Founders Breakfast Stout - Founders Brewing Company

troysoy2

Pennsylvania

3.65/5  rDev -19.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

On tap at D's.

Thick black, with light tan head, not a ton of retention, but decent splotchy lacing.

Smells of bitter dark chocolate and espresso.

Surprisingly, a lighter mouthfeel. Nicely carbonated to liven up the bitter chocolate and coffee notes. Barely a hint of alcohol on the finish. A good coffee/chocolate stout, but the style doesn't necessarily afford for tons of complexity, in my opinion. Good, but not my cup of tea -- er, coffee. I was slightly disappointed by the mouthfeel, in particular.

Serving type: on-tap

10-16-2012 04:11:13 | More by troysoy2

cooncat

Ohio

3.63/5  rDev -19.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Serving from 12 oz.(?) shorty bottle into my Stone IRS tulip crystal.

The pour is pure blackness .. opaque. Compared to the on tap version, the head is much smaller, but the lacing is good.

The nose on this, the bottled version, is no where close to the on tap version. Coffee is huge, but where is that delicious chocolate? It's missing! The nose is similar to many coffee stouts ... not bad, but one dimensional.

Taste of the bottled version is as disappointing as was the nose ... all coffee and no chocolate. The tap version was a balance between the two, but this is one dimensional; coffee only. It's as if instead of using chocolate malt (or extract) they substituted black patent malt. Which brings up the astringency. None in the tap version, but very noticeable in the bottled version. Mouthfeel has lost something as well. The tap version is smooth, full and creamy, like drinking a malted milkshake. The bottled version is medium full, but not creamy. Its more astringent, with inadequate carbonation. The alcohol never makes a showing, which is a good point.

Don't get me wrong, this is still a decent Imperial stout. I guess I am disappointed that the bottled version is nowhere near what the on tap version was like. At $16 for a four pack, its definitely on the pricey side. If it had tasted like the tap version, I would've paid $20 for a 4 pack. As it is, I think it should be priced closer to $10 a 4 pack. I confess to being a bit disappointed, but I'll still enjoy the rest of my bottles over the Winter. If you've never had the tap version, you will probably find this a very good Imperial Stout. If you've had the tap version, you may find the bottled version a bit disappointing; I did.

Na Zdravje!

Serving type: bottle

10-04-2008 22:30:09 | More by cooncat

Deingeist

Massachusetts

3.63/5  rDev -19.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

A - Thick dark brown head that lingers for a short while before turning into thin coating. Dark brown, even looks heavy. Lots of lacing.

S - Coffee, Dark Chocolate, Molasses, Malt and tons of all four. Smells like a dark roast coffee.

T - Bitter the way that coffee and dark chocolate are bitter, rather malty but not too sweet. Some char-like roasty flavors, almost little sour actually. Can taste the alcohol on the finish and leaves a bitter aftertaste. Not bad but not the greatest.

M - Good. Heavy, creamy, with a slightly oily ending.

D - I know some people who could pound these suckers, and I do like stouts, but the flavors here are so bitter for a stout, and just...so much. I could only drink a pint of this at one sitting I think.

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2008 16:29:28 | More by Deingeist

BetterDarker

Massachusetts

3.63/5  rDev -19.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Pours a dark black with a chocolate brown head that recedes to nice lacing. A great looking pour.

S: Smells of burnt coffee, cocoa, and dark roasted malt. Over all just a bad burn.

T: Very bitter, in a bad way. Can't tell if it's excessive hops, or burnt coffee or chocolate. This 'beer' is as balanced as a Tyson-McNeely fight, what a mess.

M: Very thin.

D: I was not impressed. Alcohol is hidden, but just way too much going on in here. I find it fitting that the label states "malt beverage" as I agree, this is not a beer. I have three left from the four pack, who wants 'em?

EDIT-

Okay, so two months later I decided to give this beer another crack. Glad I'm did, I'm still not crazy about the aroma, but the flavor is fantastic. I found FBS to be much easier on the palate and will definitely enjoy the remaining two from my four pack.

Serving type: bottle

12-09-2009 02:25:40 | More by BetterDarker

jar2574

Missouri

3.63/5  rDev -19.7%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

This beer is ink black. Extremely dark. Makes quite an impression. But there is little head or lacing on the sides as it goes down. Can't say that it's above average in the looks department.

