How long to cellar Founders Breakfast Stout?

Definitely fresh.

 

I will let you know in a year .

 

Usually when this topic comes up people split into two camps. Those that like strong coffee will tell you that anything other than fresh is an abomination and an affront to this great beer. Those that prefer more muted coffee flavors will tell you a year does amazing things to this beer. It is sort of up to you, and like most things, the answer is probably somewhat in the middle.

 

Too easy to get.
Drink it fresh!

 

I had a fbs after about 10 months in the fridge. Definitely tasted kinda stale and lost its delicious expresso notes. Would not cellar FBS again. Fresher the better.

 

Don't let it go past 9-12 months at the most. Gets a little flat / watery.....

 

Fresh for sure coffee falls off rather quickly. I can already tell the difference.

 

votes are in.

 

0 days..unless you hate coffee and therefore shouldn't be buying a coffee stout.


Side note: Founder's themselves says don't age FBS or KBS. But what would they know.

 

Drink fresh. Old coffee beers get that green pepper flavor. Well that's what happened to 2yr old WakeN'Bake

 

Fresh. I like the coffee flavor to be strong. It is one of the hallmarks of the brew after all.

But of course, to each his own.

 

I like it fresh

 

If you don't like the coffee in it, why not just buy Founder's RIS instead?

 

It is not true for most things that the answer is somewhat in the middle. This would imply that for most things, there is a strong conversational dichotomy with two equally valuable or worthless sides. It is in fact rare to find such a thing. This rather insidious line of thinking, that you should expect to hear two opposing sides of an argument, that both arguments will be valuable, and that they represent the extreme ends of a line of arguments for which a middle one clearly represents something closer to truth, is the source of a lot of issues with our societal discourse, IMO.

Here, for example, there are so many variables that it's ludicrous to suggest that the beer is probably best, and probably best for the poster, simply because some people argue that it's better fresh and others that it's better aged to drop the coffee out. So because many people, anecdotally, prefer a beer with a ton of coffee and others with just a touch, you think that both sides would be pleased with something that has SOME coffee? That's ridiculous, it's not a zero sum situation. People who like it fresh will prefer it fresh, people who prefer it with some age will probably appreciate it at whatever they consider ideal, not an arbitrarily selected midway point between those two. It's astonishing how powerful the pervasive bullshit of the dichotomy is that you could say, with a straight face, that when this topic comes up it's clear that there's two camps who are each enjoying this beer at different ages but in fact the truth is that a compromise would be best because everyone knows compromises / midway points between diametrically opposed arguments are ALWAYS superior.

If you're trying to offer bland, offend-no-one, advice, then the answer is clearly: buy a couple six packs and drink them steadily over time to find out for yourself.

 

Wow, just wow.

The facts are that the coffee will fade over time, and lots of people say drink it fresh, and lots that say age, which was all I originally said. Other than that, do you have anything to add to this discussion?

 

I've had this in various ages... I believe the oldest being an 08' this year.

I say... just drink the damn thing fresh if you like the coffee... because after 2 years or so, there's not much (if any) left and it turns into a chocolate bomb. If you like chocolate stouts, you might be into aging it.

It's so cheap... buy a 4-pack and stash it away. drink one every year and decide how you like it. I wouldn't go more than 4 years though, IMHO.

 

TLDR version. Those who like coffee drink fresh, those who don't, drink it with age to mellow coffee flavors. Don't assume that somewhere in between is better, in this case it isn't.

 

Thanks for the executive summary, Dave!

 

Yeah, a whole bunch. I even wrote a post about it if you'd care to read it.