Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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

courtesy of Laurent Mousson - very dark brown colour, little dark beige foam; complex aroma of wood, nut and molasses; thick and oily, full-bodied and hugely bitter, a touch of acidity; solid carbonation; long bitter roasted and nutty finish leaving warming alcohol notes - spectacular!

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?

Cinco de Mayo, 2007: Re-rate: Sampled at Dark Lord Day 2007, 4-28-07. Very bourbony aroma, rich, high alcohol. Fully opaque body with a yellowish, tan head. Wow. Excellent. Dark Lord doesn’t have that much on this brew. Why is it that people line up and pay $15 a bottle for DL and there’s very little hype for BBS? Granted I don’t think this is quite a good as DL, but it’s not far enough away for the disparity in attention. Perhaps only being available one day a year at the brewery will do that for a beer. Ar 8, Ap 4, Fl 8, Pal 5, Ov 17. 3-28-06: MN Ratebeer Winter Get Together. Bottle. Rich, milk chocolatety aroma. Opaque body with no lace. Light brown head. Engine oil consistency. Syrupy. Wonderful caramelly, rich. Excellent.

As the bourbon aged craze rages on, I often think backto the first (at least that I can recall)...Bourbon County Stout. At least from 1998. This beer simply rocks. Over-the-top chocplate, vanilla, molasses and bourbon flavors. ZThick as 10W30 with a neat deep brown/red hue. This beer will age a well as any beer that I have tried. I first rated this lower due, primarily to the high alcohol taste. But it has dawned on me that this is intended and is not a function of the 11% abv but the bourbon characteristic taken on by hte barrel aging. Anyway, ages ti a forget about dissing this so-called fad. Any process that continues to fortify the unique and overwhelming flavors typically reserved for port wines and single malt scotches is fine with me.

A big beer. Very thick, full of chocolate, some wood, slight smoke, the bourbon and booziness. Knock yourself out. Rich and deep intensity of flavours, I got the caramel, coconut,. A very fine effort, a top stout. Thanks Viggo. Recommend with food to give your brain more range of flavours.

Bottle (12oz). Shared with blankboy, my bottle, via Ughsmash. (makes Homer noise "uh huhuhuhuh!"). Poured thick almost opaque brown-black, large brown diminishing fizzy-foamy head. You can really smell the oak bourbon barrel in the aroma - very sweet and woody, lots of yeast and rich dark roast malt, some hops and smoke - good lord that’s nice. Taste follows on, but there’s vanilla, cream, evergreen needles, blackberry, molasses and winesaps, but mostly that rich, sweet, woody oak and bourbon character, with the alcohol vying successfully for attention. This isn’t something you’d drink several pints of - okay, I wouldn’t - but it’s smooth and relaxing, creamy, thick, syrupy and mildly lively with alcohol and a sweet woody palate. The finish is relatively quick, and while there is hop, alcohol and overroast bitterness here, it’s still fairly sweet; and it leaves a very nice aftertaste behind. I loved it, for me it’s right up there with the Oak Aged Yeti for me, and a huge shout-out to Ughsmash for sending this one to me.

Bottle: poured pitch black with little to no head. Very chocolatey aroma with wood and bourbon, but not as much bourbon as I would have thought. The body on this thing is amazing. Very full and rich. Not like Dark Lord rich but rich. Lots of chocolate and bourbon in the flavor and moderately sweet. Light alcohol for 11%. I really liked the carbonation in this thing. I would have thought it would be more subdued but quite a lot of carbonation unlike most Expedition. I would like to pour some over ice cream. Excellent.