Smells of coffee, but not as strong as some stouts I've had.

Tastes slightly bitter, with coffee, a touch of chocolate. Mouthfeel is kind of flat, not that exciting. But for feeling a little bitter at first, it goes down very smooth. I guess that's the oatmeal part coming through.

For the amount of alcohol in these suckers, it's really well hidden and very drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

11-25-2010 01:00:32 | More by jar2574

OddNotion

New Jersey

3.63/5  rDev -19.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

Decided to pick up a 4 pack I saw in a dark fridge, wanted to see how it was with a little age on it. Bottled on: 9/24/2010

Appearance: Poured into my Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary bulb glass. Pours with a 1 finger frothy looking khaki colored head. During the pour the beer looks more brown and ruby than black but once it is in the glass no light can penetrate.

Smell: As soon as I popped the cap on the bottle, about 3 feet from my face I could smell the coffee! It was very pungent. Upon further sniffing I catch the chocolate. The strength of the scents is a little subdued compared to fresh Breakfast Stout, but they are really not shy here.

Taste: A lot of the coffee flavor has disappeared, as compared to it fresh. More noticable chocolate but most likely only because of how much coffee flavor has disappeared. There is a very slight sourness on the back end of the sip, I dont want to call it sour, maybe a little tart? Very subtle. I will certainly re-review this one fresh next year.

Mouthfeel: Nice and smooth and creamy. The creaminess is a great feeling and perfect given the style.

Overall: More chocolaty then when fresh, and I love chocolate stouts, moreso than coffee stouts. However, I think this beer is best enjoyed when fresh, or at least within the first 3 months after the brew date. I think the coffee fading provides some kind of off flavor that I am not a fan of.

Serving type: bottle

04-08-2011 15:45:12 | More by OddNotion

DoubleSimcoe

New York

3.63/5  rDev -19.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Founders Breakfast, revisited. Bottle bought as part of a $11.99 4-pack at Whole Foods Tribeca.

Appearance: Served in my Lost Abbey chalice, Breakfast pours thick and muthafuckin’ black like Biggie’s flow. Two fingers of mocha-colored head just above the Abbey’s cross that soon recede into one and just a rim. Not much retention then, but great lacing and always a hefty presence.

Smell: Coffee! And then some… lots of acrid, bitter coffee. Good or bad coffee, I’m not sure… makes me think of that “Kopi Luwak” coffee made with animal droppings. There is barnyard funk in this nose! Milk chocolate at the end, plus booze and dryness. A tad of cola-flavored chewing gum. Strong but overwhelming and one-dimensional nose.

Taste: More coffee, all bitterness and dryness. Smoothness comes through after the first wave of brutal coffee via some milk chocolate. A taste of farm-like funk again, as in the nose, dank hops. Cow pen and monkey droppings. Strange and slightly off-putting.

Mouthfeel: A little too thin for the style. Watery at the end, bitterness all around… not exactly balanced, but good carbonation. Dry, has got me reaching for water! Grainy feeling at the end, like being around those corn silos in Central Illinois. Paired with a raw New Jersey U-10 scallop, this puppy gained some nice brininess and dimension.

Overall: 4.0: I’ve long had issues with the “cult” status of this beer. It is good, sure enough. Very good indeed. But amazing? Not quite. I mean, I love coffee and coffee beers, but Breakfast is like drinking cold coffee straight up. No nuances here, not much chocolate or oatmeal. Goes down well, though, good drinkability. A note about the new description: “Double Chocolate Coffee Oatmeal Stout”. WTF? Gimme a break…

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2011 00:01:13 | More by DoubleSimcoe

