Tracker Pixel for Entry

​Founders KBS released to the local market

Beer Snob | April 5th, 2017

While it is true that beer aged in wooden barrels has been around for centuries, the modern practice of aging beer in a whiskey barrel was first tried in the early 1990s, with the initial experiments that would become Goose Island Brewing’s “Bourbon County Brand Stout.”

Since then, scores of craft brewers, both large and small, have taken to aging different brews in barrels that were formerly used for whiskey, specifically: bourbon or rye casks.

Though Goose Island still sees a huge demand for their Black Friday release of BCBS, there are others who have made their annual barrel-aged beer releases into gigantic events that see hordes of beer hunters driving around town, snatching up as many of these beers as they can grab, as soon as the retail stores open in the morning.

Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS) has quickly become one of these enormously popular, highly coveted barrel-aged brews. Though this year was the second year it was available in the North Dakota market, demand was still strong and once again we had early morning customers waiting for the doors to open so they could get their limit and drive along to their next stop to grab more.

Though wildly popular now, the early years for KBS were a very tough sell. With a retail price of $22-$25 for a 4 pack of twelve ounce bottles and little to no press, it wasn’t until they entered the beer into the 2015 Extreme Beer Festival in Boston that word began to spread via the internet and demand spiked almost immediately. Now, the nationwide release of KBS is preceded by KBS Week in Michigan, where thousands wait hours outside the brewery and taprooms everywhere hold ceremonial tappings of this big but balanced beer that is loaded with chocolate, espresso, and barrel flavors like smoke, vanilla, and caramel.

It has become such a driving force for Founders and the demand for space required for barrel aging has grown so much that they recently completed a sizable expansion of their barrel aging facility.

You should still be able to find KBS in four packs and perhaps a random bomber bottle here and there, depending on the retailer. KBS is either already on tap or will be on tap soon at restaurants and bars that are known for incredible beer selections, so saddle on up and try a snifter of what many consider one of the best balanced whiskey barrel-aged beers available.

Founders has also expanded their barrel-aging program to include more seasonal releases of new barrel aged brews they hope will see the same success and notoriety that KBS has enjoyed.

One of those beers, Founders Frootwood, was released to our local market back in January of this year and is grabbing some attention from both fans of slightly tart brews as well as people like myself: fans of old fashioned whiskey cocktails. This beer, according to Founders, starts out as a light and crisp cherry ale but is drastically augmented when it is aged in barrels that previously held bourbon and then maple syrup.

My first impression of this bold new brew is a beer cocktail version of the classic Manhattan. The order of flavors to hit the palate is whiskey first, tart cherry in the middle, and touches of maple sugary sweetness finish by barely coating the tongue which helps the flavor linger on without dominating the cherry ale base and the whiskey influence. The way in which the maple syrup keeps coming back at just the right time to bring balance between the whiskey and the tart cherry is quite enjoyable and kept me coming back for more until the glass was gone. This one might even appeal to fans of lambics or other tart fruit or slightly soured beers as much as it does to fans of whiskey-enhanced brews.

Founders Frootwood is still available at several of the major retailers in the local market.

I’d like to bring up one more unique and interesting take on a barrel-aged beer that comes from Boulevard Brewing in the form of their Scotch on Scotch “barrel” aged beer. This is an oddball for sure, given that not a whole lot of brewers age a scotch ale and I don’t know of any others that age it quite like this.

Following primary fermentation, Boulevard introduces oak chips from a used Scotch whiskey barrel which helps impart a whole lot of oaky characteristics into this heavily malted beer. Complex and earthy with lots of notes of plum, red grapes, figs, toffee, and spice, the pour I had out of a 12oz bottle was at times overwhelmed with huge amounts of oak that was mostly raw wood-chip like but at times came across as smokey. The fruit and earth flavors were challenged at times by the amount of oak, but it almost became a game to me to try to find those flavors again after the oak took over.

Fans of smoke, oak, and scotch ales should consider at least tasting this one to discover how unique it is. Look for it at your favorite off sale or anywhere with a great selection of tap beers.

Recently in:

By Winona LaDukewinona@winonaladuke.com The business of Indian Hating is a lucrative one. It’s historically been designed to dehumanize Native people so that it’s easier to take their land. ‘Kill the Indian, save the man,”…

By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.eduI was pleased to visit with many colleagues and at the Germans from Russia Heritage Society Convention in Mandan in July, and at the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia…

October 4-20, Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.Theatre B, 210 10th St. N in MoorheadThis funny, earnest and hopeful play is a breath of fresh air heading into election season. Playwright Heidi Schreck paid for her…

Happy 30th Birthday HPRBy John Strandjas@hpr1.comThirty years ago some gutsy UND student journalists hanging at Whitey’s in East Grand Forks got enough liquid courage to create their own damn newspaper. Then with drinks raised,…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comWhere will the homeless go when billionaires go to their bunkers?Icelanders are living almost on top of volcanos but are cooled by ice, snow, and placid attitudes while hiding a keen sense of…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com In this land of hotdish and ham, the knoephla soup of German-Russian heritage seems to reign supreme. In my opinion though, the French have the superior soup. With a cheesy top layer, toasted baguette…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.com Like any metropolitan area, Fargo-Moorhead has a plethora of radio stations representing a variety of musical genres and other content. And like any other playing field in the world of…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com Writer-director Nicole Riegel’s sophomore feature “Dandelion” is now playing in theaters following a world premiere at South by Southwest in March. The movie stars KiKi Layne as the…

By HPR Contributorssubmit@hpr1.com They are the inventive, passionate, adaptable, resourceful, sometimes over-enthusiastic, wack-tacular people who create art in our community, and they’re opening their studio doors to you for…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.comHigh Plains Reader had the opportunity to interview two mysterious new game show hosts named Milt and Bradley Barker about an upcoming event they will be putting on at Brewhalla. What…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By John Showalter  john.d.showalter@gmail.comThey sell fentanyl test strips and kits to harm-reduction organizations and…

JANUARY 19, 1967– MARCH 8, 2023 Brittney Leigh Goodman, 56, of Fargo, N.D., passed away unexpectedly at her home on March 8, 2023. Brittney was born January 19, 1967, to Ruth Wilson Pollock and Donald Ray Goodman, in Hardinsburg,…

By Jim Fugliejimfuglie920@gmail.com“The first thing we do is, let’s kill all the lawyers.”You might recall that memorable line, uttered by Dick the Butcher, from perhaps the least memorable of Shakespeare’s plays, “Henry…