Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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

First beer I have ever had that I feel is "big" just for the same of being "big."

Bottle. Pours an oily pitch black color,with a supersmall head. Lots of bourbon,vanilla and alcohol in the aromka. Taste is sweet with lots of bourbon,vanilla,dark chocolate,coffee and some warming alcohol. Really thick and nice. Maybe a bit to sweet but still really good!

Bottle from Systembolaget. Pitch black with short lasting brown head. Lots of chocolaty malts, whiskey, some vanilla and alcohol in the aroma.

I can really taste and smell that 13% abv. This thing is potent. Inky black high viscosity pour, with no head whatsoever. Just a little tan fizz that goes away as soon as I’m done pouring. Looks like a glass of coffee. Aroma is vanilla, chocolate, coffee and alcohol. Flavor is coffee and alcohol. I feel like I should like this more than I do. It’s a good flavor, but the alcohol is strong to the point of being oppressive.

Tons of vanilla in the aroma. Coconut as well. Bourbon, alcohol. A really well done bourbon aged stout.

Bourbon County 08 Smells of sweet bourbon, tar, blackness, sweet malts, alcohol - like an imposing and impressive Imperial should. Pours opaque black with almost no carbonation, is very dark brown on the side when drinking. Flavor upfront is sweet bourbon, then gets complex - chocolate, roasty, coffee, lingering roasty bitterness It is thick and warming, perfect as it snows. This beer rocks, but is a bit sweeter than I prefer, a few years would probably help.

Bottle courtesy of Gillard. Pours a dark black color with thin yellow tan head. Aroma is strongly of malt and whiskey, some roasted notes, ripe dark fruit, hints of coffee. Flavor is roasted and toasted malt with strong bourbon notes, dark chocolate, wood, toffee and coffee. Full body with an alcohol and malt finish. This beer will be even better after it matures in a few years.

Dark and rich and will knock you over in a good way with your first smell and taste. The aging process with bourbon barrels creates a perfect blend of stout and bourbon. It is a combination I hope to see more of in the future. The taste is sweet in a good way, yet still holds a nice malty coffee like edge to it. Even though the first drink is a burst of awesomeness, almost too much awesomeness in your mouth,I found the more I drink this beer the easier it is to drink unlike some stouts. The only complaint I have to knock it down a couple ticks was I almost would like to try this beer aged for less time in the barrel. I found the bourbon taste to come through a bit more than the beer and overpowered it. Some may like this and I dont blame them, but personally I would like the beer to come through a bit more. But overall it is a great combination of flavors to make one of the most rich, savory, intense stouts out there.