Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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

2009-11-12, bottle at Monk’s Café, Stockholm, vintage 2007, 2 years old, 13% ABV, 9-4-8-4-17=42
Black color; it’s almost flat, with no carbonation, no head. The aroma shows a good mix of Bourbon vanilla, whiskey, roasted malt, paper, cardboard, very light smoke. It has a good body strength; strong chocolate flavor, burning alcohol feeling; welll rich; dark caramel, light vanilla, light smoke.

2007-05-23, vintage 2006, 1 year old, 11% ABV, 8-5-9-5-18=45
Black oil, thin head. Intense aroma, very sweet, of vanilla, oak, roasted malt, tar, leather. Full mouthfeel, thick, oily, sweet, malty, with a very nice roasted malt line, some liquorice, cookies, vanilla, dark chocolate. Strong final, with a clear presence of the roasted malt, sugars and vanilla, salty dark chocolate 99% cocoa; toffee and rubharb; the alcohol starts warming the mouth

Bought for 10$ at New Beer Distributors, NY, it’s a great beer to celebrate Milan victory in the Champions League tonight!

2008. Very bourbon-y on the nose, it was evident without looking at the name. No head, just thick black liquid with bourbony, alcoholy fumes. Full rich Impy flavor, just doesn’t hide the alcohol or seem to make any attempt to. Seems I’ve had something very similar to this before - maybe Dogfish Head WWS except more bourbon-y?

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!

From the bottle, pours thick and black like 10W-40 motor oil, with a very small tan foamy head. Deep and rich aroma of dark malts with a hint of alcohol and a smoothness from the oak barrels. Taste is equally strong and rich, thick malts, some brown sugar/molasses, a bit of bourbon, a hint of alcohol, and a lightly bitter bite in the aftertaste. Thick and incredibly smooth, this is a pretty fantastic beer, though I’d be hard pressed to drink more than two at once.

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.