This week was a good one! I was privileged to sample not one, not two, but three excellent stouts this week….let’s take a look at the week that was:
Driving home from work on Friday evenings are a crapshoot. Sometimes I fly, sometimes I crawl. This week I flew….and I was so far ahead of schedule I decided to stop by Wine and Beer 101, a bottleshop that is right on my way home to do a little window shopping and see if there was anything that I wanted to add to my collection. I walked in and was met by Kat, the local Foothills Brewing market sales manager. Unbeknownst to me, it was a 
Foothills Brewing tap takeover with the guest of honor being the 2016 vintage of Sexual Chocolate!! Kat told me what was on tap, gave me a Foothills t-shirt and gave me a couple of tickets for the Sexual Chocolate bottle raffle!! I made a beeline for the bar, asked for a Sexual Chocolate and was given a full pour in a free Foothills tulip (well, not given…I paid for it!). Yes, Friday evening was good to the Stoutwhisperer! The 2016 vintage of Sexual Chocolate was even better than I remembered…..as I wandered around waiting for the raffle, I was struck by the smoothness of this black elixir and the nice thick mouthfeel. Yes, I would really like to win the raffle and buy a 2016 bottle of Sexual Chocolate! Alas, there were others in the raffle that were more fortunate than I. I couldn’t stay for the next raffle, so I finished my pour of Sexual Chocolate, had a nice conversation with Kat, and walked out of Wine and Beer 101 with a smile on my face knowing that I was a very lucky person, even if I didn’t win the raffle!
Saturday we celebrated the 19th birthday of the Stoutwhisperer’s youngest daughter, the baby of the family. To celebrate, we went to the Piedmont Ale House a great establishment
in Burlington, NC known for it’s craft beer selection! It was her choice, but I was not going to argue. After perusing the craft beer menu, I decided on Old Rasputin from North Coast Brewing Co. in California as I never had it on draft. The bartender gave me a nice heady pour, which I like, and it was a great partner with the Fish and Chips that I ordered. Nice and smooth for a RIS, it was a good choice to enjoy the evening with the family and celebrate a birthday!
Now onto the “official” review for the weekend. I’ve been seeing all of the Founders Brewing KBS Week activity though my social media outlets and also read an incredible article by Robert Allen (@rallenMI) from the Detroit Free Press about how Founders ages KBS in underground cave cellars. I suggest you give it a read…and watch the video that accompanies the article! I would love to sample KBS directly from the barrel like they were doing!! (Note to Founders Brewing – send me an invite and I’ll be there!) So in the spirit of KBS Week and in the upcoming distribution of KBS in early April, I decided to break out a bottle of 2015 KBS to taste and review. Fortunately, I have a bottle of 2013, 2014 and a couple of 2015 KBS so I’m starting a small vertical…..
Founders Brewing – KBS (2015)
I’ve been keeping KBS in my beer fridge for a while, but as I noted above, all of the 
activities in Grand Rapids, MI have whetted my appetite for KBS, so I decided to open a 2015 KBS and see how it survived a year. It poured nice, with a relatively thin head, but there was a nice smooth aroma of bourbon. The first sip reinforced the bourbon aroma, but the taste was not too forward; rather, it was complimentary to the coffee and chocolate that I could taste as well. The mouthfeel was nice as it coated my tongue; not the thickest I’ve had, but it was nice. The aftertaste was smoooooth….nice and warming, with none of the bourbon “bite” that sometimes accompanies bourbon barrel aged beers. As it warmed, it improved in taste and I found myself wanting more….which at the end of the day, is a good thing!
This is a beer that tastes good fresh and also ages well. I’ve got a vertical working from 2013, so I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to acquire a 2016 vintage! I’ll be reaching out to my local bottleshops to get on their “special preferred” lists for limited beers like KBS!!
KBS is a highly rated beer that could easily ride on their reputation; however, thanks to the good people at Founders Brewing, they deliver! Can’t wait for the 2016 vintage!
Stout of this World rating: 4.5 bombers
Stoutwhisperer 