Founders CBS

Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout is as vast as the Canadian wilderness.  It is an imperial stout (imperial enough, I'd say, at 10.6% abv) that is brewed with imported chocolate and coffee.  It is aged in bourbon barrels that have also aged maple syrup from Founders home state of Michigan.  Complex?  You bet.

The initial aromas and flavors that I detected were the bourbon and the coffee.  The maple syrup seems to mellow the bourbon's bite just enough to give it the illusion of a Canadian blended whiskey like Crown Royal. The depth of the brew becomes  more evident as it opens up and warms just a touch.  The chocolate and maple syrup flavors begin to emerge, bringing out CBS's more breakfasty characteristics.

By the time your glass is empty, you hesitate to put it down because you can't help but keep sniffing the aromas that linger.  Everything comes together in a warming and fortifying breakfast drink.  Well, I guess it's good for breakfast if you're in Canada.  Some fellow drinkers suggested that it would be a suitable companion for a crispy slab of scrapple.  If you're not from the Philadelphia region, you may have a bit of difficulty imagining this pairing, so I'll elaborate: Scrapple is a spicy, mealy, sausagey paste that's sliced in a loaf-like fashion.  Many people enjoy it with maple syrup, but I prefer to dip it in some yolk from an over-easy egg that's trying to escape to the shelter of my home fries.  Mmmm...scrapple...and CBS...

Here's my tweet from the CBS tapping event at the Pour House on Halloween Night:


Hope you get a chance to sample this rare and delicious treat from Founders Brewing.  If you get your hands on some, please weigh in with a pic and a review.  We're happy to share it with our Citizens.  Cheers!