Founders beer releases

Why remove the Mountie, but keep the horse? Doesn't make much sense to me. And whatever happened to doing CBS in 12oz bottles? Anyway, I won't bitch anymore, I like CBS a lot and look forward to its return. Still waiting on Better Half to hit MO though...

 

Is CBS a good beer, yup. Do I wish they would have done something like BA Sumatra, yup. Am I pissed that they are not doing 12oz bottles, yup. Will I buy less because of the format, yup.

 

It is still available on shelves in West Michigan .

I have. I've also had my share of CBS. Am I selfish for wanting to enjoy the beer they have neglected at home, instead of being disappointed 99/100 when I'm at the taproom?

Every complaint wrapped into a concise post.

 

I haven't opened a KBS in awhile. Got a ha keeping tonight. This is just what I did. If you use high quality maple syrup, it's just amaZing. To me, I like it just more than CBS (actually), because I can dial in the maple/sweetness exactly how I want it. I'm also in the belief that this Maple that I use tasted better...*gasp!*

 

It's almost October 1st which is the exact day KBS gets 'ripe' enough for me to start picking it from the vines of my basement hoarde. I'm going to have to try this maple syrup + KBS thing once I obtain more of the B & E's barrel-aged syrup they sell at Central Waters because I can't imagine a better syrup for that particular task. My one knock against CBS (besides the format) is I would've preferred more coffee to take down the sweetness a notch, so it should be a fun experiment.

CBS is still a good beer but I won't be buying any in my continuing effort to widdle down the number of bombers I'm tasked with drinking. Darkness and Abyss will also be going on the 'no buy list' for the same reason this year. If I'm drinking alone I don't want a whole big bottle and if I'm sharing I'm going to open the big guns. If CBS ever makes it to 4 packs I totally will grab one.

Also is there a legal (or other) reason the Mountie is gone from the label? And did they purge the word 'Canadian' from the label or am I misremembering it being there in the first place?

 

Regarding the use of Maple Syrup: Awhile back we found a very nice maple syrup. It pours more like water than thick ooze. It has all the maple flavor without as much of the sweetness (to me). It's an extremely light amber syrup made at the start of the season, and is unblended. (Who knew maple syrup could be this fancy, eh?) it is the first maple syrup that I am dying to use. Normally it is too strong/sweet for me to use much, but I gladly put this on pancakes, oatmeal, etc.

Also, this actually stirs in/dissolves, where I seem to recall @Lazhal (who gave me the idea) saying that when he does this, he has a hard time getting it to dissolve, and some normally sits at the bottom of his glass.

 

The barrel aged syrup I'm on the watch for has similar physical properties to the syrup you described. When I had it on pancakes it was thin enough to soak right in and the barrel imparted a smooth hint of oaky vanilla and maybe a bit of chocolate if you dug for it. Someone needs to get on top of making a barrel aged stout with barrel aged coffee and barrel aged maple!

 

I love finding something that is so good, you just salivate at thinking about it. Always wonderful.

Would love to try a BA stout like the one you mentioned.

 

Not sure if that was me. My latest technique is to pour all the maple syrup I'm going to use into the snifter. Then I pour about 1-2 oz of KBS into the syrup. Stir steadily for 30-60 seconds. It generates quite a bit of head for such small amount of beer. Next, I pour in the remaining 10oz of KBS. Plenty of carb left and gets a slight creamy texture going which I really like. Enjoy!

 

FTFY

 

IT's like Don't be a Menace, minus the hot sauce.

 

I still have 9-10 bottles of 2017 CBS. Wasn’t expecting this 2 years in a row.
But I’ll buy a couple ‘18’s, mostly for comparison purposes.
For the record I’d be happy if Founders makes CBS an annual release like KBS.

 

Me too. I’d be a lot happier if it were released in 12 oz bottles every year.

 

Better Half and CBS in the same year!? And they made a ton of it?! I am officially done with Founders. How out of touch can a company be? Don't they know scarcity makes the beer taste better?! And what's with all the the fresh All Day IPA all the time? Get with the times! Make some haze or close your doors!

 

Good on Founders for pumping that money train. Obviously it's a successful brew, so it would be stupid if they turned their back on what works. Would be nice if they jumped off the BA IPA wagon, but it's up to everybody to vote with their wallets on that.

The problem I have is that CBS isn't that great, and the price is ridiculous. Way too thin and hardly any maple syrup flavors. You know, the two things you kind of expect from something of this "caliber". There are a lot of breweries pushing out great maple syrup brews at a fraction of the cost. A $45-50 4-pk/$25 750mL is pretty laughable. People just can't seem to get over their desperate hopes that the black market will inflate a dusty past-prime bottle of CBS to $600 again...

 

"I can't believe how well balanced this barrel-aged Maple syrup stout was! This is not what people want! Now excuse me I'm going to go pour Maple syrup directly in my mouth and swish with KBS!"

 

Nice to see Harvest Ale hit area shelves within a week of packaging (9-20). Picked up a 4pk, well, because it's almost obligatory at this point.

 

Apparently when Founders gets creative it involves putting hop-forward beer in barrels...

Nice to see CBS return, only legitimate criticism of this release is their bottle format.

 

I live 10 minutes from Founders too, and honestly, I was starting to wonder if they lost their mojo. But when a brewery produces truly great beers in the same year like Backwoods Bastard, CBS, and now Better Half and MF Donkey Stout, I'd say all is forgiven. If tried-and-true is outstanding, I'd say go for it.

 

Still haven't seen Better Half in Ohio. CBS is dropping in March at this point.