Think about breakfast.  It’s night-time as I write this, and I just enjoyed dinner, so that’s a little tough for me.  But I’m asking you to do me a solid and think about it anyway.

Mmmm. Doesn’t that look good?

When I think about breakfast, I think about the standards. French toast smothered in syrup, breakfast sandwiches piled high on everything bagels, omelets full of spinach and tomatoes, gooey with cheese.  It’s time to think about something else for breakfast.

Founders Breakfast Stout is a super hyped imperial stout that I’d heard touted by beer snobs and infrequent drinkers alike. When I saw it for $10/4-pack at Whole Foods (and had a gift card) I couldn’t say no.  So I didn’t.

I saved the bottles for a rainy day, which actually just meant a visit from the beau. I really think that I should have waited for this very cold, skin-biting weather that hit North Carolina the moment I returned from my long holiday break.  I think it’d be the perfect beer for a cold night by a fire (a tiny one inside of a Yankee Candle glass.)

The beer is described by Founders Brewing Company as:

The coffee lover’s consummate beer. Brewed with an abundance of flaked oats, bitter and imported chocolates, and Sumatra and Kona coffee, this stout has an intense fresh-roasted java nose topped with a frothy, cinnamon-colored head that goes forever. 8.3% ABV

It’s interesting thing about this beer… I don’t like coffee. In fact, I don’t drink it at all, never have, never will. But, for whatever reason, coffee beer just fills my heart (and mouth) with joy. Founders Breakfast Stout poured a dark brown, basically opaque glass of beer. The smell is rich, intense, and reminds me of a romance between a brewery and a coffee house.

Are there any hybrid brewpubs and coffee spots around?  I bet there’d be a number of intriguing regular customers frequenting that joint.

ANYWAY, the aroma was intoxicating, like a sweeter version of the bitter coffee of which I’m not a fan.

I can’t say anything about a Kona or Sumatra coffee and what that might taste like, but the sensations that hit my tongue were heavy, creamy, and VERY coffee-like (says the non-coffee drinker, basing that opinion on nothing but imagination). It was also pretty sweet and, frankly, a little too rich for my tastes.  It didn’t beat out my very favorite coffee brew, Big Boss’ Aces & Ates, but for a one-beer drink with a loved one, not too shabby. I wouldn’t say it lived up to the almost fanatical hype I’d heard about it, but I’d totally enjoy it again.

What’s your favorite pairing with a coffee flavor? 

Mine’s definitely the beer + coffee combo.

Once, I tried a coffee frozen yogurt, and hated it more than I’ve ever hated any frozen yogurt flavor. That’s just depressing.