Found the Founders

Sometimes you just write off a brewery as not appealing to you. You try a couple of their beers, they don't quite click for you and you just don't go back for more. For me, Founders was a written off brewery. When they first came to Missouri I tried a couple of their brews, including the Dirty Bastard and Red's Rye PA and didn't think much of them. We had a Cerise at one of the Gents KC meetings and it was awful (though to be fair I absolutely loathe cherries, so odds were against me liking that one). I've had Breakfast Stout several times and like it but all the fuss over KBS, which, again is very good, just makes me not want to deal with the Breakfast Stout. Plus, Founders is only sold in Missouri so, on the rare occasions I go over to Missouri to buy beer, I'm more likely to buy Bell's (again only available in Missouri) which I enjoy quite a bit more.

Now, I'm not going to say all is right with me and Founders, but I will say I found a couple of beers I really enjoy, Double Trouble and Imperial Stout. Both are somewhat limited releases and may be a little harder to find, I know Gomer's South, Royal and Lukas Martin City have both of them because I've bought them there in the past week.

Double Trouble, which is a Double IPA, is excessively drinkable, especially for a 9.4% ABV beer is my favorite of the two. I first had it last week and almost had to forcibly stop myself from cracking over a second one. It's not super sweet which is the downfall of most DIPA's which allows it to be wonderfully citrusy. All around a wonderful treat that will sneak up on you because the alcohol is in hiding, you'll never even know it's there.

Imperial Stout is simply a great imperial stout. It has a nice little chocolate flavor and once again, the alcohol is hidden. If it gets cold again, you're going to want to have it around to warm you up before you go to bed. I'm really rationing the Imperial Stout until Boulevard's version comes out in a couple of weeks. From what I remember of Boulevard's it doesn't come close to being as enjoyable as the Founders Imperial Stout. And I certainly enjoy it more than the celebrated Breakfast Stout

Both Imperial Stout and Double Trouble are available in 4 packs of 12 oz. bottles for around $10. And both are well worth it.