Founders Brewing's KBS week hits Detroit for the first time

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The makers of Founders Brewing Co.'s Kentucky Breakfast Stout take the Free Press to their underground bourbon-barrel aging caves. Robert Allen Detroit Free Press

For the first time, Detroit is getting its own KBS Week. 

The annual release this March of Michigan's most famous bourbon-barrel-aged stout will be at Founders Brewing Co.'s taprooms in both Grand Rapids and Detroit, the latter of which opened in December. 

Kentucky Breakfast Stout (11.8% alcohol by volume in 2017) is made with two kinds of Belgian chocolate, two types of locally roasted coffee, lots of oats, roasted grains and barley. It's aged in bourbon barrels, including those in underground gypsum mines beneath Grand Rapids. 

Founders brewmaster Jeremy Kosmicki previously said KBS started as an experiment with a few bourbon barrels in the early 2000s. The big, flavorful beer has since become one of Michigan's most popular brews. 

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The release this year includes a package with three four-packs of 12-ounce bottles and one 750-milliliter bottle for $92 plus ticketing fees. The beer is ordered and paid for online, and then picked up in person at the taprooms March 6-11, according to the KBS Week website. KBS Week also involves tapping events across metro Detroit, listed on the website. 

The beer will be distributed to stores, as well, but even at $24 per four-pack and $20 per large bottle, KBS frequently is gone from shelves within a day or two. The full release in bottles and on draft begins April 1 across Founders' 46-state distribution footprint.

"As we continue to produce a higher volume, the demand continues to grow. We strive to produce more, but that does not mean it's more easily available," according to the KBS week website. 

Tickets for the beer packages go on sale at 11 a.m. Feb. 2, via Ticketfly. Up to two tickets may be purchased per person. 

Taproom release parties are scheduled as well, from 11 a.m.-1 a.m. March 10 in Detroit, and from 11 a.m.- 2 a.m. March 10 in Grand Rapids. The event is free to anyone over 21. 

More details, along with metro Detroit tapping events, are available on the KBS Week website. 

Spirits of Detroit columnist Robert Allen covers craft alcohol for the Free Press. Contact him: rallen@freepress.com or on Untappd, raDetroit; Twitter @rallenMI, and Facebook robertallen.news.