Maple syrup. It’s not just for pancakes any more.
Stopped in to The Muddy Pig in St. Paul after work for the long awaited Founders release party. For those of us in the Twin Cities who make the occasional trip out to Wisconsin to pick up various renowned beers like Dogfish Head, Stone, New Glarus, and of course Founders, I’m very glad I can now save on the gas money and find their stuff at my local bar or liquor store. Wish I could say the same for the rest.
So imagine my surprise sitting down tonight at the pub to check out which Founders offerings were available, and seeing not their legendary Kentucky Breakfast Stout, which is what I assumed would be there, but their even more limited Canadian Breakfast Stout, an imperial stout aged in Kentucky whiskey barrels that were also used by a small maple syrup maker. And to add a bit of flair to the presentation and play off the whole maple syrup/breakfast stout theme, each glass of the stuff was served with a heaping pile of Bacon Explosion, what might be the most cholesterol-packed portion of food I’ve ever experienced. After I had a few bites and used the EKG machine to ensure my heart was in proper working order, I put on my review cap and did my best to discern what this Canadian Breakfast Stout was all about. They only had a small 5 gallon cask of the stuff, and were rationing it out in tiny 4 ounce sample glasses, but I was able to get a pretty solid sense of it.
Massive oak and whisky aroma with hints of Sumatra and Kona coffee beans. Sweet, molasses, chewy caramel. Might be one of the boldest smelling beers I’ve ever experienced. Maple undertones as well, but it was tough to discern over the evident alcohol characteristic. Jet black coloring with trails of tan bubbles making up the nearly non-existent head.
Taste was huge, like the nose. So complex, so much going on. Very tough to single it all out. Thick roasted malt, bourbon, coffee, maple syrup, more bourbon, maybe some vanilla and oak. Your tastebuds are completely enveloped. I kept thinking about Goose Island Bourbon County Stout as I drank this, which has much more of a tobacco-like quality to it, but Founders CBS might trump that beer as even more insanely rich and immensely complex. 9.5% ABV, which you definitely taste in the finish.
I gotta be honest. This beer gets huge marks on Beer Advocate as an A+ kind of beer. I’m guessing mainly because of its extremely limited availability (maybe a bit like Westy?), and of course its extreme nature as an imperial stout to end all imperial stouts. But as much as this was a unique and enjoyable beer, it doesn’t really compare in my book to other A+ kind of imperial stouts I’ve had like Darkness or Dark Lord. Just not the same kind of inately satisfying depth and chocolatey warmth the others deliver. One small glass was about all I could handle. I wasn’t interested in any more.
Unfortunately it’s only a superb beer, not world-class.
Rating: A-
May 27, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Glad to see you got some! I was unable to catch the release at Stub & Herb’s last week. My friend Tommy from Madison bought a six-pack for me since Alvey at Four Firkin’s wasn’t able to secure any through his distributor. Old Curmudgeon Ale was interesting, but this one, I look forward to. I especially liked your last paragraph talking about Surly Darkness and FFF Dark Lord. I think the hype-machine is really in effect. We shall see, in a few weeks.
May 27, 2009 at 11:42 pm
They had Old Curmudgeon on draught, but I opted for their Centennial and Red Rye IPAs, which were both very tasty. I’d certainly like to have CBS again, but I wouldn’t go looking for it like I might some other beers.
May 28, 2009 at 7:21 am
You lucky fucking dog! I’m really jealous. And it only makes me about 1% less jealous that you gave it an A-.
Did they have Devil Bastard? I think that’s my favorite Founders besides the Breakfast Stouts.
I see Cerise listed.
May 28, 2009 at 7:51 am
Is there a chance it’s at that Savor event this weekend?
They had Dirty Bastard on tap, but not Devil Dancer.
May 28, 2009 at 8:15 am
Founders isn’t going to be there unfortunately.
Whoops, I meant Dirty Bastard.
May 28, 2009 at 9:30 am
I like the Kentucky Breakfast Stout better than the Canadian version. Still, like you, I prefer Darkness and other more traditional RIS’s. I think barrel aging is a cool idea and it really improves or adds something to some beers, but I don’t think it automatically renders a very good beer “world class” status.
