Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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

12 oz bottle 2007 vintage. Black black black thick oil black with a tiny dark caramel brown head and ring. The milky way of lace is swirling around the black universe. Nose is booze and cocoa/chocolate and raisins and vanilla and I’m in love. Brown sugar and caramel. Lovely. Taste is cocoa and malt and booze. Nose burn from the alcohol. Bitter afters. Getting too much alcohol overpowering a lot of it. Sweet dark fruit comes through in the beginning. Super gooey sticky loogy making in the back of my throat. Have to decide later how good I think it is.

Pours dark very dark. Thin Tan head. Full of flavors Oak, Carmel, Java, Vanilla. Awesome beer.

2008 bottle @ Kukko, Turku. Black (sic) with a tiny tanned head. Very smooth and oaky nose, molasses, natural buttery vanilla ice-cream. Flavor starts with madeira like fruits along with oak, some earthy liquorice, molasses, faint tar, menthol and cheap cologne. It’s huge, but still drinkable. Roasted ryebread and bitter cocoa finish, alcohol shows here. Massively thick, mouthfilling palate, like real hot chocolate. Nowhere near perfect, though this might age so well. Now it got very one dimensional after a few sips.

This is one of those times where the aroma of the beer opens my eyes and tickles the synapses in my brain. It’s bourbon, it’s toasted oak, it’s barnyard (well maintained barnyard), it’s friggin’ Kentucky with a touch of heat. Reminds me of my sister in-law’s horses. Sexy black, darkish tan head. Instantly coats my mouth and kind of insulates it for the next sip. Oily, slick, more toasted wood, burnt sugar, edible motor oil, and love. I have to swallow twice. Damn near cloying, but there’s just too much going on to distract my palate. This beer hits me on all cylinders. Gets more sticky with each sip, though I don’t seem to mind it.

2008 Bottle @ Fredrik. Black with brown head. Sweet vanilla toffee chocolate oak wood herbs coffee hops. Long sweet strong alkoholic aftertaste

Original review date 10/29/2008. 2007 vintage into a Cab glass... Deep, dark, espresso/motor oil/tar...needless to say, quite viscous with wisps of pumpernickel head up top - very small wisps. Creamy vanilla with a lot of oaky feel to it - bourbon sweetness with hearty chocolate tones...a nice smokiness as in ultra-seared steak char. Heavy, boozy caramel...more bittersweet chocolate - almost too much to mention here. With further warmth, grassy hops emerge. It’s got it all, baby...$#!+ dog! Whooo hooo...complexity abounds. Bourbon, vanilla, oak, coffee...ultra-dry bitter coffee/chocolate mega-roasted malt...austere grassy hops complement the bittersweet malt quite nicely and after a while balance out the bourbon booziness. This cools off nicely with a fair amount of warm alcohol remaining. All over the place - this has bittersweet grassy hops in Beautiful Chemistry with chocolate/coffee huge malt and mellowing bourbon. Port-like tones on deep background. Definitely something to seek and savor. More motivation to visit family in the Chicagoland area more often and to bring some back for the cellar. This could even out with a little more time but even now it drinks down much more quickly than anticipated. A classic.

Sampled out of a bottle. Pours jet black, thick and with a solid head. The scent of bourbon is very prevalent. Overall the drinkability is pretty rough as this is such a thick brew. The complexities of this brew is fantastic, each sip is different from the last. Certainly worth a try but not sure about the price!

Pours black with a thick head. Aroma is bourbon and sickly sweet malt. The flavor is molasses, vanilla, chocolate, and just overly sweet. I am aging my additional bottles to see if the sweetness mellows out at all.