twelvsies

Maine

3.6/5  rDev -20.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3

I hate to be the guy who disses a top rated brew, but I guess today I am that guy. Maybe I'm just sick of beers like this, but I feel like once you've had one double-imperial-chocolate-coffee-espresso-mocha-java-extravaganza stout you've had 'em all. The coffee and chocolate flavors are too much for beer, or too at least too much for this beer. I love a nice stout that has a more subtle coffee or chocolaty flavor that's imparted by the kind of malt they used, but this straight up infused flavor is too syrupy for me in general. Don't get me wrong, it is delicious, it's just not something I like in my beer I've decided.
Appears a dark pitch brown color, a wimpy head that dissapears quickly. Smells extremely roasty and sweet, but with a ton of nice bitterness in the form of coffee and bitter chocolate. Maybe even from the hops but I can't really detect any. Taste could be full of complex flavors, and the potential is there, but the palate is really overrun with the intense coffee bean chocolate party that's going on in this beer. I've already talked about that part... The real saving grace of this beer is the mouthfeel. Soft and pillowy, it's so smooth and just velvety on the palate with a slight chewyness. If I had no tastebuds even I would drink this just for the texture. To finish up, it could just be me or a stylistic sort of preference thing, but the strong coffee flavors don't work for this beer I hate to say. Check out the Black Rye from Founders, there's a killer beer for ya.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2006 13:34:17 | More by twelvsies

GONZALOYANNA

Spain

3.6/5  rDev -20.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Enjoyed on Mar´11 into a Pint glass. Pours deep dark brown. Creamy light brown well attached foam, 2 cm thick, close on center & bubbled on sides. Toasted coffee & touches of chocolate on nose. Gentle upfront, dry nut bitterness & subtle sweetness. Coffee & traces of chocolate, once again, on the aftertaste. High carbonated, repeats on. Unfortunately froth doesn´t last, quickly dissipated lacing. Final sensation is a little disapointing.Fairly bland overall.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2011 23:35:36 | More by GONZALOYANNA

sixerofelixir

Ohio

3.6/5  rDev -20.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle. Bottled-on date clearly marked on neck.

Pours a very dark brown/black. A dark tan head never really forms and recedes quickly to a wash. Smell is a *lot* of dark-roasted coffee, with a hint of sweetness. Taste starts off creamy, and like nutty, roasted beans with a dollop of sweeter dark chocolate. But this quickly morphs into a bitter, drying cacao. A *lot* of bittering hops for this one, and they overshadow the roast & chocolate. Finishes intensely dry. Has a fair amount of complexity going for it, but I just did not get the amount of chocolate I was hoping for. Or oats. The heat is noticeable. I can't help but feel let down by this high-rated brew..

Serving type: bottle

11-03-2011 06:09:24 | More by sixerofelixir

mikem0487

Pennsylvania

3.6/5  rDev -20.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Appearance-This is as black as a stout can get. Very little head formed with minor retention when I poured it into my pint glass. What head there is left from my pour is a light brown. Basically the same color as the labeling on the bottle.

Smell-I get some dark chocolate notes surrounding the pronounced coffee smell. Slight floral hop aroma tries to break out but the coffee dominates.

Taste-At first this beer has a great smooth taste to it. Love the dark chocolate taste that dominates the initial tasting of this beer but than here comes the coffee. The coffee might be just a little to much for my taste. The coffee taste lingers with a slight bitterness for the after taste.

Mouthfeel-Mouthfeel is good for this beer. Smooth and creamy and not to thick for it containing oatmeal. Slightly carbonated which is what I look for in this style of beer.

Overall-My overall impressions of this beer is good and enjoyable. However I am not a huge coffee fan and rarely drink it so that is what is holding me back from really loving this beer. To much coffee for my personal preference.

Serving type: bottle

12-08-2011 02:23:57 | More by mikem0487

7ways

Georgia

3.58/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a tulip

A- Extreme black, even when held up to the light. Not even a brown corona. Awesome dark caramel head that disappeared way too fast : (

N- Sweet cocoa, burnt/roasted malt, espresso. Quite bitter, even for a coffee beer.

T- Burnt coffee, burnt sugar, moderate alcohol. Semi-sweet chocolate. Kind of acerbic. I can't knock the sensation that it tastes a little overcooked.

M- Nicely effervescent at first, almost liquid velvet near the end. Lighter body for a stout, but quite nice.

D -Bitter alcohol is fairly apparent near the end, almost metallic, but not overpowering. I was just surprised by it. Definitely couldn't drink a lot, but this would make a fine gameday breakfast. Also, very well balanced hop/malt character. But I don't understand the mass appeal. If it was available in my area I would buy it again, but it's not worth another trade.

Serving type: bottle

10-04-2008 01:38:24 | More by 7ways

PatrickJR

North Carolina

3.58/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into nonic pint glass. I let this brew warm to just under room temperature.

