Breakfast!

Left to right: Founders Breakfast Stout 2008 - 2011, Canadian Breakfast Stout (2011 Fall), and Kentucky Breakfast Stout (2011 Spring)

Breakfast Stout vertical

    Thanks Nils for just giving the Breakfast Stout vertical away. Many people consider this beer unworthy of aging but I and my friends really wanted to see how it develops and Nils made it possible. We were not disappointed. Thanks again!

    Poured side by side in tasting glasses. Almost fresh to a little over 3 years old. All the vintages smell of coffee, so it would be incorrect to say that coffee fades completely. The intensity and the note itself varies from year to year (or age to age), but coffee is (still) going strong.

    We first sampled from oldest to youngest and coffee was apparent across the vertical. 2008 smelled of strong, cold espresso. 2009 had coffee notes but had something off in the aroma: smelled yucky and stale. 2010 was all coffee, typical of this beer but I preferred the 2008 in its aroma. 2011, especially after sampling the older ones came off way too strong, almost pungent!

    The taste was just fine across the vertical with the coffee (predictably) getting stronger. After giving the palates some time, we sampled the vertical in the opposite order (11 → 10 → 09 → 08) and the aging became very very apparent. The coffee seemed quite mute in 2008 and 09, and some moderately aged American Barleywine-esque notes came forward.

    Overall, the preference of the group seemed to be 2010, which indicates that fresh Breakfast Stout might be too big of a coffee bomb.

Canadian Breakfast Stout (Review # 300)

    Sampled in tasting snifter side by side with KBS. Looks the part: dark brown, medium head, medium retention. Typical.

    Smells delicious! Maple (especially strong when sampled with KBS on the side), chocolate, and the aroma of coffee beans being ground. Masterful!

    Tastes acidic and sweet, with pronounced notes of coffee and bourbon. The maple is not strong in the flavor. Very velvety and delightfully sticky, but could have been thicker. There is some vanilla but the vanilla is way stronger in KBS.

    As remarked, I could use some more maple but this is one monster of a beer and any flavor will have a hard time standing up to the strong coffee and bourbon. An excellent beer, worth the effort spent in acquiring it. That said, if I had to choose, I will take KBS.

4.5, 4.5, 4.5, 4.5, 4.5

Hanssens Gueuze

    Poured into a tasting snifter. Used to break the barrel aged monotony (!) after drinking CBS/KBS and before drinking Old Rasputin XII.

    Milky amber without any significant head. Smells pungent, mustard and spice, hay, grass, and lemon at the back. Really lemony in taste, and yet I couldn't help but notice hints of vinegar. Quite tart and sharp in its taste, but mouthfeel seemed lacking: heavier bodied and almost creamy at times, even in presence of ample carbonation.

    Overall it seemed to lack complexity and got lost in one dimensional tartness, not to mention the vinegar. Frankly, I liked Cuvee Rene better!

3.5, 4, 3, 3.5, 3

Old Rasputin XII

    Looks dead. Woody and bourbony aroma, with wood spoiling the mood. Disappointing aroma. The taste is quite acidic, with bourbon, oak and vanilla; and slight roast in the finish.

    Body is rather thin and therefore the beer seems overcarbonated even though there was no head whatsoever. Certainly not worth the 25 dollars a pint price it sells (or sold) for.

3, 2, 4, 3, 3