Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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

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.

01-05-05 batch. Considering its strength, the pour offers a generous dark brown head to cover the pitch black, completely opaque hue. Heavily malty aroma, spicy licorice and molasses paired along chocolate chips. It has that sweet dessert component that reminds me of chocolate cookies while the hops, mostly floral, pair nicely with the minty barrel character. Obvious alcohol presence peaks throughout the blackberry and grapey fruitiness, all in a tar like bold malt base. Port and Madeira reminding finish, very alcoholic, bubble gummy and strongly roasty (tobacco). Expert palate rounding, full bodied, soft in texture, intense mouth presence. Good stuff if not particularly my style.
We also had a bottle of the first batch in that tasting (typing machine text saying only bourbon county stout and 3-7-4 whether it’s a bottling number or date – Thanks TAR) and it was concentrating on the bourbon a decent bit more, leaving a perhaps even boozier and certainly less integrated product malt wise.

Bottle thanks to cgarvieuk. Aroma is bourbon, alcohol roasty and overpowering. Taste is similar, alcohol, coffee, makes me quiver when i drink, hard to swallow, terrible beer and about as far away as what i want fardark lord.

Bottle... RBSG2003... This beer rocks!... It pours into the glass like heavily-used motor oil. Creamy, lightly-tanned head. The aroma is of bourbon and espresso. ’Nuff said! The flavor is of Irish Coffee with bubbles. I like whiskey. I like bubbles. What’s not to like about this beer? Full-bodied with a heavy, oily mouthfeel and lively carbonation. Lengthy, bitter, huge alcoholic finish. Yum! World-class stout!

Rerate of 1/05 batch: Aroma has mellowed some revealing a little oxidation and more earthy, roasty caramel dripping with bourbon. Still reveals some alcohol as it warms and sweet viscous malt. Seems to have aged fairly well, but will probably get even better.

Rerate on 4/11/06 of the January ’05 batch: Pours a viscous oily opaque with a thin covering of dark tan swirls and spotty lacing. Sweet candy dark chocolate bourbon aroma is just as great as ever with nice vanilla and oak subtleties. Body starts with lots of sweet, sticky, caramel malt, nice dark fruit complexity, some brown sugar and vanilla toward a lightly roasted, warming bourbon finish. This has got another couple of good years in it.

Rerate on 12/19/05: This is the third bottled batch I believe (8/16/05) and seems a bit too warm to live up the previous version. I’ll let it sit for a while and see how it progresses.

Rerate on 2/19/05 side by side tasting of the 2003 batch aged just over a year and the latest batch bottled on 1/5/05: New bottle pours a tremendously thick oily opaque black with a finely lacing frothy dark brown head. Old bottle is a little less viscous and the head is a little lighter in color and thinner. The older bottle seems to have a more pronounced bourbon aroma, while the new one is more subdued and malty with nice dark fruit presence. A slight touch of butterscotch oxidation is present in the older version toward its finish along with some bourbon oaky alcohol felt deep in my throat. The new version is much thicker and maltier with nice sticky caramel throughout and a great complex bourbon balance. The only negative thing is the warming acidic alcohol that doesn’t show up until it hits my stomach. Otherwise, this new version is a sure winner. Thanks JCW!

Bottle rated on 11/26/03: Rich oily black with little carbonation and a thin ring of light brown foam. Heavy, complex roasted malt and bourbon oak aroma with a sweet dark cherry fruitiness. Thick robust syrupy sweet dark chocolate body is very well balanced with a tart, but complex bourbon oaky flavor. Wonderful complexity throughout and a lightly alcoholic, but enjoyable finish. Smooth sweet, roasty and lingering. This is perhaps the best barrel aged beer I’ve had. Thank you EddieG!

courtesy of Laurent Mousson - very dark brown colour, little dark beige foam; complex aroma of wood, nut and molasses; thick and oily, full-bodied and hugely bitter, a touch of acidity; solid carbonation; long bitter roasted and nutty finish leaving warming alcohol notes - spectacular!

Bottle, with clarkVV and Sully. Black in colour. Lots of sweet bourbon characters on the nose and on the palate. dark chocolate, roast, and slightly vanilla/oak bourbon characters, with an underlying peaty characters. Nice, in fact very nice, but a bit too sweet and sticky for me. Alcohol is liquerish, rather than spirity.

Small dark-foxy head over utterly black beer. Blueberries, brambles, licorice, black mushrooms, earthy, vinous and woody nose - definitely Bourbon casks. Woody, alcoholic, "jap" (liquorice sweets) and vanilla; coffee at the end. I enjoy the main taste enormously, but the finish is just a tad too harsh-licorice for me. Black Chinese tea with lots of higher alcohols and quite some tannines. Rich, voluptuous, oily MF. A truly great barrel-aged stout. Another one, I agree, but, hey, keep them coming. Big thanks, DavidA.