KBS - Caramel
Founders Brewing Company

 

It's just too much man. I love the original KBS, but this is just sickening by comparison lol

 

 

Poured into a cheesy plastic hotel glass. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a thin khaki head that dissipates to patches with slight lacing. Aroma of semi-sweet, dark toasted malt, coffee, cocoa, vanilla and caramel.. Flavor follows with dark toasted malt, quality coffee, caramel, dark chocolate, light bourbon and vanilla. Caramel coffee in the finish. Medium bodied with light to medium creaminess. Just what I was expecting from adding caramel flavor to this classic coffee stout. The caramel is forward, but not as strong as the coffee; this might be one of the more coffee forward variants I remember. The chocolate takes a back seat to the other flavors, but is a clear note. Body was average. Well balanced and flavorful.
I was not able to find this variant in Seattle anywhere for all the months it's been out, so jumped on one in SoCal; which probably means it will show up soon. Beer distribution is erratic and hard to figure out on the West Coast. However, I'll have another if and when it does arrive.

 

From a 12oz bottle dated 12/29/25 into what is best described as a stemless wine glass.

Pours an opaque dark dark brown with maybe one finger of brown head. Decent retention and really good lacing.

The nose is predominantly (not surprisingly) caramel. Some very light char and black coffee.

Taste is nice roasty bitter black coffee with a light sidecar of sweet caramel. Not overly sweet. Very light barrel at the end of the sip. Barrel becomes more noticeable with some warming.

Medium bodied, low carbonation. Bitter aftertaste.

Well put together and deceivingly complex. Nice one, Founders.

Pours as black as midnight oil with a coffee colored head.

Coffee, chocolate, caramel, bourbon, vanilla, malt , whole grain bread.

Taste follows nose with with a depth of complexity and nuance.

The pour is jet black with a tan & frothy head of foam. The body is medium to heavy & on the taste I'm getting bourbon barrel, vanilla, caramel, molasses, prunes, Kentucky tobacco char, along with some hints of dark chocolate & coffee. Moreover, the 12% abv drinks more like a 9.5% abv beer. Cheers! A-

A superb barrel-aged blend of chocolate, vanilla, and coffee flavors to make an excellent taste and smell. This one is made better with the taste and smell of caramel.

on the pour and after sitting in the glass, this is a beautiful beer! thick, amazing heady froth holding tightly.... the familiar KBS aroma, along with a bit of caramel, is a wonderful smell and fits perfectly with the KBS recipe. the caramel flavor, however, is metallic and chemical-ly and really takes everything down a bit. there's a bitterness to the flavor beyond the typical KBS trademark taste that i believe the caramel imparts.... overall, though, excellent! always excellent....

A dark brown - black pour with ample tan head. Smells like wonderful caramel, roasted malts, heat. The taste is caramel, chocolate, coffee, some barrel, a little bitter, dry, and hot. I like my stouts like this and I like caramel so this is in my wheel house. Ymmv but worth a try.

 

From a 12oz bottle, bottled on 12/29/2025

There is a pretty good hiss and smoke upon opening the bottle. This beer is pitch black in color. With somewhat of an aggressive pour, there's a 4 finger tan colored head to the beer. The head retention is amazing with some nice looking lacing on the glass.
Upon pouring the beer into the glass I was hit with a coffee aroma. Up close i am still getting a strong coffee aroma. Upon more examination with my nose, I am getting a huge caramel hit. This is way more than the malts add to this style of beer.
I get a good hit of caramel right off the bat. The flavor of the caramel does fade a bit, but never goes away fully. The caramel is added to by a nice roasted coffee flavor. This, along with the chocolate malts, provide a subtle, but nice bitterness to the flavor profile.
The body of this beer is right where it should be for a beer that has the KBS name attached to it. Very full and smooth feeling. There's just a faint burn to the beer that reminds you to slow down and enjoy it.
This beer is a great addition to the KBS lineup. It deserves to have it attached to it.

 

 

 

 

Pours very dark with a dark caramel head on top. Smells is of sweet molasses and a note of bourbon barrel. Has a light caramel taste and strong bourbon taste.

Not a particularly good KBS variant. Very subtle carmel and not particularly rich or complex. Otherwise heavy, but not in an overly sticky way.