Is this KBS? Is what they currently sell KBS? Whenever they went from the limited availability KBS to the year-round KBS, there was a noticeable drop in quality and flavor. The beer suddenly skewed very hard to coffee, and - as a result - it wound up plummeting from the perfect 5.0 to something much lower. If this is a coffee stout, it doesn't say so on the label. Maybe they are implying it with the KBS moniker. Either way, this is aged in bourbon barrels, and it apparently has blueberries. Those are two factors that could lead to a very excellent beer.
The only thing remarkable about the pour was the very slight blue hue that I can only assume is coming from the blueberries. The head is dark tan or light brown, depending on how you want to describe it. There is a ring around the sides of the glass once it boils down, but it is incomplete, as is the covering on the top of the beer. The aroma has blueberries on top of heavy alcohol, earth, and what I can only describe as mahogany.First sip is sweet blueberry syrup with heavy alcohol, wood, dark chocolate, and gritty earth. Honestly, I'm probably not doing this beer justice. I think there is some mocha in there, so this is going to be a beer soiled by coffee, but it is layered enough that the coffee is positively contributing to the beer rather than detracting from it. This is pretty unusual for beers with coffee in them, but it is something that the original KBS managed to pull off. Maybe the new KBS just needs to add more flavors into the beer to bring out only the best of the coffee rather than leave the coffee to its own devices.
Tip-in is moderate carbonation that is rising quickly. Under it, the blueberries merge sweetness with a tart coming from elsewhere as the earth and alcohol look around to find the ghost of wood that is floating about. The middle cracks open a whole bottle of sweet syrup laced with molasses, dark chocolate, coffee, and dark fruits that merge with the flavors from the tip-in to create a fantastic melody. The finish turns slightly tart as bitterness tries to assert itself before the blueberries grab hold of alcohol and head into the trail off.
Bottom Line: A solid spin.
4.0/5