I ****ing love Founders as well.

Everything they do is great.

They definitely have some extremely talented brewmasters. I cant believe it took me this long to find their beer and if what luv says is true that they've been around Springfield for a few years then I'm completely ashamed of myself for not looking harder.

No Rubaeus?

My favorite from Founders is Breakfast Stout and Porter. Dirty Bastard is a good scotch ale as well just under Clown Shoes Royal Standard and Belhaven Scottish ale.

The Rubaeus makes me cream my pants as soon as it touches my lips.

So good.

They didnt have that one, Ive never even heard of it. After searching it doesn't sound appealing to me at all, but since its Founders I wouldn't be shocked if I liked it. The Breakfast Stout is easily the best beer Ive ever had and the Porter is amazing as well. Ive had one of each, they're all very good but the Pilsner is probably my least favorite.

I am telling you the tart fruit ales don't sound good but they are amazing. Raspberry and sour cherry ales are great.

Have had the Rubaeus on Nitro a few times and it's insane how good it is. Prefer it that way but it's good both ways.

Good luck with that. That shit is near impossible to get a hold of.

While I'm definitely expecting it to be elusive due to its mystical status, I think there will be more of it to go around than in the past due to Founders expanded barrel program. I know our local chain grocery store, Jewel Osco (think Price Chopper) sent out an email saying over 40 of their Chicagoland stores are releasing it on 12/1. That's not even counting the liquor stores around here. I've never had it, but I'm curious to hear people's reaction as craft beer has evolved quite a bit since 2011, especially adjunct/flavored BA stouts.

At the very least I'm hoping to find it on draft around here.

+1 I really like the ballast pointe sculpin. It brought me back to beer from whisky

Awesome. If you get a hold of a bunch I may have some stuff to trade you might be interested in.

Ill start asking around here to see if they expect to get much of it.

Will do, although I probably just jinxed myself, ha. If it's anything like BCBS and Goose Island, it might be dependent on how much Founders product a particular store moves regarding quantities. Founders moves pretty well here, so hopefully it's around without too much effort.

:clap::clap:

My brother just shot me an email yesterday on this beer after I told him about Founders Breakfast Stout

He said it's really good

This Founder's Backwoods Bastard...Ho-Lee Shit. Tastes like Four Roses mixed with a strong dark ale and smells like scotch. 11.2%, I have a buzz from one. Drank it pretty fast but damn I feel like a lightweight!

That was Direckshun's mom and I

Mother of God. I must find.

I love 4 roses and that sounds good.

My wife wins the weekend for lugging these KC beers back to Chicago for me. The BKS coffee stout is fantastic. I thought Clouds was tasty as well. I'd be excited if I still lived in KC, especially the old hood. I think BKS will up that beer scene exponentially.

https://i.imgur.com/NPRLET5.jpg?1

Bought to crack one open when my chicken cordon bleu gets down cooking and cooling.

Backwoods bastard is quite boozy and is certainly a sipper.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

BKS is killing it. Great beers.

New Holland which is close to Founders in Michigan brews Dragons Milk which is 11% as a regular beer and Pilgrims Dole which is a 12% Barleywine every year.

Oh, man. She's so ****ing dope. Looks good!

So after being lucky enough to drink the 2017 Bourbon County lineup on Sunday, I came away impressed (and drunken). Anyone that cares can read my amateurish thoughts as a non-authority who prefers IPAs in the spoiler.



Here's a pic of the haul (Reserve & Prop).

https://i.imgur.com/2bJ47NZ.jpg?1

:drool:

The coffee and blueberry and almond ones sound right up my alley.

Speaking of BCBS, I’m going to be in K.C. close to Olathe for thanksgiving. How hard is it to track down in KC? I’ve never been there for Black Friday so I wondered if there was any spot that would be more likely to have it.

I suppose it was worth missing the Chiefs game over.

I'm far from a coffee aficionado, but this years coffee used Intelligentsia’s Black Cat Espresso. I'm familiar with Intelligentsia because my favorite bar here serves it all day. I'll sometimes get a cold pressed coffee from them to-go and use it to jazz up a regular ol shelf stout at home. That said, I'll just say that there's a number of people here that prefer the coffee of others to Intelligentsia's. I thought it was very good, my wife who's also familiar with their coffee, loved it.

