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Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

Percentile
100
overall

bottled
common

on tap
common

Broad Distribution
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RatingsAverageScoreABVStyle PctlServe in
11594.2/5.04.19/5.013%97.3Snifter
Commercial Description:
"I really wanted to do something special for our 1000th batch at the original brewpub. Goose Island could have thrown a party. But we did something better. We brewed a beer. A really big batch of stout-so big the malt was coming out of the top of the mash tun. After fermentation we brought in some bourbon barrels to age the stout. One hundred and fifty days later, Bourbon County Stout was born-A liquid as dark and dense as a black hole with a thick foam the color of bourbon barrels. The nose is a mix of charred oak, vanilla,carmel and smoke. One sip has more flavor than your average case of beer. It overpowers anything in the room. People have even said that it’s a great cigar beer, but I haven’t yet tried a cigar that would stand up to it." Brewmaster Greg Hall; IBU’s 60-High Color - Midnight Was 11%, the 2007 and 2008 are listed at 13%.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 snakeoilpete (324), Seattle, Washington, USA
4.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/105/510/105/519/20
Apr 2, 2009  
Bottle. Pours BLACK with a very thin layer of light brown bubbles that soon disappears, leaving only a ring. I knew what I was in for upon smelling the incredible black sludge. Complex aroma and taste of smoky bourbon, chocolate, licorice, soy sauce, dark fruit, vanilla, and tobacco. Gloriously thick and warming. Bitter alcohol finish.


 thefrutigers (100), , Arizona, USA
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/104/57/103/516/20
Apr 1, 2009  
Bottle 12oz: Poured pitch black with almost a non existant head. Smelled strong of bourbon and alcohol with a bit of vanilla and malt. Taste was bourbon, roasted malt, and alcohol. Overall, It was not bad by any means, it was pretty good, but just a bit too much Bourbon/alcohol for my personal taste.


 Beaver (594), Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/105/58/104/516/20
Apr 1, 2009  
12 oz bottle, bottled on 10/28/08. Pours a dark black with a creamy dark brown head that diminishes and laces the glass.

The aroma is bourbon with sweet chocolate and vanilla, dark fruits and alcohol.

The flavor is sweet chocolate, roasted malts black licorice and bourbon with a semi-bitter finish. The bourbon is well done and reserved - more like bourbon chocolates rather than strong liquor. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with velvety carbonation.

Overall, a very well done bourbon stout. The bourbon adds a lot to it without being overbearing on the alcohol like many are.


 hayduke (1629), Eureka, California, USA
4.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/59/105/518/20
Mar 31, 2009  
From a 12 oz bottle this poured a very opaque black and when held up to the light let nothing though. The head was a light brown and the lacing was almost non-existent, and seemed to slide off the side of the glass like olive oil. The nose greats you with a huge amount of bourbon. Only bourbon itself smells more like bourbon. But there is more there as well---vanilla, ripe fruit, and chocolate. The mouthfeel is very rich, heavy, and full bodied. The flavor is simply amazing, with bourbon of course, but like the nose also showing vanilla, chocolate, floral hops, roasted caramel, burned oak, coffee, and the finish is sweet with traces of the floral hops. This is one of the most amazing beers ever, and is one you want to sip very slowly and enjoy each and every nuance.


 Coltrane (108), South Carolina, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/58/102/517/20
Mar 31, 2009  
Thats a lot of bourbon. A LOT. Like, ridiculous amounts. Drop a shot into a regular stout bourbon. And oh sooo good. Really loses its uniqueness when aged, but fresh its a truly wonderful and unique beer. BIG fan of barrel aging and bourbon, and this is almost the best.


 shawnm213 (913), South Bend, Indiana, USA
4.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/105/59/105/518/20
Mar 30, 2009    Updated: May 6, 2009
draft map room. perfect bourbon stout! I was very happy witht his beer. chocolate, roastty, vanilla, BOURbon. very well balanced. will get again.


sbroome (72), Burnsville, Minnesota, USA
4.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/105/59/104/519/20
Mar 29, 2009    Updated: Jul 9, 2009
pours jet black, which i don’t know why they say, since most jets aren’t black. tan head is minimal and fades quickly. nose is sweet molasses,dark chocolate and a hint of smoke. mouthfeel is thick as fuck and creamy, not much carbination at all. taste is heavy candy sugar at first and then gives way to roasted hops, chocolate and mild alcohol, which is hidden well behind the sweetness, which hurt my tooth a little. there’s also some undiscovered spice in there, or as a friend suggested. perhaps allspice. Tim from Heritage Liquor said this was a must-have at $6.69 a bottle, he wasn’t kidding, thanks. Phenominal oak bourbon barrel-aged stout. how much for a case?


tpd975 (95), Riverview, Florida, USA
4.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
10/104/510/104/519/20
Mar 29, 2009  
is black. I put it up to the bright Florida sunshine on a fall day and nodda, nothing can cut thru this one. Not much carbonation and the head is rather wimpy. That being said what little head that does build tends to hand around. In the lacing department... None. It’s so thick and oily that I don’t think lacing has a prayer with this one. S: I have never smelled anything another than true Bourbon that smells this much like Bourbon. Huge barrelled Bourbon aroma with deep earthy vanilla aromas. Coffee lies beneath with hints of toffee, molassess, almonds, and dark Belgian chocolate. T: Man I have a buddy that spends half his net worth to sample the best small batch Bourbon known to man and thanks to him I have been able to sample them as well. Let me tell you this one must have been made with the barrels from the finest batch of Bourbon ever made. Tons of Flavor with the big boozy Bourbon flavor smacking you right in the mouth. Hell this one may be spiked with Bourbon. Hints of oak, vanilla, and coffee come thru as well. M: Nice and thick this is one full bodied brew. D: It’s a one and done beer for me. This is one to be sipped not slammed



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