Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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

2006 bottle from iowaherkeye; nose of bourbon, chocolate, coffee, vanilla, oak, and smoke EXTREMELY COMPLEX; Balcker than night with a tiny tan head; thick syrupy body exhumes these flavors, 1) coffee, 2) caramel, 3) chocolate, 4) bourbon, 5) vanilla, and 6) a liitle bitter hop finish! Alcohol extremely well covered!

Pours a still midnight black with a beige tinge around the edge. One hell of a nose with bourbon, burnt oak, and vanilla. The coffee flavor comes through more in the flavor, smoky, rich, and oily. The flavors really stick. A burning bourbon flavor. Vanilla, coconut and cocoa swirling together....think Almond Joy. This is the tastiest stout I have tried. This will certainly become an annual event. Bravo Goose Island!

12oz bottle, 2005 edition (thanks to nickd from beeradvocate). Poured motor oil black into a goblet with a scum of toast-colored bubbles. One word: Imposing. Nose is nutty toast with some alcohol, very rich. Many different aromas wafting through: vanilla, raisin, smoke, almond(!!).... First sip: whoa. Whoa. Big wood and alcohol followed by layers, layers, layers: vanilla & pumpkin, bourbon for sure, plenty of smoke, prune and caramel sweetness, and of course chocolate and toast. Kicks with plenty of alcohol on the palate, warming and becoming even numbing by the middle of the glass. Nice carbonation lends a creamy texture. Heavy, chewy body. Finish is short, very sweet and boozey with substantial roasty bitterness, but followed by an extremely complex dancing aftertaste that is an adventure in itself. Zow-wie. I don’t consider myself a stout aficionado but this is a truly remarkable beer.

HUGE BOURBON explodes through in the nose!!! There is also some vanilla, smoke, defintely the oak from the barrels comes through in the smell. There is also a little bit of wine like dark fruits, grapes, raisins, and plums in the smell. This stuff is incredible as far as the number of different complex smells you get from it. I could smell this beer all night. On to the flavors...Oh My God!! This stuff is about as big as a bourbon barrel imperial stout could be. All sorts of vanilla, bourbon, oak, and smokiness in the flavor. I am enjoying a year old vintage of this stuff and it has done wonders for the complextities of the flavors. Overall a great beer!!! By far one of my favorites!

Thanks to my cousin keith for this bottle. Pours thick black with a light brown head. The aroma is massive,Rich with molassas, dark cherry & bourbon. Deep flavors of coffee and chocolate are cut with a strong bourbon flavor with a nice full body. To me a perfect stout .HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

bottle dated 1.10.07 (I’m thinking this is really 10.11.07) enjoyed 12.6.07. Powerful aroma of raisins, bourbon, nail polish and coconut macaroons? Pours like motor oil; thick, black and sticky. Not a whole lot of carbonation present, small dusty brownish/red head. This is a sipping beer for sure. Body is very syrupy. The flavor is dominated by the bourbon and I like bourbon so thats a good thing. It has a little of everything, some chocolate, some raisins, nuts, vanilla and a little smoke...none more than the other. The bourbon puckers your mouth around the long lasting roasted malt in the finish. A cigar would be good right now! Now it tastes just like a German chocolate cake. 9 5 19 4 18. . . . . . . . . . . . . bottle dated 1.10.07 (10.11.07???) enjoyed 12.20.08. Big bourbon aroma noticeable 5 feet away from the glass, really nice bourbon aroma actually, very woody, coconuts macaroons, very rich syrupy chocolate, raisins, avoid swirling as it releases too much alcohol in the nose. Pours a syrupy very dark brown near black with a very small creamy tan head. Very thick and velvety first taste, super smooth, wow has this matured beautifully. Loads of creamy dark chocolate, surprisingly not sweet, lightly nutty, hint of coconut from the barrel but not overbearing, great bourbon flavor with a nice light kick in the finish. Long bitter dark chocolate raisin aftertaste. Full bodied, smooth silky carbonation with a syrupy finish. 9 5 10 4 19. near perfect and so so warming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . bottle dated 08.16.05 enjoyed 10.03.09 at room-temp, so a little over 4 years old, listed at 11%. Pours an opaque glossy brownish black with a smaller fizzy mocha head, aroma is chalky, nutty, sweet but stale raisins, big bourbon, dark chocolate, varnish/nail polish remover, doesn’t smell very sweet at all but rather stale, saw-dust, raisins and bourbon. That is quite different in flavor, mellowed but still very alcohol forward, the sweetness is completely gone, vanished, but the big viscous body remains, bitter-sweet baker’s chocolate, some chocolate syrup towards the finish with lingering chocolate and an alcohol burn. The flavor is very good, and substantially different than later vintages, it has actually mellowed and amalgamated into something very simple and pure. The huge bourbon and coconut that are super present in later vintages are also missing, well, they are there but very much kept in check. Full bodied, super smooth and creamy, faint larger bubbly carbonation , lightly oily. Off-flavor oxidation is really minimal which is really impressive. This is #($&#($*&#($ delicious! Perfectly mellowed and galvanized. 8.4.10.5.19

Acquired through trade with brewblackhole. Pours an opaque black with high viscosity. The head is a creamy dark brown, which disappears quickly. The flavor is unimaginably complex in that there are bursts of molasses, chocolate, coffee, and ALCOHOL. The palate is very smooth, creamy, full and thick, with the consistency of oil. It finishes with a warm sensation caused by the alcohol and a very slight bitterness. This is truly an outstanding beer.

Amazing. Delicious... This mammoth stout pours with a black as night, oily, intimidating appearance with a small, dark brown head that forms a short-lived ring around the body. Not much in the way of lacing, but this beer has long, viscuous, sexy legs that cover the glass after each sip. The first scent is a complex, nutty coconut aroma, with vanilla, blackberry jam, molasses, almonds, rich, smooth bourbon and an alcoholic punch. I can hardly find the words to explain the extravagant complexity of the taste. It is delicious, rich, warming, and fulfilling. A strong coconut flavor covers the tongue, complemented by a rummy, sticky, coffee liqueuer and chocolate bourbon-ball delightfulness. I can’t use the term "rich" enough here. It is rich, rich, rich- filling and bursting with tongue tingling, warming alcohol. Still, for 13% abv, this is ridiculously easy and fun to drink. A thick, velvety, blanketing mouthfeel overwhelms the senses and finishes strong, bright and delicious with lingering coffee, bourbon, oatmeal and almond notes that stick with the tongue for quite some time to come. This is, so far, the best stout I’ve layed my lips on, and a beer to be enjoyed slowly and lovingly, especially on a cool, cloudy night.