Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

Two week wait while in transit from South Bay in San Diego. Well worth it. Pours black as night...like it was squeezed from a coal nugget. No head initially. I watched as a thin, shallow, mocha colored head rose from the depths of this dense elixir. Nose is enticing....heavy on the bourbon, I could smell from a foot away as I let it breath. Very sweet, roasted malt, semi-sweet morsels, vanilla, burnt espresso roast and fleeting moments of alcohol. Flavor is syrupy sweet, damn near cloying, but I’ll overlook it. Strong, sweet bourbon mash flavor is heavy on the frontal assault, followed by brownie mix swirled with Hershey’s syrup, roasted dark malts, vanilla and burnt wood. I would like to see more IBU’s. There is some hop astringency on the finish but I would like to see it a little bit higher to combat the sweetness and/ or lower the malt content. Body is thick and enveloping. The brewers description is pretty much dead on. This is a serious mix of bourbon and Devil’s Food cake. There is no doubt this a damn fine brew. At this point though the sweetness has me a little concerned. I have one bottle left with a date of 10/16/08. I will continue to age this one to check its progression later. Re-rate in October.

bottled, pours thick syrupy black with complete absence of any head, amazing dark fruit aroma with chocolate and sweet alcohol notes, EXTREMELY thick mouth feel, with roasted body and lingering sweetness (burnt/caramel like), wow.

2007 version. I had to back up off of it and set my cup down. This is huge. This beer is great. I have had it many times but this is my first rating of it. Pours black with thin brown head. Can smell it across the room: sweet malt, bourbon, vanilla, earth, alcohol and wood. The flavor is wonderful. Lots of bourbon up front with the malt, but the bourbon melds into a wonderful sweet vanilla flavor that lingers. Finish is sweet with notes of wood, vanilla, and cigar smoke. Mild alcohol flavor too. Awesome.

Pours like dark fudge with a thin brown head. Bourbon, coffee, and vanilla on the nose. The taste is bourbon, coffee, chocolate, and smoke. Lingering alcohol finish. An absolutely outstanding beer.

Unbelievable beer! Thin, dense brown head that lingers. Very well balanced for anything that says Bourbon on it. Well blended flavors. Nothing overpowers anything else. Chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, coffee, woody & malty. Delicious! Ages well, was gifted a 2006 bottle from Bellport at Christmas time, and it was even better than my rating here. they also convinced me to try it with chocolate truffles. Also outstanding! Obviously, this is one of my favorites.

Such a great beer. I opened my first bottle on Thanksgiving 2008 but didn’t rate it. At the time I thought this was a great beer and could definitely get more interesting with age. Opened my second bottle tonight. Gorgeous black color that looks like dark molases in the glass with a head that looks like a chocolate milkshake. Nose is a delicious bourbon aroma with coffee and semisweet chocolate. Taste is powerful...alcohol, coffee, bourbon, and charred oak. One of the most viscous feels you’ll get on the palate (other than Sam Adams Triple Bock or something like that). I can’t wait to try more of this over the next five years because I think the flavors will realy develop.

pours a jet black with a thin brown head, and some lacing. smell of alcohol, dark chocolate, a hint of vanilla, woody, and a touch of smoke. taste is smooth and strong, dark chocolate, slight alcohol comes through, lots of sour malt, some nuts, and wood, end is slightly dry. taste is more pronounced as it warms.

Bottle. Poured a very dark brown with a thin tan head. The aroma was strong with bourbon, malts, vanilla, and chocolate with notes of coffee and oak. The flavor was really strong. The bourbon really jumps out in the initial taste, but the finish is sweet and smooth. I couldn’t drink it all night, but one is great.