A - Jet black, opaque. A quarter inch of deep brown head forms with moderate retention. Settles to a thin collar and leaves very little lacing.

S - Huge aroma of burnt coffee upfront, but there's a bit of bitter chocolate alcohol in the background. Maybe a hint of wood in there as well.

T - Again with the burnt coffee. It's not entirely unpleasant, but it is very dominant. Some chocolate tries to pull through near the finish but is quickly overrun by a moderate alcohol presence. Try as I might, I can't pick up much flavor in this stuff beyond the coffee.

M - The oats make for a very thick and silky body, but the carbonation remains just a little too high to full enjoy what the body could be.

D - Too much damn coffee and booze. Not a bad beer, but not a great one either, certainly not something I'll buy more of or revisit in the near future.

Serving type: bottle

10-25-2008 08:20:13 | More by PatrickJR

Haus

Wisconsin

3.58/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Breakfast Stout has a thick pour in snifter. It has a deep, dark brown color with a thin tan head that laces the glass nicely.

Brew has a dark coffee aroma and major hints of dark chocolate too. I also get a hint of a bitter, roasty malt notes.

Brew has a bitterness from the dark coffee and chocolate, apparently Founders use Sumatra and Kona coffee in this brew. There really is no oatmeal "flavor" that is present. It seems that this was merely for the velvet, smooth texture of the brew.

Feels fairly smooth, rich viscosity with a slick finish that temporarily sticks to your tongue. It's a good stout.

Serving type: on-tap

09-06-2011 16:48:41 | More by Haus

DAllspaw

Indiana

3.55/5  rDev -21.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Poured into tulip. Light head, just a tinge of a ring around the glass, reminiscent of a good espresso pour. Color a dead ringer for what comes from my subaru after 7500 mile oil change, though not as thick. Smell is deep malt, coffee and chocolate.

Taste is unquestionably dark chocolate competing with dark roasted coffee. Great mouthfeel with slight tingle from the alcohol, reminding you that this is still a beer. A fairly bitter finish, again very reminiscent of espresso, but also very warming. Good stuff and a bargain for the price, but you have to like coffee and dark chocolate...a lot.

Serving type: bottle

01-30-2010 01:42:38 | More by DAllspaw

brewmudgeon

Wisconsin

3.55/5  rDev -21.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

fbs, bottled 09/03/11

a 4-4.5 smells like coffee grounds. oh wait, what it looks like--it's dark, as expected. the head is light tan. it leaves spotty lace that isn't impressive visually but does have good staying power.

s 3 smells like coffee grounds, wet coffee grounds. not coffee, but the grounds left over in the filter. there's also a little sweetness there, but really i can't seem to pick up on much else.

t 3.5-4 tastes like sweetened coffee grounds. if you like sweet and you love coffee grounds, you will find it very difficult not to enjoy this. there are hints of vanilla and dark chocolate floating around.

m 4.5 the body is between medium and full, closer to full, which reminds me there must be oats in here somewhere. the carbonation is spot on.

d 3.5 some might say a guy who generally doesn't like coffee in beers shouldn't review fbs. maybe, but i've been surprised too many times by beers i was supposed to hate (or love, for that matter). i cracked this one with an open mind, and high hopes of loving it. i hated pretty much every imperial stout i tried until throwing back an old rasputin. tonight, i thought, is the night i love a coffee stout.
fbs is very good beer, no doubt. and i'm trying to err on the side of generosity in my scoring, though perhaps that isn't necessary. fbs just doesn't wow me like i expected it would--and the coffee flavor, though bold and relentless, is not the best coffee flavor i can imagine. ah well. i still intend to try kbs, cbs, etc.

Serving type: bottle

01-09-2011 02:02:21 | More by brewmudgeon

tone77

Pennsylvania

3.55/5  rDev -21.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a brown 12 oz. bottle. Has a black color with a very small head. Smell is of coffee, roasted malts. Taste is also coffee up front, some malts, a bit of oats, just a touch of alcohol. Feels full bodied in the mouth and overall is a good quality beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-15-2011 20:47:35 | More by tone77

BeerDocT

Georgia

3.55/5  rDev -21.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a chilled pint glass.

