Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

APPEARANCE: Pours a obsidian black color with a medium brown head that dissipates a slowly. Not much lacing. SMELL: Bourbon, oak, chocolate, molasses. Hints of leather. TASTE: Wow, that is an intense beer! Bourbon, molasses, caramel. Definitely on the sweet side but has a slight alcohol burn. Finishes with a slight smoky flavor MOUTHFEEL FULL body beer with a syrupy texture. Light fizzy carbonation. DRINKABILITY: This is a sipping beer. I split a 12 ounce beer with a friend and that was plenty. I would probably give this beer a C based on drinkability but you have to give it an A for complexity and uniqueness. NOTES: BBCSD-0812-Geoff

Pours almost black with almost no head. The nose of toffee, vanilla, bourbon and some smoke. Comes across the palate as vanilla, coffee, dark fruit sweetness and bourbon balance; that also has a mild coffee lingering after taste. Very thick much like a traditional stout. Very good!

Pours from bottle black with virtually no head. Smell of toffee and bourbon. Flavour of bourbon (obviously), oak, some nuttyness, earthy. Slightly sweet, very full. You definatly notice the high Alchohol content, which is to be expected. Very good. Will keep stocked up in the fridge!

Rating #800! Bottle thanks to ucusty (thanks, Dave!). Beautiful black pour with thick tan head. Big nose of chocolate, nuts, roast, vanilla, and of course huge oaky bourbon. First few sips didn’t show the booze, but it came through after. This seems like more a beer to share than to drink by oneself. Probably would have rated higher if sampled in a tasting. Still, pretty damn good.

2008 bottle:
Pours black with a small head. Complex aroma of toffee, vanilla, bourbon and some smoke. Sweet and thick mouth feel. flavour is bourbon, toffee and liquorice. Long warming finish where the alcohol flavour shows up, but in a positive way. Usually I don’t like bourbon, but this is a wonderful beer.

2007 Bottle. Pours an oil black with a small brown head and some slight lacing. Aroma is burnt oatmeal, bourbon, smoke, coffee grounds and prunes. Taste starts with tamari soy, coffee and finshes with dry cocoa powder and some alcohol warmth. Pretty nice.

Bottle at the Rake, 7th March 2009. Dark brown, close to black. Smooth, creamy palate, very full bodied. Huge amounts of bourbon on the nose and very apparent alcohol giving the malts a kicking in the body. I couldn’t decide if it was awful or great really, it just felt like too much at that point in the night.

I loved this one, I think that 12 oz. might even be too much. The nose is all bourbon, and the taste is mostly oaky and earthy, with a little bit of heat on the finish.