Hate to break it to you but as long as the beans aren't burnt, all espresso should taste pretty much the same. The long roasting time and heat burns off the coffee oil which actually has the flavor.

The historical reason for this is that when coffee was first popular in Europe the beans came from all over the place and were of varying quality. Roasting them dark basically made them all taste the same. That is why coffee in Southern Europe: France, Spain, Italy, Austria, and Turkey are all dark roasts while Northern Europe and the Americas: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Belgium are more of a medium roast as they got coffee beans much later once origin and quality were figured out.

As I said, comes down to whether or not you like expresso :D

Thanks for the coffee insight though, seriously, had no idea.

Lukas Liquors, Gomer's, Bubbles (in the Northland), Village West Liquors (Speedway) should all have it... I think Gomer's requires you have a loyalty card though. I'm sure there are others, but those are the stores I focused on.

The issue is (at least in the past) they limit to one or two bottles... one year they came out with 4 packs and places were limiting to one or two 12oz bottles.

I had given up on it in KC... limited, relatively expensive, and on ****ing Black Friday.

Video of the Goose Island BCBS line in Chicago. The line started yesterday around noon-ish. About the only time I wish for freezing rain and snow.

https://www.facebook.com/WGNTV/video...5081021337411/

Well, didn’t get the coffee that I was hoping for, but I got a regular, a reserve, and a barleywine. Not really a barleywine fan, but grabbed it just because I could. It should make a nice gift.

Small questionnaire for the beer aficionados:

1)What are your 3 favorite styles?
2)What are your least favorite styles?
3)Favorite craft brewer?
4)Favorite non-craft domestic brewer?
5)Favorite non-craft international brewer?
6)Favorite beer right now?

1)What are your 3 favorite styles? Stout, Hefeweizen, Bock
2)What are your least favorite styles? IPA, Pale Ale, Chili ales
3)Favorite craft brewer? Clown Shoes
4)Favorite non-craft domestic brewer? Spoeztl better known as Shiner
5)Favorite non-craft international brewer? Schneider Weisse
6)Favorite beer right now? Aventinus

1)What are your 3 favorite styles? IPA, Saison, Zwickel
2)What are your least favorite styles? Hefeweizen, Rauchbier, Irish Dry Stout
3)Favorite craft brewer? Half Acre
4)Favorite non-craft domestic brewer? Lagunitas
5)Favorite non-craft international brewer? Not exactly sure what qualifies, but Ayinger
6)Favorite beer right now? Corridor Provisions - SqueezIt

Non-craft international would be any of the bigger breweries and companies like Ayinger, Spaten, Pilsner Urquell, Budvar, etc.

Thanks man. I ended up with 6 regular 4 barleywine 6 BA Ten Fidy and a Big Bad baptista. Headed to side project for two bottles of Beer:Barrel:Time on the way home then Grand Rapids for the CBS launch. The beer fridge is going to be well stocked with stouts.

Would Lagunitas qualify as domestic non-craft?

I thought domestic non-craft was like Bud, Miller, Coors. Stuff like that.

They're 100% owned by Heineken, so technically not craft, yet brewed domestically. So I listed them. I think Bud, Miller and Coors are also all owned by foreign companies. Otherwise, I would've gone Miller for High Life.

See, I get all confused when we start talking about who owns what brand and all that. I just looked up Dos Equis to see if it would qualify for the non-craft international and it's made by Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, which is a Mexico subsidiary of Heineken. I'd guess that would qualify as non-craft international, right?

I've just always considered Lagunitas as a craft brewery that sold out to the man....but I would still call them craft, I would think. Similar to places like Goose Island, Karbach, and Wicked Weed, right? Or did some of those breweries only sell a portion of their company to the big beer industry?

1)What are your 3 favorite styles? Saison, IPA, Barleywine

Saison is my favorite, although I drink more IPAs since there is such an abundance.

