Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

12oz 2007 bottle courtesy of Rogueone sampled at the Hopsnobbery Collective stout tasting on 1.16.09. Had this one once before and it tasted like it could sit a little while longer to calm down. Pours black with no head. Boozy aroma with dark fruit and some chocolate. Bourbony sweet flavor with coffee and chocolate. Powerful beer, but not quite as harsh as the first time I had it. Excellent brew.

12oz bottle. 2007. Dark black pour, very little head. Vanilla, woody aroma. Lots of vanilla in the flavor as well, bourbon and oak as well, chocolate is big as well. Very nice, outstanding.

Sampled 2007 bottle at the Hopsnobbery Collective Stout tasting on 01/16/09. Oily, impish pour that lets you know loud and clear that you’re gonna need to sit down for this one. Stinging aroma of alcohol. Flavor is dark fruits, a hint of vanilla, molasses, and the velvetiness associated with milk chocolate. If you really like stout, and you really like bourbon, this is your beer.

Pours dark syrupy brown with very little head. Bourbon aroma is very apparent with the high alcohol also showing a strong presence. Taste is deep and complex. Initially, chocolate and malt comes to the forefront. Finishes with a spicy smokiness from the bourbon barrel aging. I have to take a couple points away for the alcohol presence being a little too much. Pretty solid beer.

Pours a solid brownish black with little apparent carbonation. The head is a nice medium brown and quite thin; So far this has all the characteristics of a great imperial stout. Wow, this stuff is HUGE! Flavor is extremely complex. Reminicent of Dogfish Head Palo Santo in that the body has a strong sweet bourbon essence, but in more of an impy style ultimately. Actually, if my palate were already dirty and I’d had a few drinks already, someone could pass this off on me as Dogfish Head Palo Santo itself. The sweetness also has a real pineapple essence when I stop and explore it on the tongue for a minute. All of these characteristics I mention are in addition to your usual impy flavors and complexity; the coffee, chocolate, anise, licorice, et cetera are all present as well. Overall this is one of the best beers I’ve ever had, yet I don’t find myself in a euphoric state. I’m enjoying myself, just not in a fun kind of way. There’s something about this brew that’s keeping me from rating it a perfect 5: Something intangible about it that if were not there would make this an absolute favorite of mine. Overall, world-class-excellence. Though I just didn’t enjoy it as much as my rating would indicate. ----------REVISION: This is definitely getting better with time: As of 10/15/09 it’s a lot smoother than than it was a year ago, making it more drinkable despite no compromise in complexity. The vanilla and pineapple flavors have calmed down as well as has the whisky. Getting very close on my impy list to Dark Horizon 2nd, Dark Lord ’09, and The Abyss; the only difference being that I don’t find myself wanting more than one glass at a time of this, wheras I could make a mini-session out of the other three.

2008 bottle. I’ve had it quite a few times, but never bothered to rate it until now. Pours a rather reasonable dark brown with a creamy tan colored head, diminishing rapidly to a ring. The nose is sweet, rather sweet. Oaky vanilla comes together with some very strong chocolate smells. Alcohol balances the sweetness. Dusty bourbon. A hint of spice and anise. Lower carbonation, with a slippery thought not ridicilously thick mouth. Sweet chocolate, coconut, cream, vanilla and oak. It’s just an assault. Very sweet, but very light in some ways. Not thick and heavy like oaked Dark Lord, but similar flavors. Alcoholic chocolate syrup with a creamy alcoholic finish. Very little roast, perhaps almost none other than a slight acidity. Lots of caramel and bourbon in the aftertaste.

The low viscosity, overdue for a change motor oil pour is the perfect indication of the flavor to come. Dark molasses, and malt blend with chocolate, vanilla, caramel with hints of cherry and coffee. Then a perfect following of oak and bourbon letting the 13% ABV peak out. Wonderfully bold and complex example of what bourbon aging can do when balanced properly.

A fantastic beer. Pours out a thick black color with a smaller brown head. aroma is huge on bourbon, roasted malt, chocolate, with a hint of vanilla. Flavor has a lot of bourbon in it with notes of smoke and vanilla with a big malt finish. Alcohol is well hidden.