Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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

Great beer. I almost passed this one up when I saw it was a goose island brew. Pours blacker than coal looks very thick like motor oil. Very minimal, quickly diminishing, dark brown head. Slight bourbon nose with molasses. Roasty, bourbon chocolate taste with a hint of caramel. Complex beer with an almost warm, creamy finish. Definitely one of the best beers i have tried.

(bottle - 12 oz - 2008 vintage) Dark oil black pour with a thin layer of tan foam. Aroma is huge! Tons of oak and bourbon notes with some roasted malts, chocolate, and caramel. Incredibly inviting. Flavor is just as powerful. Lots of oak and bourbon give way to a smooth and very sweet middle of caramel and vanilla. Some light buttery and roasted notes finish it off. Alcohol is very well hidden. Outstanding beer and a great way to finish the tasting we did tonight. Well deserving of the second perfect score I’ve given out.

Pours like 40 Weight, black as night, incredibly syrupy, and dense, lots of semi-sweet chocolate, BOURBON, rum, pecan praline, dried figs, dates, raisins, currant, and a touch of prune, extremely sweet, but never cloying, and dried out a bit by a welcome touch of coffee bitterness in the endless finish. Overall, very portlike...my new all-time favorite Impy!

2005 bottle, consumed December 2005.
In my new Goose Island Brewmasters Reserve glass, nonetheless, which I picked up last weekend for this special pilgrimage. Deep, dark black liquidity and a beautiful dark, creamy tan head that sits on the surface and moves down the sides of the glass with elegant frothy ripples. A little thinner on the pour than last year’s batch, but still opaque in the glass. Aroma and flavor are uncannily consistent with last year’s batch. Perhaps a touch more caramel nougats in the aroma, and vanilla via nose and mouth, but I think it’s just been my evolution as a beer rater and my appreciation for what Greg Hall and the rest of the Goose Island team has accomplished with this beer. Flavor dimensions resound with familiar echos and predominantly pull from dark chocolate truffles basking in bourbon. Authoritative with every nuance. The bourbon’s not a little pick-me-up, it’s the leading lady and she daunts the shit out of you, yet masochistically, I don’t think I could ever get enough of her.

I waited nearly a year to have this one again, and now after doing so, I feel absolutely certain that this beer has attained perfection, which was something I was hesitant to exclaim in my early rating days, but something that definitely warrants declaring now.

2004 bottle, consumed April 2005.
Thick and black; dense. Minimal amoeba shaped head. Aroma is... holy bourbon, Mother of... Some molasses, charred oak and alcohol wafts. Flavor is... my Lord, rich rich rich. Velvety chocolate. Smooth vanilla, bourbon and oak. Tastes like a white chocolate truffle filled with Irish cream liquor. So thick. So smooth. Divine execution of malts and hops. A fine beer in every sense. Finish is mocha-laden and cotes the palate like wax. This one could easily replace any meal of the day.

You will either love or hate this concoction. Is it bourbon? Is it beer? Whatever it you want call it. I know this. It is amazing! Nobody can say. There’s too much of this or that. This is a creation. A super deep dark and barley wine like. The silky smooth texture and mouth feel is incredible. The nose I could smell all day. Heavy liquor licorice element. Extreme dark chocolate and a slight coconut essence. I poured this about ten inches from the glass to achieve the beautiful creamy dark tan head with super fine bubbles that dissipate quickly. You may say where’s the beer? It is evident but it is in the background. This a mind blowing. Barrier

B-I-N-G-O_! HMFA This is over the top. Having this at the beertasting and it is divine! Luscious. Thick and rich. So much going on take forever to describe it all. Aroma, color, body, head, finish are unequaled. Damn fine.

Simply astounding. I have one bottle left and I am saving it to celebrate when my nephew and I open our own business. It’s that good.

another great find at local store.i had heard about it and happen to find it .strong bourbon aftertaste but done well and is very easy to drink.dark thick and a very good sipping beer but was worth the price.try it if you like this type of barrel aged beer.