2)What are your least favorite styles? sours of all kinds, wheats, that's about it really. I'll try anything else.
3)Favorite craft brewer? Tough question. Parish because of how much familiarity I have with them
4)Favorite non-craft domestic brewer? I'll go with Lagunitas as well. Stumbling upon Sucks while visiting a Flying Saucer is what started my beer journey.
5)Favorite non-craft international brewer? Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery. Only because they make Dos Equis, and that's the non-cradt beer that's usually being sipped at my buddy's place when I'm there.
6)Favorite beer right now? Another tough one. Once again, I've got Parish Nova Vert in the fridge right now, and it's likely my favorite Parish Beer, so I'll go with that. Mikerphone's Poetic Hustler is one of the best beers I've ever had, though. On any other day, that could have been my pick. [/QUOTE]

Thanks for posting that GloucesterChief. I feel like we need a longer survey now, though.

Yeah, it's splitting hairs at this point. The term "craft" at this point is pretty meaningless, imo. I know the Brewer's Association is trying to push the craft label, literally a logo on beer labels, to keep a clear distinction between breweries that fit their criteria as "craft breweries" and breweries owned by big beer. I'm in the drink what you like camp, but I respect those that refuse to support non-craft breweries. There are legit reasons, mostly fair, competitive distribution. But it's really just a mess of confusion for the average, even above average, beer drinker.

1)What are your 3 favorite styles? Stout, Porter, Rauchbier
2)What are your least favorite styles? IPA, APA, American Lager
3)Favorite craft brewer? Founder's
4)Favorite non-craft domestic brewer? Goose Island
5)Favorite non-craft international brewer? Duvel
6)Favorite beer right now? Founder's Breakfast Stout

Correct. Basically an internationally available beer not brewed in the US. So Dos Equis, Modelo, and Corona would all count.

Some of them are getting large enough to fit in the 2nd tier below big beer where Spoetzl, Sam Adams, and Yuengling sit.

I was at my BIL's yesterday and rummaging through his beer fridge. Some random shit in there, bunch of Miller Lite which I hate and then some Miller High Life.

I don't think I've had one of those in a decade or so. It was pretty damn good. Nothing I think I'll run out and buy, but enjoyable.

Tonight for the first time ever I did a mixed 6 pack for $9.99 at Safeway.

Ranked in order I will drink from lowest to highest ABV

1. Four Peaks Kilt Lifter - Scottish Ale 6.0% ABV
2. Leffe Blonde - Belgian Ale 6.6% ABV
3. ODell Brewing - IPA 7.0% ABV
4. Lagunitas Little Sumpin - Sumpin Ale 7.5% ABV
5. Stone - Delicious IPA 7.7% ABV
6. Four Peaks Double Hop Knot - IPA 9.0% ABV

I will probably make it through the first 4

I was flying back from KC yesterday, but someone picked up a couple each for me, and I should be able to get a lot more of the regular BCS. Had some on tap last night and it was fantastic. :drool:

https://i.imgur.com/6RrBgpq.jpg

Nice haul.

Epic must have just started distributing to Kansas (or I've completely missed it in the past). Big Bad Baptist is excellent, but prior to this week, I hadn't seen it anywhere since I first had it in LA maybe 4 years ago.

I will literally pay everyone a million dollars for their Bourbon County Barleywines.

I picked up 2 for you yesterday!

I can definitely agree that it's splitting hairs at this point. I believe I read about the Brewer's Association logo thing on Jester Kings facebook. Jester King is big on the independent movement, and they're going to be wearing the logo...but not on their bottles. They said they have too much respect for their label artist to put a logo on his work, so they're going to put it on the shipping boxes, or something like that.

Brash is big on the independent thing as well. As I've mentioned to you, I've seen them post about it a lot on Facebook, and they nearly campaigned against Karbach when they sold out. I get their frustrations. Since AB Inbev bought Karbach, they are all over the place down here, definitely taking up more of the craft shelf space.

That being said, I understand your drink what's good mindset as well. I'm all over the Goose Island BA Barleywine, and I enjoy a four pack of Sofie every once in a while. I'll still buy a Karbach beer if it looks interesting as well. I just can understand how the independent guys can be frustrated with the situation. They work hard, and to be bullied by the big beer industry has to get old.

My man. Appreciate it!

Here in Houston St. Arnolds and Karbach always took up the most space on the local shelf. 8th Wonder and Spindletap just started distributing cans within the last year. The rest is taken up by No Labels, Southern Star, and various other semi-local breweries. Buffalo Bayou has started distributing more with cans in addition to the bombers they have been putting out.

