Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

Brewed by Goose Island Beer Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Chicago, Illinois USA

Bottle, 2008. Not sure why I didnt rate this the last time I had it, but since I love this beer its no problem doing it again. Pours a thick syrupy black tar, with very minimal reddish tan head. Aromas are thick of licorice, tobacco, bourbon and come coffee. The flavor is very similar to the aroma with some bitter chocolate being noticed towards the finish. I love the thick syrupy, sticky palate of this beer....it makes me smile everytime.

Thanks to Secret Santa for this one! Pours motor oil black. After a moment, a deep brown head makes a futile attempt to break the surface, but promptly drowns in the blackness. Aroma is thick with deep chocolate, espresso, and bourbon. When it was cool, the bourbon was almost too much, as I felt it overwhelmed the other flavors. But as it warmed, everything fell into balance - dark chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, alcohol, espresso all working together in unison. There is a faintly cereal note on the finish that keeps this from being perfect, but still awfully good stuff.

This is one of my all-time favorites. One of the original bourbon-barrels and still the best that I have tried. There’s a ton of bourbon flavor but it is backed up with a ton of beer behind it. They didn’t hold back on this one.

This is a big beer. I let it warm up just a bit before cracking it open and ensured I used a nice wide snifter. One bottle can be shared easily with 2 people.

It took me long enough to rate this damn beer. Bottle. Dated Oct. 08. Pours a viscous dark black brown color that lets a little light in around the edges and coats the glass when swirled. A tope colored ring makes up the almost non existent head of this brew. Its body appears still. The mouthfeel is incredibly smooth and reduces this 13% alcohol beast to a shockingly quaffable delight with just a hint of its ruggedness on the back end. Nose is vanilla bean, a little bit of raw shredded baking coconut, heavy toast oak, booze, dates, port, baked cinnamon apple crumble, and some heath toffee bar. The taste reminds me of a late harvest Zinfandel I once had with some dark chocolate truffles. The smokey yet sweet and vinous qualities of this beer merge with deep dark chocolate and thick syrupy molasses like characteristics to form a complex and thought provoking expression of brewing. Very well done.

2008 bottle. Deep, dark brown in color with very minimal tan head. Aroma was vanilla, molasses, dark malts, and dark fruits. Flavor was all that, plus some chocolate, and was fairly sweet. Not much carbonation, and the alcohol was in the forefront. Pretty good.

Draft (snifter glass) at the GI (Clybourn location). Pours dark as night black. Very small tan head. Good lacing. Strong molasses and vanilla aroma. Thick texture. Almost like cough syrup. Tastes of coffee & chocolate, but overpowered by sweetness. Strong warming sensation. Lingering Molasses mouthfeel. No question that this is a great beer, however maybe some aging would allow the flavors to be brought out from the overpowering sweetness.