KBS

Kentucky. Breakfast. Stout. This Founders brew is probably the best beer I've ever had. Better than anything I've had at Monk's or Kraftwerk or Resurrection or Brauhaus. And I got it from Fiume. After two city specials.

I don't know if the contrast between the low of the PBR/cheap whiskey combo and the high of the world-class beer that followed really made the KBS for me, but it certainly didn't hurt. It's extremely dark and high in alcohol content but the thing that separate this from other high-octane black bruisers is the forcefulness of its flavors. Typically a drink summons mere notes of elements, from coriander to daffodils to smoked meat. Or, in the case of 4Loko, poison. The KBS abandons that concept, straight-up kicking you in the face with flavor. It's chocolate, coffee and bourbon swirling milkily in each sip. The flavor is relentless, but so satisfying as to avoid a numbing sensation. I recall the Harpoon Leviathan saison with a huge flavor, yet that flavor was disappointingly monochromatic, making the quaffage a real chore. KBS spaces its taste references so that you experience them individually and then as a wonderful amalgamation. I would rank it above Dogfish's Palo Santo Marron in terms of my favorite dark beers, and along with Ommegang's Tripel Perfection and the Oskar Blues TenFidy as perhaps the greatest beer ever. And I got it at Fiume! The KBS is just a totally metal beer, all the flavors at high volume and speed, melting your face where more polite indie rock beers might tap you on the shoulder and ask if you've heard the new Best Coast. KBS doesn't ask, it fucks shit up.