Yeah....I'm just on the other side of the border in Louisiana, and you rarely saw Karbach here. Now I see it everywhere. It's not a big deal here I guess, because there's not a ton of quality craft breweries in the area, but if there was, and Karbach was now taking their shelf space, it would be annoying.

Both of my kids are big craft beer lovers, my daughter brought me a 6 of Deschutes Black Butte Porter for Thanksgiving... havent tried it yet, but it looks dark and heavy

It was a fantastic shitshow this morning for Founders CBS bottles, but I managed to buy one. Looking forward to finally trying it this weekend.

Finally got my hands on a 9-pack of the Founder's Rubaeus. Not bad but not my cup of tea. I bet it'd be good on a hot summer day at the lake but definitely my least favorite Founder's so far.

It may be dark but it's only 5.2% ABV, not heavy at all.

I sometimes question whether or not people realize that the color of beer has nothing to do with how heavy it is?

Just how burnt!

I'm really hooked now on the mix and match 6 packs at Safeway for $9.99

Yesterday's purchase was (2) each of:

1. Hop Nosh IPA | Uinta Brewing Company 7.3% ABV
2. Black Butte Porter | Deschutes Brewery 5.2% ABV
3. Voodoo Ranger IPA | New Belgium Brewing 7.0% ABV

Really loved 2 and 3 and liked 1

I see it while pouring at beer festivals all the time. I'll have a 5.5% oatmeal stout and a 9.5% double IPA.

Patron - "Give me the lightest one you've got."
Me - OK, that would be our oatmeal stout at 5.5%.
Patron - "But, it's dark, that means it's super heavy! Can you pour me the double IPA instead?"
Me - Sure, but it's 9.5% and much heavier than the oatmeal stout.
Patron - "I don't care, I just know that dark beers are heavier."
Me - *sigh* Double IPA coming up!

Exchanges like that are one of the reasons that I cut down on doing events this year. There are other dialogues that happen continuously that are pretty similar, but this one is probably the most common.

For uneducated beer drinkers, definitely not. There's absolutely an expected correlation between beer color and how "heavy" it is. I remember when I was much younger, before I got into beer, I thought Guinness was a super heavy beer, lol.

They fooled you It's black water with a nitro charge for body.

I am a big beer drinker and when I bring a guest a dark beer they politely look at it for a while, when they get around to drinking some of it, they want to know what it was.

Guinness is one of the lowest calorie, low alcohol, non light beers on the planet.


But there is truth that most (not all) dark beers have more body to them than lighter colored beers.

A double IPA is likely going to be lighter on mouth feel than a Guinness. An oatmeal stout even more so, as that's the whole reason for oats in a stout, to add body and creaminess.

Light on alcohol and light in body are 2 very different things.

Negative, ghost rider. Body or heaviness in beer is derived from its final gravity and final gravity doesn't have any specific link to whether you use light or dark malt (which determines how light or how dark the beer is). The amount of residual sugar in a beer has zero to do with the malt bill and more to do with what yeast is used, what the initial gravity was and how much sugar the yeast was able to ferment out.

Oats or nitro are used to soften the mouthfeel of a beer, not to make it thicker.

I'm not trying to be particularly argumentative, as "heaviness" in beer is totally subjective, but after explaining this a lot to people, I almost have my response memorized.

You are only partially correct. I'm fairly knowledgeable on this topic. I brew 150+ gallons of beer a year and have been brewing for 5+ years using all grain techniques. Frankly I make some pretty fantastic beers. :D

The amount of residual sugar (final gravity) has to do with yeast and a whole lot to do with what temperature you mash the grains at and whether you are using very much umalted grain.

Higher mash temps create more unfermentable sugars and vice versa. If you want to add body to beer you mash it at a higher temp (154F+) and ferment it a little cooler depending on yeast. For example you can use S-05 yeast to make a Stout or an IPA, its appropriate for both styles of beer. The grain bill and the mash temp will completely change the attenuation of the beer. (How much sugar is converted). You can make a super light IPA or a fairly heavy stout using the same yeast and its all dependent on the grains and mash temp.


A lot of times dextrin is added to Stouts to add unfermentable sugars that are low on sweetness and add body as well. Its an easy way to do it.

My original POINT is that MOST dark beers are designed to have more body per the style. Yes you can make a black lager with light body but how many black lagers are there? Sure they exist but that's the exception.

