2-Year Old Founders Breakfast Stout

So, I found a liquor store about 30 minutes from me and BeerMenus said that it had FBS in stock. I was a little wary because it's a bit early for that, but decided to check it out. I got there and there were a bunch of 4-packs sitting out so I grabbed two. Looked around the bottles for a bottled date, but didn't see any so decided to go for it.

I started thinking about it the next day, and realized that almost no one else has seen these in the wild yet. I get home from work and scour the bottles again for a date when I finally see it printed in black on the bottom of the main label around the other black-ish lettering (it was difficult to see). Turns out they are all 2015 bottles. Needless to say that I felt a bit ripped off as the guy told me it was a "one-time deal" and they won't be getting these back in stock - making it sound like they got the new batch in early.

Are these OK to drink at this point, as in safe? I'm assuming the flavor won't be the best. This is my first time trying FBS, so I guess I won't have anything to compare it to? I know it's my fault for not finding the bottled on date at the store, but it still sucks...

 

OK, I'll give it a shot. Honestly, I'm just getting into craft beer now, so I'm not the best resource for knowing if it has aged well or not, but I'll post an update as to whether or not I liked it. Might try to return at least one of the 4-packs. They also got me on a 2016 Harvest Ale - again, thought it was the new 2017 batch.

 

Thanks for the tips fellas. I'm definitely avoiding that store after I return one of the two 4-packs and the harvest ale from last year. I also tweeted Founders to let them know.

I'll definitely grab some of the new release once it hits town to compare since I'll keep one of the 4-packs I got (for testing purposes...)

 

So I found a bar in my city that had a Founders Tap Takeover last week and they got a few kegs of 2016 & 2017 KBS. Yea after a couple of these I feel disappointment coming in my 2015 FBS bottles at home. DELICIOUS.

 

Just wanted to provide an update. I contacted Founders and the store I bought the beer at via Twitter. The store offered me a full refund but I had to bring the beer back in for return. I did try one 2”15 Breakfast Stout. It wasn’t bad but definitely lost a lot of the coffee flavor. I’ve since bought and tried the 2017 bottles and they are much better.

The store owner was very apologetic and offered me a free growler of Kane Overhead which I accepted. He said that he intended to have a cellar beer section but that a new employee did not put the signs out per his instructions. We chatted about beer for a while. He seemed pretty knowledgeable. While I appreciate the consideration I probably won’t go back there given the distance from my apartment.