Founders Breakfast Stout

This week, I tried something a little less fancy.  A good and swanky fella donated to my cause a cold six of Founders Oatmeal Stout.  It is a bit more off-the-shelf than what I have been trying, but no less unknown to me and no less fun to try.  So, I sit down and begin.

This guy was brewed for us by Founders Brewery (says so right on the label), they directly named it Breakfast Stout Double Chocolate Coffee Oatmeal Stout and gave it a beautiful 60 IBUs, 8.3%ABV.  The beer is dark, the head minimal, and the bottle has a creepy weird kid on the label.

Soooooo, that creepy kid on the label is totally eating a big bowl of beer with a spoon.  I have no idea what to make of that.  I'm kind of scared, really.  Why do I have to share my beer with some damn kid?  I don't like that kid, his stupid napkin, or his damn spoon.  Screw that budding booze-hound, let's drink some beer.

I liked this beer, at first.  It has oodles of flavor molecules and feels good to drink.  Here, I'll break with established tradition and do the big taste right up front.  There is a train I have to get in front of, and if I wait for the second glass, it will have passed.  Tipping back the glass, you smell the choco malts and the metallic tinge, then your tongue agrees.  Choco malt, yeast, metal, mild bitterness, alcohol, all the things expected from a stout, plus the chewy mouth-feel of an oatmeal stout.  All of that is fine, actually better than fine.  Not outstanding, but certainly worth pouring into a glass.  A glass, just one.  From a 12oz bottle, drink the first 6, then make bread or cheese dip or something with the rest.  What begins as an enjoyable stout, gets muddy, difficult, overly acidic, and just no damn fun.  Towards the end, you feel like you are just trying to prove something to yourself.

Glass two, I lost all my steam.  I don't even want it anymore.  I think the weird kid on the label is there to finish all the bottles when people stop wanting them.  Power to him, I say.  He's doing a great service to the community.  Buuuuuuut, then again, the first glass is pretty tasty.  I don't want to libel up a good beer, so how about a compromise?  Buy a bottle, obtain a drinking buddy, find two glasses, split to bottle, and have a nice beer.  Seriously.