Founders 2025 Release Calendar

Hate to break it to you, buddy , but money talks .
No matter what we THINK at the end of the day these guys only care about more profit .

That's the just reality of where all industry ends up. At this point Im just glad the shit i drink isn't made in some fuckass factory in china

 

Are you referring to the beer being aged in bourbon barrels with maple syrup added vs the beer being aged in bourbon barrels which had previously aged maple syrup (BLiS barrels). Can see a comparison label from 2019 (left) vs 2023 (right). The 2025 label appears the same as 2023 as far as the barrel wording.

 

Businesses need to make money, but some subtle considerations play into that. The first is reputation. It would be stupid for a business to make a decision which yields more money now, but at the cost of their reputation and future profits. Another consideration is the reality of supply. They've increased production of CBS to cover their entire footprint at least every other year, and I suspect they couldn't have done that if they stayed with BLiS maple/bourbon barrels. They apparently made the business decision to increase CBS production by adding maple syrup. I doubt that decision has appreciably hurt their reputation.

 

Wait….businesses need to make money? Since when? Is that something new? Businesses have bills to pay now or something? Weird. So obviously businesses didn’t have any bills to pay when the breweries were not owned by Heineken and similar billion $ corporations.

that’s good to know. Tony Magee, Founders, Goose Island, Firestone Walker all got to make amazing beer for years without any businesses expenses and without needing to make money. Lucky guys! That explains it. “Businesses didn’t have to make money in the old days, times they have achanged and so has craft beer as a result”.

Was it the red or the blue that changed the law to “businesses must make money”?? That’s something new nobody’s ever heard of before. Must be woke or fascists or something.

 

yeah I comprehend that…. But then I just wish everybody knew that and recognized that like we do with Walmart or McDonald’s … these breweries are now no different than places like that.

 

You seem overly sensitive to people commenting on your posts. Lighten up, Francis.

 

You’re preaching to the choir.

We all know the changes from cutting back the line of beers to seeking to milk existing lines with unrelated beers to using entry level clip art in place of actual art. They will sink or swim based on the beer. Hopefully someone at these holding companies knows that fact. Cheers.

 

I asked the craft-beer guy at a local liquor superstore whether there's any status on Founders CBS release here. He looked puzzled, and asked if I meant KBS. Clearly never even heard of CBS.

 

Got some CBS this week locally, Commerce, and it's not like it used to be. The maple is very overwhelming and doesn't have that CBS barrel taste---IMHO. Just like KBS, Breakfast Stout and Backwoods, this is a shadow of it's former self.

 

I’d love to see them release this one on a regular basis. 2023 Founders Imperial Stout barrel aged. Thanks to @Whyteboar for this treat. Cheers.

 

The 2025 CBS is just fine. A little store near me rcv'd 2 cases.
4.67/5 rDev +0.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
12 oz bottle (2019 release) shared with fellow advocates in Green Bay, WI 2025 and a 4pk or 2025 release in Autumn into a snifter.
L: Pours black with a 1/2" khaki head, low carbo, head slowly recedes to creamy edge foam, light scattered lacing.
S: Bourbon, maple syrup, molasses, a hint of cocoa, distant sweet black coffee, light alcohol with warming.
T: Slightly sweet maple, bourbon, light chocolate, dark fruits, wood char, dark caramelized malts, light dry bitterness along the lingering finish, a hint of burnt toast, coffee bean, it's sweetness is Maple syrup-derived which mingles with the chocolate, it has a slightly complex wooden halo and is slightly rich.
F: Very gently brisk then very smooth in mouthfeel with a medium-heavy body and a long fairly drying finish.
O: The taste of CBS is orchestral with a beautifully simple feel and drinkability with bourbon barrel tastes that effortlessly carry this beer tip to tail through its savory journey. Booze isn't so up front and it mingles. This is an expertly crafted beer. I'm very happy to see its return and to enjoy it. I hope it stays around. It is world-class in its style.

 

They have had a RIS as well as a barrel aged version of that beer. If I see either of them I am immediately buying a case.

 

Yeah, sorry to come off as a bit of an Old Curmudgeon (!) but I still remember the good old days of the beer renaissance. (1995 to 2015 imo)

 

I don't think CBS has changed that much...I think my tastebuds have.

I used to crave sweetness in a stout. Now I like stouts that taste like beer.

(sits atop high horse, looking down at everyone)

 

CBS was one of the first “whales” I was able to stumble upon at a store back in 2018. I’ve had every release multiple times. This year’s is definitely not on par with previous ones. However, the entire KBS family has degraded for me too. KBS was something I always had in my fridge, but it’s honestly not the beer it was. It’s hard to keep it the same with the amount of scaling up they did with it to keep it available all year. People will say I’m wrong. But, jokes on you. I’ve NEVER been wrong!

 

Yup, as I've sed many times before about sooo many 'supposedly' barrel-aged brews from sooo many used-to-be-reliable breweries, Founders CBS, KBS or any of their variants just ain't been as tasty anymo' since, well, almost pre-pandemic. The same goes for Bells, Oskar Blues, Lagunitas & don't EVEN get me started on the pathetically "barrel-aged" beers now released from Prairie Artisan, Epic & New Holland.

Here's my list of the major-decades-old-craft-breweries-doing-barrel-aged-brews-where-I-can-still-taste-the-barrel-aging-I-used-to-taste-in-their-old-releases:

1. Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout & the variants
2. Any Firestone Walker BA beer (Parabola, Sucaba, etc.)
3. A few Dogfish Head BA brews
4. A few Deschutes BA brews
5. A few Surly BA brews
6. A few (& fewer & fewer) Boulevard BA brews

Aaaaaaaaand, that's it.

Haven't had access to enough Toppling Goliath & 3 Floyds BA brews to give them a fair rating but both breweries were great on their BA stuff years ago.

Sure am lucky & glad to have access to BKS & Alma Mader doing excellent BA beers & now Discourse has also begun producing great BA brews.

 

I’d add Jackie O’s to that list of good barrel programs as they are about the same age as Oskar Blues. Newer but as good as any barrel program, I’d add Revolution. 3 Sheep’s is also doing good work. Cheers.

 

Yes, forgot about Revolution.

Add Rev to the list of, I-can-still-taste-the-barrel-aging-in-all-of-their-brews.