Founders Brewing Company - Founders Imperial Stout

If you're looking to get in on the non barrel-aged Russian Imperial Stout game, you have some pretty stiff competition. As of last week, my favorite was Bell's Expedition Stout, but you also have to consider the classics like North Coast's Old Rasputin, Stone's Imperial Russian Stout, Great Divide's Yeti and Oskar Blues' Ten FIDY. And that's without considering a huge one that I have yet to try, Surly's Darkness (soon, my friends, soon). Even with all of those beers to compete with, one name I constantly hear in the greatest Russian Imperial Stout discussion is Founders' Imperial Stout. I was skeptical it could be better than any of the others, but I grabbed the first bottle I could get hold of to give it a shot. At #110, Founders Imperial Stout.


Founders Imperial Stout pours a dense and pitch black color with a heavy, one-finger mocha colored head. Each sip leaves some pretty intense, sticky lace spackled on the glass. This beer is a babe. No way around it. I can't think of a better looking Russian Imperial Stout I've come across. True to the style, the nose is rich and roasty. Mocha, heavily roasted malt, char and light roasted coffee are the first things that I thought of when I smelled it. As it warmed, it started to sweeten up and I started to get toffee and some Hershey's Chocolate Syrup. I hadn't even taken a sip yet and it was obvious the hype around this beer was not misplaced.

Every once in a while, you come across a beer where the smell is so good, there's no possible way the taste can compete. I thought that would be the case here. It wasn't. The beer opens with a ton of espresso and dark chocolate-covered espresso beans. The middle sweetens up a touch, with some sweeter toffee, milk chocolate and dark fruit notes. Then the finish hammers you with a sharp kick of anise, tobacco and heavily roasted malt. The mouthfeel is full and lush and offers just a touch of carbonation to break up the heaviness lurking in here. No way around it, this is an incredible beer. It's easily the best Russian Imperial Stout I've come across and maybe the best stout I've tasted, period. Bell's finally made their way to San Diego and I'm seriously hoping Founders is close behind. I must get more of this beer.

Final Grade: A+

Top 250 Beers Tasted: 130

Founders Brewing Company - Founders Breakfast Stout

For as long as I've been into craft beer, I've been trying to get my hands on Founders Breakfast Stout. It's a double chocolate coffee oatmeal stout (seriously, what doesn't sound good about that?) that has been getting amazing reviews for a long time now. I knew I had to try this beer, but the issue was how I was going to go about that. I tried the trade route, getting as far as having a trade in place for one before things fell through. Discouraged, I tried the online route, but all the shops I looked at never seemed to have any Breakfast Stout in stock. Recently, I was finally able to find a shop from Minnesota that had it in stock. So after a long, long wait, here's #26 on the Top 100- Founders Breakfast Stout.

Founders Breakfast Stout pours a motor oil black color with a near identical consistency. Despite a pretty vigorous pour, the beer yielded only a tiny light brown head before it quickly settled down into the black. I tried this beer pretty much straight out of the fridge, and was really surprised by the lack of coffee in the smell. In fact, the smell was downright weak. But then, I gave it about 20 minutes to warm up and it made a huge difference. All of a sudden, huge notes of dark roasted coffee, burnt wood, black licorice, and some faint cooked oat aromas came flying out of the glass. This was more like it! The coffee smell is probably only matched by another beer from Founders, Kentucky Breakfast Stout.

The taste opens with a nice and velvety smoothness with some soft notes of roasted malt and oats. Then the beer sucker punches you with a huge hit of rich dark roasted coffee, burnt coffee grounds, unsweetened baking chocolate and a touch of cola nut. The finish leaves a lingering acrid coffee and roasted malt bitterness that's pretty intense and pretty incredible. My one knock on this beer is that it feels a bit thin, but the oats do their best to keep the feel from getting way too thin. Overall, this is a pretty incredible beer, and one that's even better once it warms up. There have been rumors that Founders may start distributing to San Diego in the near future. I can only hope those rumors are true, because I would love to be able to drink this stuff on a regular basis.

Final Grade: A

Top 100 Beers Tasted: 40