KBS - Hazelnut Fudge
Founders Brewing Company

 

Poured from a 12-oz bottle about a year and four months after its bottling date into a stout glass.

Look: Opaque dark brown/black, with a massive tan head with outstanding retention, and leaving abundant lacing.

Nose: Clear and strong chocolate hazelnut, with some brown sugar, and a hint of cherry underneath.

Taste: The attack is complex: Starts with bourbon, with the chocolate hazelnut, brown sugar, and hint of cherry underneath, which continues, and then finishes with a bit of bitterness from the roast.

Mouthfeel: Medium thick, sufficient carbonation.

Overall: Founders has done a remarkable job of balancing this beer — not so much in the classic way of balancing sweetness and bitterness — rather in the sense of balancing stout and pastry: it truly maintains the character of both.

Bottle. Looks grand - black with a cm of dense mid-tan head. About as much freshly roasted hazelnut as coffee with threatening syrup behind. But no, it's not overwhelmingly sweet - roast kicks in to match the sweetness and mocha. The hazelnut is still very nice. Bitterness has to crash through a bit. Not a lot of evidence of Bourbon barrel. Good.

 

On tap at Mahoney's today, the beer pours the expected blackish brown color with excellent head retention and considerable sticky lacing all around. This beer looks great. On the nose I'm getting noticeable hazelnut and coffee, with some underlying dark chocolate and vanilla as well. The flavor profile replicates the nose pretty closely, with a slight roasty component in the finish. The beer is no more than moderately sweet, which I appreciate. The beer isn't as full bodied as I was expecting, but still delivers plenty of flavor and a moderately long finish. Alcohol is very well integrated into the flavor profile, though you can tell the abv is up there a bit.

This is a solid effort, no doubt, though there's not a lot of barrel character and no noticeable bourbon that I could detect. Even so, this is another enjoyable kbs variant from the folks at Founders.

 

Review: 2576
Name: KBS Hazelnut Fudge
Brewery: Founders Brewing
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Style: Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV: 12%
Canned: 09 January 2025
Date: 27 March 2026
Initial Impression:
Having had several variants, the original still sets the benchmark. Mackinac Fudge was a standout, so expectations were high for this year-old bottle—and it delivers.
Appearance:
Pours inky black with faint ruby highlights at the edges (approx. SRM 38), fully opaque. A creamy, pillowy light tan head shows excellent retention, slowly receding with light lacing. Visually, it exceeds expectations—rich and inviting.
Aroma:
Decadent and layered. Dark chocolate fudge leads, supported by bourbon, oak, and subtle earthy tones. Secondary notes of molasses, vanilla, and light anise emerge, followed by medium-roast coffee, caramel, and a nutty character. Hints of dark fruit (raisin, fig) add depth to the profile.
Flavor:
Follows the aroma closely with excellent integration. Dark chocolate fudge, bourbon, oak, and vanilla form the core, supported by caramel, molasses, and mild nuttiness. Mid-palate brings out raisin, light anise, and medium-roast coffee. The finish is long, with lingering earthiness, a touch of leather, and a smooth, warming alcohol presence.
Mouthfeel:
Medium-plus body with a creamy, velvety texture. Low carbonation enhances the smooth, coating mouthfeel. Finishes warm but well-controlled.
Overall Impression:
A rich, dessert-leaning stout with a pronounced fudgy brownie character and excellent balance. The alcohol is present but restrained. The dominant chocolate profile largely overshadows the hazelnut, but the beer remains highly enjoyable—one of the stronger KBS variants.

 

12oz bottle. Date stamp on label is 'Bottled On: 01.08.25'.
Black colored body. Two fingers of large bubble, tan colored head, and this becomes a thick cap and clinging ring. Leaves behind thin lacing rings.
Aroma of roasted malts, coffee, fudge chocolate, and nuts.
Taste is kind of sweet, with an ending boozy note. Flavors of roasted malts, fudge chocolate, hazelnut, dark roast coffee, with touches of vanilla and bourbon barrel. Goes from more sweet to more bitter at the end. Aftertaste lingers with fudge and coffee, plus a little hazelnut.
Presents more than medium mouthfeel, but gets thinner through the mouth. Smooth texture. Very good carbonation.
Variation that emphasizes the fudge, coffee, and hazelnut. During the session the brew quickly becomes a sipper.

 

 

(review from January 2025) See previous reviews of various versions of KBS, this iteration with huge choco/fudgey/cocoa/hazelnut/javaish aroma & flavors + roasty/malty/vanillaish notes; certainly a smooth fooler of a 12%er & a lingering, mouthcoating aftertaste. Sweet but not enuf to stun a diabetic at six paces. The biggest quibble? (just like sooo many recent Founders KBS variants from the last 3-4-5-6 years)where's any evidence of any bourbon/whisky barrel aging Founders?!?

Smells more hazelnut than coffee but tastes more coffee/espresso than hazelnut. Bittersweet. Fudgey. Vanilla. Boozy & barrel-aged bourbon . 12%ABV.

Pours black with a 2 finger khaki head with nice retention and lacing. Nice aroma with chocolate, fudge, hazelnut, coffee, bourbon, vanilla, and oak. Tastes just like it smells with a nice balance of sweetness and bitterness. Medium bodied with averge carbonation. Very easy to drink. An excellent variant of KBS.

Drinking out of a small snifter.
Pours a clear black-mahogany with a thin foamy head.
Smells strongly of hazelnut.
Nice creamy mouth feel.
Very sweet taste of hazelnut and chocolate, with an underlying note of bourbon.
Maybe too sweet, but very nice.

My favorite from Founders.

Pours the blackest of black. Head was a thick, tan and frothy. Hazelnut came across heavy on the nose. Taste was much more fudge, hazelnut almost like a great latte. Very nice beer.

November 1, 2025: Tried this with a Baby Ruth and it was the perfect pairing at today's beer school. The chocolate paired extremely well with the hazelnut and the fudge (shocker). It was perfectly balanced as I was able to taste every characteristic of the beer with the chocolate and vice versa. Neither overpowered the other.