And sorry dude you are 100% wrong on oats and body, oats absolutely add body to beer. Unmalted grains typically produce less fermentable sugars as well. Oats are commonly used in session IPA's (I hate that term) to add body to them due to the super light grain bill used to create the lower ABV. If you simply mashed super high in temp they would be too sweet and wouldn't be bitter enough for an IPA.

You can create any color of beer with any type of body to it you want, I am not disputing that, that doesn't mean that it fits the rule of thumb.

Frankly it sounds like your response to people on this hasn't been all that accurate. 95% of the time a dark beer is going to have more body (mouth feel) to it. You seem obsessed with pushing the exception to it.

The real misunderstanding is that darker beers are stronger in ABV than lighter beers which as you know is not close to being true.

Where do you guys come out on packaging formats?

I opened my 2017 Founders CBS last weekend and really enjoyed it. My only gripe though is the 750ml bottle format. Fortunately I was able to share it, as I would've been good with just an 8oz pour. Anymore though, I find myself trending away from big bottle formats on all styles, with a few exceptions of course. I prefer cans, 12 or 16oz, then 12oz bottles. A local brewery here just started packaging their BA beers in 4pk 12oz cans and they're great.

I hate the 22oz/750ml format, and avoid buying them whenever possible. I like 16oz cans for "regular strength" beers, and 12oz/375ml/500ml for higher octane stuff. I'm loving the trend toward cans on the whole.

I'm fine with them, though I usually will save them for when I can share it.

lucky dog, we don't get the varietals in KS, and I didn't even make it out of BF this year to get any let alone the 8 bottles I got last year. Still have a couple to drink.

Made up for it with 2 CBS though.

Yea thats what I try to do, it depends on the ABV. 7-9% stuff isn't too bad to knock back a 750ml, anything higher than that gets sketchy unless you have a while to drink it all.

I actually prefer the 16oz and 17oz bottles like the Bourbon county. I get a little extra and can still say I only drank 1. :D

Or you can split one of those into a couple smaller pours.

I've been trending away from big bottles for awhile, but it was seeing the $25 CBS sitting next to the $11.99 Lagunitas Willettized 6pk that hammered it home. I get that they're different beers (I haven't had Willettized yet) with differing raw materials that go into making them, possibly coming from different distributors, but at least around here, Willettized might be more limited than CBS and it's $13 less for nearly 3x the beer in a format I can enjoy in multiple settings.

Not that I don't think CBS is worth $25, but seeing that just struck me. Especially since Founders packaged 4pks of CBS for international.

Yeah... Modern Times' Monster's Park is $34, I bought Stone's Mikhail for $18 and it seemed like a bargain. Dragon's Milk Reserve is like $40 for a 4 pack. It's all excellent beer, but some of it is getting a bit absurd.

I know you brew as I've seen your posts so I kinda expected your reponse. :)

Yes, my explanation isn't thorough in your context, but I'm not going to be able to fit any of that wall of text (albeit correct) to a person in a line when I've got 20 more behind them waiting for beer.

I certainly do appreciate the more thorough explanation though.

:thumb: Gotcha.

I do enjoy pouring beer at festivals but you get some really dumb questions sometimes. My favorite is "What do you have that's close to Bud Light?" Ive been asked that many times.

If you want Bud Light drink Bud Light, don't go to a craft beer festival.

As of tomorrow I will be the proud owner of a freshly emptied 10gal whiskey barrel from Restless Spirits in North KC.

I'll be brewing up my own version of BCS in early January.

I am not a canned beer guy, it either has a funk or BPA risks, neither is something that I like. I stick with glass, and keep the cans to a minimum.

It's been a long time since I have seen any keg beer that wasn't in stainless steel.

If you think your 22 oz. bottles are a bitch, where I used to live in IN had a large selection of 9 liter and larger bottles in a pub.

https://s8.postimg.org/5s6mqjgs5/beer.jpg

I tell them that they are in luck, " if you don't like the 2-3 ounces, we are outside so either give it to your friend or dump it on the ground" "NEXT"

Was able to enjoy a draft BCS tonight. Really impressed with this year's version.

Two fairly close in Texas:

St. Arnold's Santo
Shiner Bohemian Black

I'm walking back on this post, its definitely growing on me. Still not as good as most of the other Founder's brews Ive tried but it is pretty freakin tasty.