KBS - Hazelnut
Founders Brewing Company

Ran into this at the Hop Duvel in Gent, Belgium. Surprise!

From a bottle into a snifter
KBS with hazelnuts

APPEARANCE: Slow foamer on this this one, but pours out thick black and sits jet black in the glass. Pour yields a small, medium-thick looking mocha colored head with good retention. Head slowly fades to a sparse wisp and ring. Only the ring remains until the end and leaves some nice splotchy lacing down the glass.

SMELL: This is a hazelnut bomb. Clearly hazelnut extract with some light hints of roasted malts, light hints of chocolate and vanilla, with a solid bourbon character as well. This is basically a hazelnut show.

TASTE: It's a hazelnut extract show, but it's quite good and much more balanced with the base beer than the nose is. Some roasted malts, vanilla and chocolate flavors as well, with plenty of hazelnuts of course. A solid hit of bourbon barrel through the middle into the finish, along with a hint of bitter, roasted coffee as well. Big finish of hazelnut extract, roasted character, vanilla, and some bourbon persist on the palate. Some boozy heat near the end as well.

PALATE: Medium body and very soft and creamy on the palate. Soft carbonation and somewhat lighter than anticipated. Goes down very smooth and finishes slightly dry on the palate. A bit of heat and a little bite at the end. Nice stuff, but could use a little more weight.

OVERALL: This is really nice stuff. I tried it beside a new batch of the regular KBS and it really is the base beer with a pile of hazelnut extract added. It was a little hazelnut heavy for my tastes, as I'd like to see it sit better with the base stout and the bourbon barrel, but in the end, it's still a lovely treat and I enjoyed the few I picked up far too quickly. Good stuff and well worth checking out if you can. Cheers!

Pours black with thin half finger of mocha coloured head.
Nose of coffee but with a distinct nuttiness, chocolate and notes of the bourbon barrel.
Taste is definitely KBS (more so than recent Blueberry) with chocolate, roasty coffee, and a nutty flavour with a bit of bourbon booziness. Hints of Nutella for sure.
Full rich mouthfeel - warming, boozy, lingering nutty chocolate. Not my favourite KBS variant but even at its worst KBS is outstanding.

A - Pours pitch black with a one finger tan head. Nice amount of soapy lacing.

S - Aroma is hazelnut, coffee and dark chocolate.

T - The taste is dark chocolate, coffee, roasted malts and candied hazelnut. The finish has a nice warming punch of bourbon.

M - Medium/full body with medium carbonation. Creamy mouthfeel with a crisp drying finish.

O - Solid KBS variant.

 

 

 

 

12oz bottle (bottled 1/26/2022) into a tulip. Pours a deep rich brownish black with a 2-finger mocha head.

Aroma is nutty and sweet, roasty and rich. I’m not even that much of a fan of hazelnut but I’m already very much liking where things are headed here. Aroma is unlike any other beer I’ve had.

Taste parallels aroma, but somehow I’m enjoying it less—like it’s not quite fulfilling the promise I was expecting. It’s still good, just maybe a little less depth and complexity than I was hoping for. Roast dark malt, hazelnut, vanilla.

Mouthfeel is smooth and slick, balanced, medium body.

Overall a unique twist on the bourbon barrel aged imperial stout, really unlike any other I’ve had. My favorite part is still the aroma.

Poured from a 12-oz. bottle into two snifters.

Appearance: Very dark brown — approaching black — with a small tan head that lingered and left some lacing.

Nose: Sweet hazelnut with a slight hint of dark roast underneath.

Mouthfeel: Medium heavy.

Attack: Some sweetness, chocolate, coffee; sufficient carbonation.

Finish: Bitterness from the roast balances the attack nicely. Some hazelnut in the finish as the beer warms

The hazelnut is mostly in the nose. I probably still prefer the Original KBS, but this is yet another very good edition in this KBS series. Founders still knows how to do quality stouts.

Assuredly an overly enthusiastic trial, two twelve ounce brown bottles are emptied into a clear glass liter mug. It's as perfect a stout pour as could be, with a modest and enduring tan head atop a black coffee brown liquid. Thankfully, the hazelnut competes with the oak barrel tannins for attention from the nose. Behind both of those contributions is the roasted barley of a true stout. Even better, when it comes to the taste, again the hazelnut stands up to the tannins, no mean feat. The tannins are there to taste, as is the alcohol, but the barley and hazelnut don't slack, they measure up. Having a brew, even a good one, taste like a boilermaker doesn't appeal to many beer lovers. In this case, the added flavor and quality of the stout more than mitigate the tannin presence. Incredibly smooth, the 12% ABV just slides down the throat. Overall, this is just two words, world class. Of course, you'll have to like hazelnut to agree.

Growler into pint glass. Pours an oily black with a nice tan head. Initial impression is coffee, chocolate, and hazelnut. Alcohol is extraordinarily well hidden. Mouthfeel is smooth and fairly thick. Finish fades to mildly sweet chocolate. Overall, an excellent and enjoyable Imperial Stout.

Poured from bottle into tulip, good 2 finger dark brown head, good retention, epic lacing. Jet black in the glass, no light passes thru. Hazelnut dominates the nose, some bourbon and coffee notes try to peak thru. Taste is well hazelnut, follows the nose where it is out front in your face with some maple along for the ride, fades into some sweet malt, slight coffee and chocolate notes and bourbon finishes up the sip with a good firm bitterness. Nice residual hazelnut & chocolate on the palate.

 

Bottled on 1/26/22.
L - poured black with nearly one-finger coffee colored head. Good lacing.
S - scents of chocolate and coffee. A nice mix, too.
T - follows the nose and really tasty. Wow.
F - medium mouthfeel with a semi-dry finish. Pretty smooth.
O - oh, boy. What a nice beer. I was expecting more alcohol taste with the 12% abv, but that was not the case. Just a really good drinking beer. Very enjoyable.

 

 

 

Another great offering from KBS, this one to closeout my holiday season.

Though I didn't note much hazelnut, I did get the coffe notes and a hint of chocolate as well. The brew had a medium-bodied mouthfeel and I enjoyed the hearty 12% ABV that came along with the ride.