Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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

Bottle Pours a thick viscous black with a small lasting coacoa colored head. Huge sweet dark roasted aroma with chocolate. bourbon and old wood barrels. Flavor was an exquisite medley of ripe dark pitted fruits, chocolate, a bit of coffee, dark brown sugar and a decent alcohol bite. Slightly fumey. Silky and thick, palate and softly carbonated. Lovely. Thanks Jake.

12 oz. bottle. 2007 vintage. I was almost in shock when I saw this at the bottle shop a few weeks ago because I had never seen it anyplace on Long Island and I’ve had it on my wants list for a long time. Pours a dense black with a thin brown head that completely disappeared after the first sip. Wonderfully huge aroma of lightly roasted malt, bourbon, vanilla, oak, caramel, and chocolate. As strong as the aroma is, the flavor is even more intense, with again malt, bourbon, vanilla, oak, caramel and chocolate. The flavors, although strong, all blend harmoniously. Just the right amount of bitterness at the finish. Some definite warmth from the alcohol, which fits very nicely with the flavor profile. This is an outstanding beer.

Pours blacker than a moonless night. A thin creamy colored head that fades lightly into a ring along the edge. Light carbonation cloud in the middle of the glass. Cloud fades over the course of the beer leaving only the ring that lasts throughout the entire beverage. Smells of bourbon first then of sweet chocolate and molasses with a large follow up punch of bourbon. Brown sugar, vanilla and roasted oak. Faint hints of vanilla and cocoa. the smell seems to get sweeter as the beer warms and is drunken. This beer oozes sweet chocolate, molasses, bourbon. There are still hints of a light vanilla. It has an overwhelming bourbon and bitter sweet chocolate taste. Lightly carbonated and leaves a tingly molasses/bourbon aftertaste. The chocolate flavors become increasingly bitter as the beer warms. A little too much of a bitter after taste as the beer reaches room temperature. This beer feels the way it tastes. A little boozy, lightly carbonated and way way way to easy to drink. Very smooth for such a power house. Bubbles a little in the back of your throat as I drink the first glass. At 13% I should be able to down these as easy is it goes down. This beer is the best of Bourbon meets a stout champion. I can’t believe that I not only want another but, I’m sure after #2, I’ll want a third. This beer is awesome! I raise my glass to the brewer’s at Goose Island. Na Sdaroviya!

Appearance: Pours an opaque black body with a large, lush dark tan head. Smell: Intense aroma of chocolate-covered coffee beans and bourbon, with all the companion hints of vanilla, wood, and dark brown sugar. Light whiff of smoke. Taste: Dark maltiness with chocolate, sweetened coffee, and dark caramel. Plenty of complimentary sweetness to go around. A bourbon flavor so exquisite, it’s hard not to get excited about it. At this level, you get astoundingly distinct, robust flavors of vanilla beans, brown sugar, and charred oak. Anymore bourbon would turn this beer into an abomination of beerkind. The beer gets very chocolatey near the finish. Mouthfeel: Full-bodied. Medium carbonation. Creamy, delectable mouthfeel. Warming alcohol presence. Drinkability: Very good! The first sip was a joy, as was the last.

This is an amazain barrel aged stout. I have never had any thing that has smelled so much like burbon before having this beer. The color is so dark and there is no head at all. The aroma is extreamly strong filled with burbon,wood,and chocolate. As it warmed up and i took a sip my mought was filled with chocolate burbon bitterness which was so awesome. I realy like the creamy smooth texture on the tounge as i sip on it. Also the cherry vanilla in the after taste is amazing followed by the chocolate woodyness. If beers could be in te 110 percentile then this one would definitly be there.

bottled 10/12/2007. Pours dark as oil, entirely opaque, with practically nonexistent dark tan head. Strong bourbon odor with a hint of sweet coffee malts. The smell alone has more taste than most of the beers out there. Heaven. Amazingly smooth, with strong sweet bourbon tastes, matched with coffee, chocolate with just a hint vanilla woodiness. A smoky aftertaste. Overall, an incredible beer, by far one of, if not THE, most complex stout I have ever tasted. Well worth the hype.

Bottle at Spuyten Duyvil in Brooklyn. S*** m*****f*****s this s*** is f***ing good. If stupid annoyances like my job and reality didn’t get in the way, I would probably sit by the fire every night in my robe drinking this beer, smoking a fine Cuban, and watching the great comedic masterpieces of legendary actor Adam Sandler. In reality, at least I can drink this excellent stout every now and then. Pours black with a small brown head. Incredible aroma of coffee, chocolate, smoke, vanilla, and sweet malt. Flavor is malty with molasses, coffee, chocolate, dark fruit, and of course a strong bourbon finish. Thick and oily as hell. One of the best there is, plain and simple.

This beer is amazing. Pours really thick. I thought I messed up the pour, since I didn’t have a ton of head, but it sounds like it doesn’t really have a lot. The taste was amazing. For some people, I could see the significant bourbon taste puttting some people off, esp. because of the alcohol floavor that comes along with a bourbon taste. But I love bourbon and beer with a significant bourbon essence. That caramel, vanilla, and woody flavor that comes from bourbon is ever-present with this beer. It’s amazing. Love it. Can’t wait to buy more and just let it sit in my beer cooler for a few years.