Once upon a time, there was a brewery by the name of Founders Brewing Company. They created a magical elixir and dubbed it Breakfast Stout. Many other breweries made beers that they thought were better. They were wrong. And beer lovers lived happily ever after.
Yeah, that was a crappy story. I'm not much of the fairy tale type. What I am, though, is a fan of big beers. I've said it before. I don't want to drink a 30-rack of swill and get drunk. I want to sit around and enjoy a couple high quality brews. I want something that makes my taste buds somehow grow vocal chords and say "wow". Breakfast Stout is one of these beers.
My first experience with Breakfast Stout (and Founders themselves) was several years back at the Extreme Beer Fest in Boston. While their other beers were all excellent, Breakfast Stout was in a league of its own. It was something more than any stout I had ever tasted. Everything about it was amped up. How, you ask? Well, let's dissect it.
First, the bottle. How can you resist a bottle with a chubby kid eating breakfast from a Founders bowl? Sure, this has nothing to do with the beer inside, but they really do have some amazing artwork on their labels. The label itself does give you a hint as to what you're in for. The description of the beer...DOUBLE CHOCOLATE COFFEE OATMEAL STOUT. Did I need all caps? Yes, I think I did. Read it again.I wish you could smell this beer through the internet. It smells of smooth, rich coffee (they use Sumatra and Kona coffee...good stuff). It smells of rich, dark chocolate. It smells of roasted malts. Hops? Not a chance with those other smells. As you can see, it also pours with a beautiful chocolatey head.
The taste? Oh, the taste. Wow. In the words of Ferris Bueller, "It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up." That coffee smell...it's front and center in the taste as well. It's not bitter coffee, it's smooth, rich coffee. The chocolate? Yeah, it's here too...intense, semi-sweet chocolate. It's no secret how well chocolate and coffee play together. Here, that fact is taken to the extreme. The label mentions 60 IBUs and 8.3% ABV. The 60 IBUs is middle of the road in terms of hoppiness in a strong stout like this. They don't have the oomph to overcome the other flavors (I can certainly taste them though), but I guarantee I would notice if they weren't there. They balance out the richness of the beer. As for the 8.3%, you don't taste the alcohol, and remember, this is something you just have one or two of in a night.
Wait, what about the oatmeal?! OK, when I created this blog, I said I wasn't going to use snobby-sounding words like mouth-feel. Welllll...it's time to mention mouth-feel. Oats do amazing things to beer. Due to their protein and lipid content (I actually had to look this up), they increase the viscosity and smoothness of the beer. This leads to an enhanced mouth-feel (how the beer feels in your mouth). Breakfast Stout feels like it coats your mouth. It's a wonderful thing indeed.
So, do I really need to sum things up? Founders Breakfast Stout really is the stout I judge all others by. Are there better stouts out there? I've had a couple I put evenly on par with this, but they are few and far between. Oh, and did I mention that they also make a couple special versions of this? Kentucky Breakfast Stout (aged for a year in bourbon barrels) and Canadian Breakfast Stout (aged in bourbon barrels that have been recently aging maple syrup). If you find a bottle of Breakfast Stout, promise me you will buy it and give it a taste. You shall not be disappointed! This amazing beer gets a definite A+ in my book! Cheers!!!
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