-Appearance 3.5: Very little head to speak of. Black, but has a slight red tint around the edges of the glass. What head there was was a vanilla color rather than the khaki I am accustomed to seeing in these dark stouts.

-Smell 4.0: Wow, very nice. Bouquet of dark chocolate and coffee along with a smoky hint of toasted grains.

-Taste 3.5: Fist taste is of a subtle sweet/sour and the middle is strangely dry. The finish is where the meat is on this beer: coffee, hops, bittersweet chocolate and smoked grains. Finish is long and sour and hoppy. Good, but I don't understand why the finish is jammed up with so much flavor and the other aspects are left barren.

-Mouthfeel 3.0: The lack of carbonation was distracting in this brew. More bubbles would have enhanced the taste of different aspects of the beer, notably the beginning and the middle of this beer.

-Overall 3.5: Good stout, but not excellent. I would certainly recommend trying it if you are a stout fan, but it is not one of my favorites.

Serving type: bottle

12-11-2011 02:39:36 | More by BeerDocT

jkendrick

Colorado

3.53/5  rDev -21.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

A: Very dark with just a touch of light at the edges. The thin brown head disappears quickly.

S: Medium strength aroma of roasted malt and espresso, some oatmeal and a touch of chocolate. Not as much chocolate as I was expecting.

MF: Medium-bodied at best and a bit watery. Very light on carbonation.

T: The taste isn't big, but roasted malt is the predominant flavor with the oatmeal next and the coffee in the finish. For a "double chocolate" stout, I tasted very little chocolate. The bitterness is only in the finish and very coffee-like. The alcohol is mostly well-hidden, but a little hot in the finish.

Overall: I like a bit bolder flavor and thicker mouthfeel from this sort of stout, but it is far from bad.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2009 01:52:23 | More by jkendrick

Ghenna

California

3.53/5  rDev -21.9%
look: 5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Inky color, quickly dissipating milk choco head. A roll in the glass shows that the beer has some serious legs.

Nose is burned malt, coffee, and some dark chocolate.

Taste is basically the same. Lots of bitterness- black coffee, burned malt. A little unpleasant truth be told- just too much for me. A bit thick in terms of MF, which suits the style.

Seeing the 98 and 100 lingering atop the reviews page for this beer makes it a little bit daunting for me to be completly honest and not pad my opinion. That said, this is just too much of a roasty bomb for me, way too excessive with the roast sourced bitterness/astringency. Meh.

Serving type: bottle

12-31-2011 23:20:36 | More by Ghenna

falloutsnow

Illinois

3.53/5  rDev -21.9%
look: 5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Bottles brought back from St. Louis for me by A. Much thanks.
Bottled 12/14/2011.
Poured into a New Belgium globe glass.

Founders' Breakfast Stout is an intensely coffee-forward double stout that is, in my opinion, unbalanced and overrated. The coffee aroma and taste overwhelms most of what else the beer tries to offer. Further, the coffee isn't a particularly good flavor, anyway, at least compared to what freshly brewed coffee can offer. While I'm glad I was able to finally try this beer, it's clearly not something I think highly of relative to many others. I will probably not seek this out again.

The pour produces a 1cm tall head of dark tan to light brown foam, mostly composed of small bubbles, though there are a few large, yielding a very dense appearance. Head fades over a minute or two to a thin ring around the glass with a very fine membrane of bubbles atop the body. Leaves some excellent lacing, which is renewed and augmented with each swirl. Body is an impenetrable dark brown or black, with the slightest highlight of lighter brown when held to the lights. I can't make out anything going on inside the beer, so no idea what carbonation is like. An excellent looking beer.

The dominant aroma is coffee, and not particularly good, fresh coffee, but day-old, stale coffee and coffee grounds. I'm kind of amazed that Founders got Sumatra coffee to come across as mediocre. The other major scent is heavily roasted malt, bordering on char or ash. As I pointed out to a friend, "kind of like someone stuck a burnt-out cigarette in your beer." I do not find this a particularly enjoyable-smelling beer, and think those of you who can "smell the oats" or other such nonsense, are imaging things. This isn't the aroma of a stout, it's more the aroma of a bad, old cup of coffee. Very little complexity or depth even.

