Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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

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.

Aroma is quite nice, an ever changing array of strength with dark caramel and darker still, chocolate; masked by a firm girth of bourbony sweetness that really comes across as smooth and well checked, mainly due to the chocolate tones keeping it quieter then it ought to be. A nice medley on the nose. Simple notes of vanilla and cookie dough remain ever present as well. As it warms the bourbon makes a bigger effort to overcome the chocolate. Deep and dark fudgy brown nearly and completely black once fully poured with a late-to-appear thin, dark cocoa cap of whipped cream fluff. The foam creeps away leaving a thin collar and the lacing sticks in small amounts of strings close to the collar. Taste is thick and oily with a smooth dark chocolatey front, then, as if it had a choice, gets overtaken by a very sweet bourbon heat and tinge thats pretty intense. Whhooffda! This sucker is nicely heated. Still in check though, much like the aroma, the chocolate tones tend to supersede over the top of the flavors but staying underneath the alcoholic heat. An interesting effect. Super awesome finish, subtle, warming, late return of chocolate after the heat settles off leaving leftovers of crispened charred vanilla bean, caramel stickies, and sweet, sweet bourbon. Oh my, what an encapsulated ride of fun this stuff is, wow! That sweet bourbony heat builds strongly and just cinders for what seems an eternity while all the other stuff play underneath. Feel is powerfully heated with a bourbony sweetness and back-throated burn that is absolutely awesome to behold. Thickishly full body with an oily front and somewhat creamy length throughout the rest of its stay that mediates under the overall heat. If it were a notch less heated it would be phenomenal as far as its feel and drinkability. It could be quite a drinkable treat if it weren’t so ABV hitting. Although, there’s nothing wrong with slowing down and enjoying it, appreciating it, ...loving it, cuz that’s what it’s all about with this one. I didin’t think Goose Island had it in them, but man does this stuff rock! Nicey nice!

Vintage 2007: Just got my hands on some. This is awesome. Thick jet black with a foamy brown head. Bourbon, chocolate, coffee, caramel malt in the nose. The aroma was so pleasing that I lingered quite awhile there. The body was rich and robust, slightly oily and smooth and so very satisfying. The flavor was well worth the wait and lived up to the aroma with strong Bourbon, coffee, and chocolate notes that caressed the tongue and titilated the palate. This was ready for drinking as is but holds such promise for cellaring. My rating numbers are for this 2007 batch.

Poured black with a brown head that disappeared in a flash. The nose was distillery, bourbon, vanilla, some coffee, prunes. Thick and viscous palate. Flavor was intense. Alcohol. Malts cut the edge just a tad. A nice sipping beer on a cold winter night.

This is just an amazing Stout, the most creamy rich dark wonderful mouth feel I’ve ever had. Huge nose, long dry finish. Simple unbelievable.

Black beer with a small brown head. Roasted malty aroma with notes of oak, fruit, some alcohol sweetness and hints of coffee bitterness and chocolate sweetness. Warming alcohol sweet flavor with a light roasted maltyness, lots of oak notes. Dry finish with notes of whiskey. Thank you so much Rene (sk8viking) for sharing this wonderfull beer with me.

Bottle: Courtesy of Duane via trade. Big bourbon and vanilla presence in the aroma. Chocolate is there, but is somewhat dominated. Definite alcohol presence in the nose. If you take a real big whiff, it burns the nose a little (I only got this from the first bottle I had). Pours a dark brown, with no transparency, and a quickly fading tan head. Like the aroma, big bourbon flavor with a good dose of vanilla. Moderate caramel and chocolate is light. Finishes with some moderate coffee and light alcohol flavor, but pretty big warmth. As I drink, chocolate begins to make it’s presence more known. Excellent beer! 10-4-9-4-18

Bottle (2007): Outstanding aroma of chocolate, caramel, vanilla, bourbon, maple syrup, toffee, light alcohol, and very faint coffee. This really has to be one of the best aromas for a beer. Pours virtually black with a minimal tan head that quickly fades to a fine ring along the outer edges of the glass. The flavor starts with lots of chocolate, some caramel, and light vanilla. There is sort of a faint fruit and raisin combo in the middle. It finishes with maple syrup, bourbon, and very faint roasted coffee. Tastes big, but 13% is masked very well. Thank you GI for finally getting this stuff to Michigan. 10-4-10-4-19

Bottle. Poured a thick black color with a light brown head. Terrific strong aroma of malt and bourbon. Mouthfeel is tremendous. Flavor is a nice blend of chocolate, malt, vanilla, wood, and bourbon. This is a very solid beer, maybe even worth the $18 a four-pack.

A big, bad, meaty stout. Pours opaque with a dark tan head with a powerful aroma of roasted malt. But the power, complexity and flavor of this stout sets it apart. The roasted malt is complimented by a strong oak presence and hints of bourbon. A gorgeous beer with power and alcohol. Love this one.