Beer Review: Founder's Breakfast Stout

Name: Breakfast Stout
Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Variety: Imperial Stout
ABV: 8.3%
Price: $10-$12 four pack

I'm an unabashed Founders fanatic. I've only reviewed one of their beers, their pricey, wildly hoppy Devil Dancer, but I've tried all of their regular oeuvre and been impressed by every single one. Every week, I have to WILL myself to try something new and not just buy their Red's Rye P.A. I'm sickeningly smitten with this brewery, so take this review for the love letter it is likely to be.

Their Breakfast Stout is one of their seasonal brews, available only from September until around January. Having just gotten into stouts, I neglected to try this beer when it was available last year! Should I be kicking myself?



The beer pours thick and black - oil in a glass, I like to say - and acquires a thick, foamy caramel-chocolate head that is just beautiful. This is a seriously handsome beer and would turn many a head in any brew pub in the world. The scent is that of rich mocha coffee, chocolate, and alcohol. If you love the smell of coffee, you could spend a minute or more just sniffing this beer. It smells GREAT.

But oh my, the taste. Smooth, silky chocolate and rich bitter coffee coat your mouth instantly. Malty and full-bodied, creamy like milk, but with a bitter, biting coffee finish that gives you heavenly pause between sips. This is the type of beer that you will cause you to involuntarily close your eyes while you drink it. The type of beer that makes you say "WOW." all slow like. Words cannot express the sheer richness of body and flavor that await in each bottle, and I defy you to not drink the entire four pack in a single evening after taking the first sip.

It's hard to believe, but this may be my new favorite Founders. I've purchased it three times since it became available again, and every single time it was an absolute pleasure from the first drop to the last. Undoubtedly the "beer to beat" for the remainder of the year and recommended without reservations to anyone who proclaims themselves a lover of all things beer.

Rating: 10/10 - Sin in a glass. Rich and unyieldingly flavorful. Best beer I've had in a while.

Contact me at mibeerguy@yahoo.com if you have questions, suggestions, or requests!