Taste fairs better than aroma, with coffee notes hitting the front of the tongue, then progressing to some chocolate and roasted malt notes mixed in with the coffee flavors. Ends with continued bitterness, cacoa nibs, coffee, and ethanol. Lingering aftertaste of some bitterness and roasted malt. Again, I don't think the addition of the coffee improved this beer at all: the flavor isn't all that good (again, has an old coffee flavor, which is basically expected because by now the beer contains old coffee), it has depth that is masked by the coffee, and really misses out on other things that stouts can be (a bit of cream flavor, perhaps a bit spicy, etc).

Medium to medium-heavy bodied with a bit of wateriness around the edges. Somewhat surprising, really, given the ethanol and probably malt content of this beer. Carbonation is modest, producing a pleasing, initially crisp, then smooth feel as the beer lingers on the palate. Ethanol is felt in the nosrils and back of palate. Finish is semi-dry.

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2012 18:14:55 | More by falloutsnow

teromous

Virginia

3.53/5  rDev -21.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A: Dark black body, with barely any head at all. The non-head is light tan colored. No lacing.

S: I get subtle notes of coffee, and a slight oak character to the scent.

T: Coffee flavors dominate. No alcohol flavors. There's a huge roasted bitterness in the back of my mouth. Some oak-like flavor as well. A bit of cherry character but not fruity.

M: There is a slight warming sensation from the alcohol. The beer is very full bodied. It is a beer that I had to take a little time to drink. There's enough body, flavor, and bitterness going on that makes it a slow drink.

O: Overall I liked the bitterness and roast characters of the beer. The label states that it is a "Double chocolate coffee oatmeal stout." I really didn't get much slickness from the oatmeal, or any flavor from it either. I got a lot of coffee flavors, but the chocolate didn't come through for me. I would have liked to at least see these flavors in the beer. Despite all of this, it was still a decent beer.

Serving type: bottle

02-15-2013 12:52:31 | More by teromous

lpayette

Vermont

3.5/5  rDev -22.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Appearance- Pours jet black with about 3/4 a finger worth of head. Some lacing.

Smell- Intensely smokey/roasted to the point where it's almost overwhelming. Very dark and very rich chocolate similar to devil's foodcake. Strong, black coffee.

Taste- Intense roasted malts that are very rich, strong, and smokey. Sweetness is balanced by coffee bitterness first, followed by hop bitterness. Oatmeal shows up around mid sip but is mostly covered up by the other huge flavors going on. The finish is wood-like and a bit dry.

Mouthfeel- Thick yes, but not as thick as I was expecting based on the smell and taste. Low carbonation level works for this style.

Drinkability/Conclusion- I'm a little surprised that this one ranks as high as it does. That's not to say that this isn't good beer... it is. I just don't think it's "A-worthy." The balance for me is a bit off and the coffee too intense. About mid-bottle it hit me that this tastes nearly EXACTLY like one of my homebrews (muck and mire version #2, batch #12). I've still got a bunch of it because I just don't care for it too much. It hits the spot once in a while, but for the most part it's just not what I would normally go for. I like my big stouts to have more residual sweetness, and a little less bitter coffee flavor.

Serving type: bottle

06-27-2009 04:29:58 | More by lpayette

alameda5

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -22.6%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

My first Founders Stout. Pours from the bottle very black with a nice brown head. This is a dark beer. Light cannot penetrate this beer.
The nose on this beer is not my fave. It smells familiar, but can't place what I'm smelling. Almost a whiskey, coffee smell?
The taste of this beer is wonderful. Roasted coffee up front with dark chocolate on the finish. Has a nuttiness also.
The mouthfeel is okay. Slight carbonation. Nothing spectacular.
Overall this is a decent stout.

Serving type: bottle

08-16-2012 21:30:15 | More by alameda5

ZRBE

Oregon

3.49/5  rDev -22.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

Heard a lot about this guy, finally got a chance to crack into one.

A - Looks like a flat stout. Minimal head and lacing.

S - Really sweet. Berries, chocolate, coffee. Cocoa nibs for days.

M - A little harsh. A bit of acidity.

T - Meh. Quite bitter with the coffee, though the chocolate is nice. I don't drink coffee so I admit the style is not my favorite, but while I've enjoyed other coffee beers in the past this one did little for me.

O - Disappointing. Too bitter, too acidic, the carb and the mouthfeel drag this one down for me.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2013 19:30:41 | More by ZRBE