Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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

Bottle. Pours a thick syrup like opaque black body with a dark brown heavy head that rises slowly. The nose is fully of woody, oaky sweet notes and caramel and candied sugar. The roasty burnt coffee is is harder pick up, but lurks in the background. There is a woody acidic alcohol burn that hits the pallate first that almost has a hint of sourness. That is quickly overwhelmed by the velvety smooth, almost sticky body. The alcohol soak is heavy and deep on the back of the tongue. The flavor bursts with notes of burbon, oak, coffee and chcolate malts. Truly a complex mixture with each aspect fighting to reach the taste buds first. I swear this beer was so good that I could still taste it the next morning, and craved its flavors two days later, like a smoker going cold turkey.

Extremely dark brown, motor oil thick with very minimal chocolate brown head. Huge aroma - caramel, slightly sour fruit, chocolate, charred wood, and alcohol. Sweet, woody, roast malt flavor with fruit, caramel, chocolate, and bourbon. Finishes a little bitter with a bit of alcoholic bite. Lingering dark chocolate and bourbon aftertaste. Thick, viscous palate. Very, very good.

12 oz bottle from total wine warehouse. pours black with just a thing tan ring aronnd the edge. liqoury aroma with some hints of dark fruit and molases. finsihges sticky with vanilla notes. long finsih with a fiar amoutn of booze.

Great beer. I almost passed this one up when I saw it was a goose island brew. Pours blacker than coal looks very thick like motor oil. Very minimal, quickly diminishing, dark brown head. Slight bourbon nose with molasses. Roasty, bourbon chocolate taste with a hint of caramel. Complex beer with an almost warm, creamy finish. Definitely one of the best beers i have tried.

From the bottle, pours thick and black like 10W-40 motor oil, with a very small tan foamy head. Deep and rich aroma of dark malts with a hint of alcohol and a smoothness from the oak barrels. Taste is equally strong and rich, thick malts, some brown sugar/molasses, a bit of bourbon, a hint of alcohol, and a lightly bitter bite in the aftertaste. Thick and incredibly smooth, this is a pretty fantastic beer, though I’d be hard pressed to drink more than two at once.

Pours pitch black, with absolutely zero head. From a 12-inch center pour, there was a thin patch of bubbles that dissipated immediately. Leaves an incredibly thin ring of bubbles around the edges of the top. Aroma is bourbon, chocolate, molasses and a slightly funky note... the flavor? Wow. I’ve *never* tasted anything that so magnificently soaked up the flavor of the barrels in which it was aged. It tastes like bourbon. Honest to God. Chocolate, but seriously? Mostly bourbon. Just amazing - like I poured a shot of Knob Creek into a glass of Old Viscosity, and let it sit for a year. What a distinctive flavor. Palate is wonderful, flavor is fantastic. Couldn’t have expected more.

Oh hell, I need more of these to survive daily life. Sampled this in a neat, Michelob Ultra Amber tulip glass. Might need to acid erase the name from it next time. A: Dark as Coke, very little head. Very cool watching the foam, on the glass, at beer level, turn from tan, to black as you set th glass down. S: Bourbon dominates. Backed up by dark fruits. Just plain soothing to smell. T: Obvious bourbon. Like white/vanilla chocolate, filled with bourbon. Very sweet. M: Sticky, coats everything. Lick you lips after a drink, and you can feel the stickyness. Smooth, creamy. Great. D: Well, been awhile since I got the mid-chest, alcohol burn from a beer. Sitting here, taking notes to review, while sipping this much like a bottle of decent craft-bourbon. At 13%, this will put your lights out, quick. Beers like this, always restore my faith in the "craft" part, of craft beer. A true "craftsman" created this beer. Men Like Greg from GI, and Dan, from New Glarus, are true craftsman.

Wow! 12oz bottle, 2008. 52 deg F. Rich,sweet, not much of a head. Superb silky mouth feel. Malty with a great hops kick. Thanks to Gary, who brought me this from Chicago.