Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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

Smallest ullaged bottle to memory (Less than a cm.). Jet black color with a smaller bigger bubbled brown head. Slick and oily appearance. Mellow aromas. Lots of malt with mild licorice, vanilla, stewed prunes and oak cask wood. Slick and thick on the tongue. Not the normal thick, this is real syrupy thick stuff. Charcoal flavored blackberries, smothered with lighter fluid. The flames could be substantial. I think this could be a great steak marinade for black bavarian grill.

Bottle@Home, vintage 2006. Bourbon, vanilla, chocolate and tutti frutti aroma. Opaque colour, no head, pours very thick like motor oil. Sweet, chocolate, bourbon, light bitter, vanilla, wood. Cloying mouth feel. Very complex beer, wonderful.

Black with blackish color and a black tint. Opaque like tar. Not much head, a layer of brown lace on the edges. The aroma is full of alcohol and tons of smoky roasted chocoaltey malts, the bourbon is very apparent, just like the full sail bourbon imperial porter, as such there's some vanilla and scotch notes too. The flavor is very acidic and roasty, almost like instant heartburn feeling while it's going down (I don't ever get heartburn). The finish burns but is balanced. Another good bourbon imperial, this is simply dreadful! Thanks Mike!

Bottle, at HogTown Harry tasting (cheers Harry), September 2007. Almost black. Very full and rich, with sweet fat malt, dark chocolate and chewy fruit (raisins?). Both the Bourbon barrel and the alcohol are very evident. The former provides the woody, vanilla notes that emerge throughout. The latter provides a hot aftertaste that I found a little too intrusive. Not convinced the elements were perfectly knitted together, which knocks the overall score down a shade but that’s only really a minor quibble. All in all I thought this was a very fine beer.

Bottle. Poured black with medium brown rocky head. Aroma was long and complex. The flavor was rich of bourban, oak, malt and alcohol. Finish was long and had a good bite. Good stout and well worth the hunt to find.

Big thanks to beer handy for this. This is #1,450 for me, and I hope to have 50 solid beers leading up to 1,500. This one pours dark as the night, with minimal tan head. Aroma of malt, big prunes, dark fruit, chocoff, molasses, scotch, oak, bourbon, berries, vanilla. Higher intensity aroma than Heresy. Tastes wonderfully malty, with an oatmeal, blackberry, graham cracker, molasses, chocolate syrup, prune, licorice flavor. Yes, this is a bit cloying due to its amazing thickness, and the alcohol appears as it warms, yet it remains smooth. Up there with the DFH Worldwide Stout as far as thickness and intensity of flavor goes (although not as thick or alcoholic). Gets a bit heavy toward the end, but damn! this is a good beer. Lightweights, or non-stout fans need not apply. Beers like this make me proud to be a ratebeerian. Major props to Goose Island! JPDIPSO, I agree with your marinade idea. I may save a few ounces of this to marinate some steak or pork with. I’ll bet it would kick major ass! Not as smooth as the CWBBS or Speedway, not as complex as Dark Lord (but just as thick), yet amazing in its own right. The bourbon doesn’t overpower the beer, it just accentuates it. Stouts like this don’t come along very often. I’m a hardened, 16 year-veteran beer drinker, and as my last beer of the night this one is intimidating even me! Bravo, Goose Island.

Black with a small, but lasting, light brown head. Rich and complex aroma, of oak, vanilla, dark chocolate, a little toffee, roasted wood, and a hint of licorice. Rather dry, full flavoured complex dark chocolate, with delicious oak notes, and some slightly tart tannin action. Long lasting aftertaste of oak, vanilla and chocolate.

2009 bottle. Head is initially small, brown, mostly diminishing. Body is black, almost opaque (flashlight tested). Aroma is moderately malty (dark chocolate, molasses, roasted grain), with notes of whiskey/alcohol, corn syrup, vanilla, sherry, wood. Flavor is heavily to harshly sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Full body, syrupy texture, soft carbonation, heavily alcoholic. Woof...very burning and sweet and syrupy. Not elegant at all, and difficult to drink more than a few sips. Some good aspects in the nose, but it’s big, clumsy, and bruising; not how I prefer an Impy stout to be.