Name: Founders Breakfast Stout
Brewery: Founders Brewing (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Style: Oatmeal Stout
ABV: 8.3
IBU: 60
Final Grade: A
Score: 46

“Beer is for breakfast around here, drink or be gone.” — Douglas Coughlin (from “Cocktail”)

Amen brother. You were a self-destructive drunk, but man could you speak the truth. Especially when loaded on brandy.

To be clear, I did not drink Founders Breakfast Stout with my morning meal. But I pretended to by having “breakfast” for lunch. Waffles, strawberries, eggs with cheddar cheese. Delicious.

Beer with breakfast is not what Founders is encouraging here. Beer is breakfast, says this Michigan brewery. You’ve got a decadent meal of oatmeal, coffee, finished with a couple bites of dark chocolate. If they’d brewed this beer with lactose, you really would have a good portion of the food pyramid covered.

I first became aware of Schlafly beers (made by The Saint Louis Brewery) when I read a story about them storming the gates at Busch Stadium. Right on, I thought. Local craft beer penetrates the castle.

The solstice may have passed, but those of us who live in New England are still begging for the light to return here in the dead of winter. Enter Sixpoint’s Diesel.

So, who knew that Rogue’s Shakespeare Stout was an oatmeal stout? Not me, anyway. I guess I just never paid attention.

The brown envelope arrived a week ago while I was working a Saturday shift.

March 5 is when this year’s incarnation of Kate the Great will be released at the Portsmouth Brewery. Here’s a look back at what the event was like last year.

Monday morning began cold and none of the clocks worked. Neither did the coffee maker or shower.

An ice storm had caused a power outage that left thousands of Granite Staters like me in a “situation,” facing a long day ahead and slick streets in between. Mondays are terrifying enough, but March in New England offers up something that will infuse you with a general sense of doubt.

The day would be won purely on internal motivation. I didn’t have to work. I could have just stayed home, kicked back with a Bloody Mary and messed around on YouTube. Instead, I got in my car at 8 a.m. and drove 2 hours to Portsmouth, N.H., to taste a beer that is the stuff of legend.

I was on five hours sleep after working 14 hours covering New England town meetings. The baby was sick. The dog was annoying me. And then — more snow. I so wanted something to believe in.

The grilled peaches with prosciutto wrapped seared scallops presented a challenge to The Brooklyn Brewery.

More specifically, it was a challenge to Patrick Paulick and Garrett Oliver. Paulick is the New England regional manager for Brooklyn Brewery who happened to be guiding a cozy group of 20-or-so people through a beer dinner at The Perfect Pear Cafe in Bradford, Vt. And Oliver… well, you know who he is.

But just in case — Oliver is a kind of legend of gustation and grooming. He is the brewmaster at the Brooklyn Brewery and the author of The Brewmaster’s Table, an indispensable guide on pairing beer with food. He has been called “the Robert Parker of beer.” To that, I’d add “the pimp of primp.”

Anyway, Paulick confessed that the peach with scallops dish presented a conundrum. It’s just not a pairing they’d seen before. So what beer could accompany it? Which Brooklyn offering could complement the caramelized sweetness of the peach, the saltiness of the prosciutto and the fishy texture of the scallops?

Alaska — never been there, but now I want to go soooooo bad. No, not for its lovely winters, but to sample some of the state’s outstanding beers.

This North Carolina microbrewery fancies itself as “The Dark Beer Specialist.”