Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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

12 oz bottle thanks to xmarcnolanx, thanks Marc. Pours a prefect looking viscuous black with a small coccoa brown head. Big time boozey aroma with lots of bourbon, wood, vanilla extract, and slight chocolate. Full bodied but tons of alcohol warming. Flavor of bourbon, vanilla and wood. Nice beer but needs more time, sort of like girls in high school they look great but need some maturity on em.

Huge aroma of soy, prunes, raisins and some roasted malts, becomes too much. Pours pitch black with a small tan head. Very roasty flavor, licorice and lots of alcohol. This beer was too much for me.

Round 1, Beer 4 of a blind stout tasting. 12 oz bottle. Murky dark brown with a thin creamy beige head. Grape-ade and dates soaked in bourbon. A silk blanket coats the tongue. Dark chocolate, licorice and building bourbon. Coffee drying. Best of the round; a solid notch above. Overall i find the bourbon in these brews diminishes their essential stoutiness.

12oz bottle. Black with a bit of foam at first but no lasting head. The aroma is pretty much straight bourbon, with a light dark chocolate accompaniment. Thick and slick with low, fine carbonation. Lots of bourbon, wood, alcohol, and dark chocolate flavors. The alcohol is relatively smooth, but very present. I can dig this a little bit, but it seems to be intense just for intensity’s sake. The bourbon runs the show for sure.

Wow. I don’t even know what to say about this one. It was complex as all hell. A nice kick of whiskey complemented the sweet stout flavors. Smooth, malty and a touch of smoke augmented the roasted coffee and chocolate flavors. Also, a touch of sweet, dark fruit entered the picture. Good, but not great.

Reconsidering this beer after trying it again, I do find it to be a bit sweet and extremely strong tasting. One snifter was more than enough. The flavor is more persistent than I remember with other bourbon-barrel aged beers, but I’m not sure that’s best here. It’s just really sweet and sticky. Too much.

Well, I’m on my fourth batch of this stuff, and I must say it’s growing on me. The whiskey is strong but it’s not terrible. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve had more barrel-aged stuff, but it’s not as bad as I remember. Plus, the cask-conditioned sample I had last night was superb. Either way, I feel I have to bump it up from a 3.6

Bottle. Pours a thick dark black color with a nice foamy tan head. Legs on the head receed back into the body with a redish brown hue. Nose is full on bourbon, but not overwhelming. Coconut and light chocolate are apparent in the nose as well. taste is full and chewy, amazing palate. Chocolate is def apparent up front, a light warming and alcohol come through and a very distinct and flavorful bourbon becomes apparent. A slight bitter aftertaste in the finish and a warming on the throat.

Sampled during Manhattan Blind IS Tasting: So looking back on my notes I really liked this one. Nice and heavenly. Probably what I was waiting for all day. Smooth, rich and delicious.

Thanks footy for number 1100. Pours a thick, black oily substance w/ a modest head and minial lacing. Strong aromas of dark chocolate pudding, vanilla. Nice! Full nectar like heavy cream w/ soft residual effers. A huge chocolate malt backbone w/ defined Bourbon basting. Deep roasted coffee bean and freshly cooked chocolate pudding all wrapped together w/ a stinging asprin bittering. This stuff is amazing. It’s chunky, chewy, warming, and very generous. This brew is decadent and filling. Huge roast, brownies, vanilla, sweet yet balanced. Trump visual.