently been aging Michigan maple syrup.
Hops: n/a Grain Bill: n/a but most likely similar to KBS grain bill above
ABV: 11.6%
Sensory: Beer pours an obsidian black with two fingers of mocha-colored head. Aromas of dark chocolate, caramel, chocolate syrup met with bourbon and sweet maple. On the palate, rich dark chocolate, milk chocolate, cocoa with marshmallows and cocoa nibs. A roast-y grain creates the balance of bitterness to sweetness.
Serving Temp: 50-55°F

Cover Image Via @foundersbrewing

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