Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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

Picked up single 12-oz bottle at Cellar’s Wine & Spirits in St Paul, MN. Pours a thick, opaque dark brown brew with a thin, creamy tan head that leaves behind a fine film and tan ring. Aroma is complex with a strong vanilla, chocolate, aged oak, bourbon, a touch of coconut, and molasses scents. Taste is full bodied, thick, slick, very little carbonation with flavors of bourbon, alcohol, chocolate malt and vanilla. Finish is high alcohol character, with a lingering bourbon and dark malt flavor. As Minnesota evening continue to get cold, this is one heck of a warming brew.

Bottled 8.16.05. Poured a beautiful black with a large caramel/cinnamon head that receded after a couple minutes. Aroma was dominated by bourbon.. with oak, vanilla, smoke, and bittersweet chocolate undertones. Flavor was heavy on the roasted malts and especially on the bourbon. Somewhere deep down were some hops and chocolate. Unfortunately, the balance seemed considerably out of whack.. the power of the bourbon just overpowered the other flavors, and made this a little hard to swallow. It kinda felt like George Thorogood’s "One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer" all rolled into one drink. I’ll bet that this powerful brew will mellow out with age, and become truly spectacular.

A big beer. Very thick, full of chocolate, some wood, slight smoke, the bourbon and booziness. Knock yourself out. Rich and deep intensity of flavours, I got the caramel, coconut,. A very fine effort, a top stout. Thanks Viggo. Recommend with food to give your brain more range of flavours.

Bottle (12oz). Shared with blankboy, my bottle, via Ughsmash. (makes Homer noise "uh huhuhuhuh!"). Poured thick almost opaque brown-black, large brown diminishing fizzy-foamy head. You can really smell the oak bourbon barrel in the aroma - very sweet and woody, lots of yeast and rich dark roast malt, some hops and smoke - good lord that’s nice. Taste follows on, but there’s vanilla, cream, evergreen needles, blackberry, molasses and winesaps, but mostly that rich, sweet, woody oak and bourbon character, with the alcohol vying successfully for attention. This isn’t something you’d drink several pints of - okay, I wouldn’t - but it’s smooth and relaxing, creamy, thick, syrupy and mildly lively with alcohol and a sweet woody palate. The finish is relatively quick, and while there is hop, alcohol and overroast bitterness here, it’s still fairly sweet; and it leaves a very nice aftertaste behind. I loved it, for me it’s right up there with the Oak Aged Yeti for me, and a huge shout-out to Ughsmash for sending this one to me.

Pitch black, some small head. Black velvety chocolate and good quality coffee. Some vanilla at front. Later coffee pops up. Rich, very well made stout.

RBSG 2005. Black oily body with a moderate chocolate coloured head. Bourbon flourish in an alcoholic aroma with muted chocolate below. Flavour is a dark malty… something… underneath a dry bitterness, touches of bourbon and ephemeral wisps. Richly full bodied. Very nice.

This imperial stout pours a deep black color from a 12oz bottle. Medium sized beige foamy head. Aroma is chocolate, bourbon and sweet. A medium to full boded stout. Malts are chocolate, coffee and bourbon. Lots of wood, some smoke and some roasted malts. Very smooth and full bodied. Excellent balance between the wood, bourbon, roasted malts and chocolate. There is a slight alcohol bite at 10%. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

This brew pours a very small dark brown head of fine bubbles that quickly disappear and left little lacing. It was incredibly smooth for what I was expecting to come from this very thick black bodied beer. Its 9% alcohol content is extremely well hidden. It gave mny whole mouth a tingling sensation with a very stong sweet malt molasses flavor.