Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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

In the bottle. If you can get beyond the immense alcohol inhalation experience, you will see a jet black brew with a dark brown head. The head, like all other matter, cannot survive the solubilizing excesses of the ethanol solvent. It smells exactly like dark malt extract BEFORE you dilute it to brew up a homebrew stout. It almost pours as thick as well. The sweetness is beyond sweet, but the alcohol burn needs it. I’m afraid this beer is fixing my innards. God, but it is a great way to die! Coffee, honey, chocolate, molasses all abound, but the killer aroma and flavor is BOURBON. If you took the Rogue Chocolate Stout, fed it steroids for a year , and then locked it away in a Bardstown distillery until it was old enough to drive, this is the monster you would have created. My palate has been righteously defeated. I am looking forward to updating this entry 5 years from now. By then, BCS will be old enough to legally drink other alcohols.

I have to make a disclaimer that I am a Bourbon drinker....This one is thanks to JCW. Pours out a very nice dark black color with a small lacing dark brown head. Awesome aroma of Bourbon with some notes of roasted malt. Taste was very good of bourbon, roasted malts some vanilla and maybe some smoke malt flavors. Wonderfully complex, will have to have with a cigar (as the bottle suggests) next time

thanks to jcapriotti for this bonus brew.(talk about a bonus brew!)ok here we go.the b.c.s. pours a super black body with a nice small chocolate looking head.my nose was gifted with aromas of molasses,brownies,chocolate chips,and roasted malts.talk about an inviting aroma!the first sip slid down my throat.the palate and texture is super thick on this one,just the way i like it.i then took a second sip to see what i could really gather as far as flavor.brownies,molasses,and alcohol were all in the mix,including a tiny bit of raosted malt.this is very tastey although i think the alcohol and sweetness are a little overpowering.still though,this is one serious/delicious impy stout.2006 BOTTLE RERATE:smells like heaven.vanilla,oak,molasses,almonds,chocolate,roas malts...the aroma goes on forever.flavor meets the expectations of the aroma.vanilla,oak,butter,caramel.chocolate,coffee, malt...man o’ man this thing keeps movin’.plus it sticks to my tounge and reminds me of how awsome it is 30 seconds after a sip.i really think this year is head and shoulders above last years.

12oz bottles acquired in trades with beerhandy & CaptainCougar (thanks!). Poured a dark, dark black with an averaged sized deep brown head. Aromas start with stronger bourbon that give way to vanilla, oak, brown sugar, and dark fruits. Tastes of bourbon, vanilla, chocolate, and roasted malts. Warming alcohol finish. Nice smooth body. I start a 2 week vacation today and this beer was the perfect way to kick it off!

This is the good stuff. I would describe it as stout extract you could take a tablespoon of this stuff mix it with a little Budweiser and have a good stout. Alone it is the stuff beer legends are made of. It pours so thick almost syrup like and I thought it flat at first but the carbonation was there it just took time for it to push through the viscous liquid. Its black and has a 1.5”dark brown head that resembles polyurethane foam that you fill cracks around your house with except this foam is perfectly flat. The aromas of bourbon, burnt malt, anise and dark fruit. The sip tasted of strong alcohol and sweet roasted malt leading to bitter coffee then to a treacle finish. I couldn’t sip this beer it would take me 2 days to finish. I gulped it down it and enjoyed the rush of alcohol and flavors. Just writing this rating has got me jonesing for more.

Rating #1500

Seriously pours like ink (or maybe thin tar?) and commands a staunch, mocha head after a small reverse-cascade. Powerful, whiskeyed aroma over sweet chocolate syrup and caramel. And that’s what gets delivered in the flavor... a dumptruck of chocolate/caramel candy over a heady, bourbon backdrop that heats the belly and singes the tongue. Over-roasted coffee joins the finish. Extremely full-bodied (almost chokingly so), and the flavor lasts and lasts. I like Greg Hall’s comment about there not being a cigar that could stand up to BCS, but I think an Acid Kuba Kuba would hold its own just fine. Oh, what a killer beer this is... totally worth its high price tag. And it really makes me wish I was back at <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Events-Detail.asp?Eve (sniffle)...

<font size=-4>4 pack/12 oz. from <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Oak Lawn, IL 60453</font>

Liquid Sex in my mouth. Creamy, with wood, chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, and roast. Just a hint of smoke and grain. Bliss.

Pours an inky black that allows absolutely no light through with a one finger head that fades to a nice ring, and leaves a bit of thin lacing. Smell; there’s a definite bourbon smell to this, a little chocolate, dark fruits, and just a hint of coffee. Taste; the bourbon definitely stand out, but is not overwhelming. There’s a bit of a wood flavor, nice hints of rich chocolate, vanilla, caramel, only a touch of coffee. This one definitely has a lot going on with the flavors. Mouthfeel is just a little thinner than I expected, but it is velvety smooth and just thick enough to let me know I’m drinking a double stout. I thought the drinkabilty was really good, but I happen to like the taste of bourbon. If not for such a high abv I could drink a couple of these in a row. This was one hell of a sipping beer, and it makes me very happy that I was able to get a hold of 2/3 of a case.