March 18 marks the beginning of Founders' KBS Week. Kegs of the renowned Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS) beer will be tapped at at least three local pubs each day Tuesday through Friday. The celebration week is capped with an all day KBS party in Founders' tap room and will feature live funk jam bands Twiddle and Medicinal Groove that night.
"Before, on the release dates, it was on tap here but nowhere else. It’s sort of flipped," says Joey Basch, entertainment and events manager for Founders. Offering tapping events at other locations helps KBS reach a broader audience. These tapping events give restaurants and bars the opportunity to bring in more business and offer special food and beer pairings, says Basch. "The biggest deal is the fact that we’re actually not making it insular. We’re involving the community."
"The fact that it’s in different spots every day and in different parts of town makes it easier. Folks that are on the fringe of Grand Rapids, that aren’t downtown and don’t come downtown, their opportunity to have KBS goes up," says Basch.
Since KBS was first developed over 10 years ago, fandom and hype has grown exponentially.
"I think the first KBS we did was probably 2003 and it was probably only a couple barrels full," says Jeremy Kosmicki, head brewer at Founders. "We were doing Breakfast Stout so we filled a couple of bourbon barrels up and we liked it, but it needed a little more [body] to it."
"So we beefed up the recipe to a higher gravity, added more ingredients," says Kosmicki. "The barrel aging will tend to thin the beer out a bit because the alcohol, you’re drying out in the wood. You need to get a higher gravity beer in there if you want it to be thick when it comes out." With these additions, KBS was born.
Kosmicki notes the growth of Internet ratings sites being integral to the growth and recognition of both KBS and the Founders brand.
"By the time I started paying attention, it was already a big deal. We’re talking about maybe 2005 before it really started happening," says Kosmicki. "So we’d done it a couple years before it took off like that. People started to really talk about Founders."
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