Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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

Bottle from Kevin... and Santa
Pours a rich black, thick like melted chocolate. Aroma is chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, and some cookie. First sip: Like a glass of bourbon and chocolate. Rush of alcohol immediately, but it quiets down nicely so as not to be too overbearing. Flavors of oak, bourbon, chocolate, and a tinge of cherry. Palate is thick and slippery; slides down the gullet beautifully. This is one GOOD beer! Oh holy Lord, this a good, good, goooooood beer!

Black Coloring with Tan Ring. Bourbon Chocolate Malt Nose. HUGE Bourbon Hit on the Tongue. Hard to Discern What Else Lies Beneath. Nice Malt, Chocoalte and Vanilla Underlay. The Vanilla Laces the Bourbon Flavor and Keeps You From Losing Sanity. It’s Definitly More of a Bourbon Flavored Beer Than a Bourbon Aged One. This one Goads You To Try, Try Again.

Bottle (35 cl) from Systembolaget. Black with a smal fizzy brown head. Strong whiskey aroma with milk chocolate, alcohol, and some tar. Medium bodied with quite smooth carbonation. Well balanced, but too alcoholic and too much whiskey.

Thanks Ariane and Lo for this awesome package - boy I miss you guys sooo much!!! Oily, thick looking pitch black brew with a fast diminishing head on top. Quite an alcohol nose, oak, chocolate and vanilla too. Intense alcohol taste, roasted coffee beans, some milk chocolate and nutmeg. Smoke aftertaste. Longe lasting finish. Numbs the upper lip. Nice one.

2007 12 ounce bottle from riversideAK. Thanks! Pours a ruby tinted dark brown with almost no head. Aroma is mostly straight bourbon with some bitter hoppy notes. Taste is bourbon, chocolate (tootsie rolls by the end of the bottle), vanilla and subtle dark fruits. Full bodied. Alcohol is hidden remarkably well, much to my detriment. This is a damn good beer. Well done.

Re-rate, Jan ’08, bottle at Durty Nellie’s: Unmoved this time around, my original rating stands, other than the fact that the wood notes didn’t come out as strong. I twas a vinous-choco type impy stout with some chalky notes. If you go impy on me, it should impress, if you bourbon age it, it should impress further and be short of over-run with bourbon. Original rating: Bottle courtesy beerded_one. Poured black like an imperial stout, chocolate colored head. The aroma was strong wood, lots of bourbon, rum soaked raisins. The flavor was sticky bourbon, maple, vanilla, chocolate/cocoa, oak, and finishing with a touch of marshmallows (don’t think I’ve ever written that in a beer review?). The flavor and finish was a tad hot, and the mouthfeel a little too sweet and sticky. Put this one away if you can hold your pants on, would be better after another year. For now, a little stick, hot, and over-done on the bourbon side, which most tend to do with this style. An enjoyable beer in all respects, yet relative to its bourbon aged peers, probably about average. Thanks, Paul, an opportunity I’m very appreciative of. Thanks for sharing!

Bottle (courtesy of Dalaamar): Poured a pitch-black color stout with a large dark brown color foamy head with minimal retention. Aroma of bourbon is quite powering as well as some chocolate and vanilla. Taste is a mix between some chocolate malt with hints of vanilla, coffee and oak. Bourbon presence is interesting but a bit too powerful for my liking since it brings too much alcohol, which is not something that I necessarily enjoy. Body is full and has a creamy texture, which I quite enjoy. Overall, this is a very interesting creation, which I’m glad, got a chance to try but I feel I would probably prefer the non-barrel aged version more. Also, this is more of a sipper then anything else and half a bottle would probably be enough for one session.

Pours with a black body topped by a thin, brown head wtih a little lacing. It’s sweet and full of vanilla and bourbon notes as well as a slight hint of roast. The bourbon notes are overpowering and take away from the stout flavor istead of complimenting it. Full bodied, smooth and warming.