Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

this should maybe be a higher rating, considering how much I love bourbon, and how much like bourbon this beer is, but I just can’t enjoy a beer that tastes like this very much. Aroma is of a nice sweet bourbon, almost like a Manhattan with a healthy dose of sweet vermouth. Flavor is overpowered by bourbon. There is a good bit of chocolate here also. I will try this again when I am able to smoke a nice strong cigar with it, but as for sitting around the house, not so much...

06 Bourbon County Stout-12oz bottle-pours a disappearing brown head that laces and black as midnight color. Aroma is bourbon, wood, sweet dark malt-molasses, dark fruit-cherry, alcohol. Taste is bourbon, tar, wood, sweet dark malt-molasses, dark fruit-cherry, alcohol. Big. Sipping. Thanks to decaturstevo for sharing.

Looks good in the glass an all, but I was interested in trying a beer, not a glass of bourbon. Seriously, the bourbon overpowers everything in both taste and smell, tough to get by more than a few sips. The body is smooth and all, and it poured nicely into the dump bucket at the tasting I was at. Yuck!

12 oz bottle Courtesy of Topherdrinks, thanks Chris! Pours an oily, rich opaque black color with a small dark brown head. Nose is vibrant with vanlla flourishing and bourbon coming in right behind it. Both notes dominate the nose but mild lactic notes, chocolate liquor and booziness linger in the background. Initial taste of vanilla, bourbon, mollasses, and touch of cocoa. Mid palate displays a good woodiness from the oak. Finishing with balancing hop bitterness, vanilla, smoke, tobacco, spiciness from the abv. Palate duration is absolutely perfect. Good head retention. Full bodied beer, light micro bubbles on the mouth. Silky and oily makes the beer absolutely delicately smooth and enjoyable. Definitely the best boubon BA Imperial I have ever had. Nice Job.

This is one hell of an Imperial Stout. Very strong flavour of bourbon and oak. Aftertaste is dark treacle. Too much of a bourbon flavour for me.

I used to feel the same way about I.Stouts. Youll get the palate someday CarterHayes. One of the best imperials ive had, perfect palate, smooth and velvety. Flavors of bourbon, oak, vanilla and roasted walnuts. Aftertaste of nuts and molases, with a nice bitter-sweetness to it.

Tried this at the suggestion of a friend, as I’m normally a stout fan and formerly smoked cigars and pipes. Though I’m not normally one to shy away from high-octane hooch, in this case I was completely overwhelmed and underimpressed. Goose Island really went over the top with this brew - the bourbon and oak completely drowns any chance at subtlety, and the in-your-face attitude of the beer ensures that most folks won’t want to drink a whole bottle, much less the rest of the four-pack. Sipping brings notes of dark chocolate and pleasantly rotting fruit, along with the cask-y flavor of the bourbon. If you’re curious about trying this, first imagine a half-smoked, extinguished, cold cigar dipped in Knob Creek and then squeezed into a glass.

Rate beer describes this as an Iperial Stout. If that’s the case, I’ve just found the first example of the most popular style among beer snobs that I can actually drink. And at $5.91a 12 oz bottle, I wont worry about drinking this often but I would most definitley try this again (occasionally) with a cuban cigar. It’s unfortunate that something ’Bourbon County" (which is in the region where true Bourbon is made, Central Kentucky) is actually brewed in Illinois, but they know how to do it. Mollasas-thick and strong as the bourbon it resembles, this beer should only be sampled at the proper temp and with a well-lubricated taster to appreciate its qualites. Exceptional beer.