Still, it’s awesome to have Founders in the state. With Founders and Lagunitas, we’ve been lucky over the last year. It would be cool to get 3F, Stone, New Glarus, and DFH…but I wonder how many new selections the market will bear? It seems like the craft beer market in Minnesota has expanded incredibly since the All Saints distributing days when we had a lot of beer available, and most of it sat on shelves.
May 28, 2009 at 9:54 am
Agreed…whether it’s barrel aging, or even adding vanilla beans or whatever, I’m not sure that automatically makes it better than the regular version.
I’m becoming more convinced that the Beer Advocate “best of” list might be more appropriately called the “biggest hype” list. Take a look at the top 10 on that list, and tell me what the general common denominator is…incredibly limited availability for most of them. So does that mean they’re “the best”? Not in my opinion. I think some reviewers on BA allow their expectations of a beer to override the objective sensory evaluation of a beer.
I’m really looking forward to reviewing Westvleteren, because from what I’ve read it’s realistically not that much better than many of the other trappists or abbey beers out there. But it’s the #1 rated beer on BA. What does that tell you?
May 28, 2009 at 10:19 am
I’m most interested in finally drinking my Westy 12 too, because rumor has it that it’s pretty much neck-and-neck with Rochefort 10, an incredibly accessible beer. Now everyone considers Roch 10 a top notch beer, but it’s rarely listed in top tens and certainly never at the way top like Westy 12.
I did think it was interesting how after DLD, both the Oak Aged and Vanilla Bean absolutely CATAPULTED up the BA Top 100.
May 28, 2009 at 10:39 am
I see from the picture that they also had Cerise, which I just tried for the first time on our trip to MI. A very well done fruit beer that mixes nicely with Imperial Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout.
May 28, 2009 at 11:22 am
I definitely plan to try Cerise soon, heard it’s great.
May 28, 2009 at 11:34 am
I agree on the “biggest hype” list. I tend to regard the BA scores as a general guide, but I usually look to top reviewers and just read their description. I’m not much into BJCP guidelines either, so I just try to determine if it’s something I’m going to like. There is a definite correlation between a beer’s rarity (and nerd quotient) and it’s appearance in the top 10 or top 25. Really great beers still have good scores, but their availability means more reviews. When a beer is really hard to find, I think people tend to be in awe when they’re reviewing so it’s not necessarily tasted on its own merits.
Also, the Cerise is a Founders beer that I hadn’t really heard much buzz about and had never tried. I tried it on tap at Sterbs and was really impressed. Not to say that it’s quite the same as NG’s New Belgian Red, but I won’t feel the need to make as many trips to Hudson for fruit beers now.
May 28, 2009 at 11:46 am
Can you imagine a world where Miller Lite was incredibly rare? It would probably be #4 on the list, especially since it’s triple-hopped!
I have a bottle of NG’s Belgian Red (and Raspberry Tart), and look forward to trying it this summer.
May 28, 2009 at 12:46 pm
You should have been at Stub and Herbs when the mixed up the Dirty Bastard keg with the Canadian Breakfast Stout keg. I kick myself for getting the Red Rye and Centennial first, my next one was going to be the DB but midway thought the Centennial they announced the mix up. But IMO, not worth the 5 bucks for 4 ounces. They didn’t have the Kentucky though. The original Breakfast Stout is much better.
May 28, 2009 at 12:57 pm
That’s quite a mix-up! Yeah, seemed like they were trying to cram too much into this beer all at once. A little too aggressive, even for my tastes.
June 6, 2009 at 7:33 pm
I would love to try this one, too. To be honest though, their Breakfast and Kentucky Breakfast just don’t do it for me. Maybe some more residual sweetness from Maple Syrup would be a nice addition.
July 13, 2009 at 12:53 pm
[...] a handful of tasting events at Twin Cities bars, and I was fortunate to try the fairly rare Canadian Breakfast Stout over at The Muddy Pig. Completely over-the-top and aggressive with its intense aromas and massive ABV, but I completely [...]