Founders CBS: Canadian Breakfast Stout

This 11.6% ABV imperial stout brewed with chocolate and coffee and aged in maple syrup and bourbon barrels is from the Founders Brewing Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The beer pours black with a short head of dark brown foam. The aroma is deep, rich, dark roasted, coffee, chocolate, light char, sweet, but not getting much maple, with very little bourbon noticeable. The maple picks up some as it warms, but I never get much bourbon out of this one. The taste is a pleasant, sweet, dark roasted amalgam of the aromas, adding in some vanilla. There is quite a bit of chocolate and a bit of oak. Some dark cherry also makes its way in. There is ample sweetness, but the finish is fairly dry, with a moderate bitterness appropriate to the dark roasted flavor notes. The beer drinks smooth, mostly soft, with some tingling carbonation. This is excellent. If I nitpicked this to my total flavor profile liking, I would have the maple be just a touch more present, would have just a bit less chocolate, and more bourbon (which is also barely present in the flavor to me). But, as I said, that is total nitpicking, as this is delicious.