Toppling Goliath Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout
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Tasting Notes
Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout is one of the most sought-after imperial stouts in the world, and it delivers accordingly: the aroma is dominated by fresh-brewed coffee and maple syrup, with dark chocolate and vanilla underneath. On the palate, those same notes play out with remarkable clarity — the coffee character (sourced from Toppling Goliath's collaboration with a local roaster) reads as cold brew rather than bitter espresso, and the maple sweetness is genuine rather than cloying. The body is full and viscous without being syrupy, and the finish lingers with roast and a subtle boozy warmth that's well-integrated for the ABV. There's almost no hop presence — this beer is built entirely around adjunct richness and barrel-forward depth.
About the Brewery
Toppling Goliath is based in Decorah, Iowa, a small town that became an unlikely pilgrimage destination for craft beer enthusiasts largely on the strength of this brewery's reputation. Founded in 2009, they built their name on heavily hopped IPAs — PseudoSue and King Sue were early cult favorites — before their imperial stout program, particularly Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout and Mornin' Delight, landed consistently near the top of global beer rankings. Their limited releases routinely command significant secondary market prices, and their taproom draws visitors from well outside the region.
Food Pairings
A coffee-forward imperial stout this rich pairs best with foods that can match or complement its intensity. A slice of flourless chocolate cake works because the bittersweet cocoa mirrors the roast without fighting it. Candied bacon or a maple-glazed pork belly plays directly into the beer's own maple character, reinforcing rather than contrasting. Aged gouda offers a nutty, caramel sweetness that bridges the gap between the beer's savory roast and its dessert-like sweetness. If you want something simpler, a good vanilla ice cream alongside the beer functions almost as an affogato — the cold dairy softens the alcohol and lets the coffee notes shine.
Style Guide
American Double or Imperial Stout is essentially a stout pushed to extremes — higher gravity, more roasted malt, more adjunct potential, and ABVs typically running from around 10% to 14%. The style grew out of English export stouts but was thoroughly reinvented by American craft brewers in the 1990s and 2000s, who leaned into barrel aging and flavor adjuncts like coffee, vanilla, and chocolate in ways the original English versions never pursued. What separates it from a standard stout is sheer density and complexity: where a dry Irish stout is lean and bitter, an imperial stout is built for slow sipping. Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout sits at the more adjunct-forward, coffee-and-maple end of that spectrum rather than the purely malt-driven end.