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KBS
Founders Brewing Company
- From:
- Founders Brewing Company
- Michigan, United States
- Style:
- American Imperial Stout
Ranked #19 - ABV:
- 12%
- Score:
- 100
Ranked #59 - Avg:
- 4.6 | pDev: 8.7%
- Reviews:
- 3,632
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Mar 04, 2024
- Added:
- Dec 13, 2004
- Wants:
- 4,608
- Gots:
- 7,310
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.
KBS stands for "Kentucky Breakfast Stout"
ABV varies by batch.
KBS stands for "Kentucky Breakfast Stout"
ABV varies by batch.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by YeahRightt:
Reviewed by YeahRightt from Virginia
4.5/5 rDev -2.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.5/5 rDev -2.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
2015 KBS Bottled 3/05/2015 drank on 4/10/2015
Look: Pitch black like you just turned the lights out in a bright room, brunette head like Monica Lewinsky, decent lacing.
Smell: sweet, boozy scent takes the forefront, chocolate, spice, and very slight coffee linger in the back. Smells like it would smell if you snuck a jack and coke into your starbucks cup before you go to work, without the scent of shameful alcoholism.
Taste: Very bourbon forward, like the aftertaste left in your mouth after a sip straight from the bottle if you chased it with cold coffee (good cold coffee). Chocolate chills in the background and is forgotten until the brew warms a bit, which brings a bit more of a mocha character heightened by the malt. Heat from the bourbon isn't as present as its sweetness, which was alleviated by the beer getting a bit warmer.
Feel: Nice and velvety without being like a syrup. Perfect median between what you would expect from a stout and a bourbon, very pleasant but heavy if enjoyed with anything other than a dessert or by itself.
Overall: I try not to think of beers as products of their own hype, but hype as a product of a beer. That being said, this is a very good BA stout that deserves a lot of credit and deserves to be sought after. Perhaps it is overblown due to availability, but it is a mistake to discredit this beer or any in its same class due to its scarcity or popularity. It is extremely complex and well balanced and only improves as you sip. Highly recommend seeking out at least a couple bottles annually. Excellent.
I am aging three bottles from this year and will update with a review at 6 months, followed by a side-by-side comparison to next year's version.
Apr 10, 2015Look: Pitch black like you just turned the lights out in a bright room, brunette head like Monica Lewinsky, decent lacing.
Smell: sweet, boozy scent takes the forefront, chocolate, spice, and very slight coffee linger in the back. Smells like it would smell if you snuck a jack and coke into your starbucks cup before you go to work, without the scent of shameful alcoholism.
Taste: Very bourbon forward, like the aftertaste left in your mouth after a sip straight from the bottle if you chased it with cold coffee (good cold coffee). Chocolate chills in the background and is forgotten until the brew warms a bit, which brings a bit more of a mocha character heightened by the malt. Heat from the bourbon isn't as present as its sweetness, which was alleviated by the beer getting a bit warmer.
Feel: Nice and velvety without being like a syrup. Perfect median between what you would expect from a stout and a bourbon, very pleasant but heavy if enjoyed with anything other than a dessert or by itself.
Overall: I try not to think of beers as products of their own hype, but hype as a product of a beer. That being said, this is a very good BA stout that deserves a lot of credit and deserves to be sought after. Perhaps it is overblown due to availability, but it is a mistake to discredit this beer or any in its same class due to its scarcity or popularity. It is extremely complex and well balanced and only improves as you sip. Highly recommend seeking out at least a couple bottles annually. Excellent.
I am aging three bottles from this year and will update with a review at 6 months, followed by a side-by-side comparison to next year's version.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by DumbRunner26 from North Carolina
4.85/5 rDev +5.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
4.85/5 rDev +5.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
This is the standard imo of my favorite beer style. It checks all the boxes of a great Imperial Stout. Thick and dark with a tan head. Aroma so satisfying that it takes effort to pull your nose away from the glass. But you do bc you know of the party that awaits your tastebuds. This is one of the most delicious beers I’ve ever had period, any style. A dessert in a bottle. I would drink these every day with every meal. But I don’t, bc my liver would hate me.
Mar 04, 2024Rated by Paradox1000 from Florida
4.43/5 rDev -3.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.43/5 rDev -3.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Excellent flavorful deserving of high rating.
Mar 03, 2024Reviewed by DimlyLitQuonsetHut from Virginia
3.09/5 rDev -32.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
3.09/5 rDev -32.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
The booziest stout I've ever had, and I've had plenty with higher ABV. Nice complexity. Brownie and vanilla notes. Very solid but not especially impressive. Breakfast Stout is better and much cheaper. Must have been amazing when it first came out, but today it falls behind.
Feb 28, 2024Reviewed by Lifsabch from Maine
5/5 rDev +8.7%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
5/5 rDev +8.7%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Pleasantly surprised to (finally) find this in my local grocery store. Nothing beats sipping a good stout during the holidays in Maine. This one lives up to the hype.
Dec 12, 2023
KBS from Founders Brewing Company
Beer rating:
100 out of
100 with
14166 ratings
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