Goose Island Big John Imperial Stout

Brewed by Goose Island Beer Company (AB-InBev)
Style: Imperial Stout
Chicago, Illinois USA

Serve in Snifter

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Draft at craft ale house. Pours pitch black with minimal head. The aroma is faint for a beer of this size. The are some roasty notes. The taste has a nice chocolate flavor with some residual sweetness and a boozy luck at the end. Solid hey not as great as the bcs series.

Bombers from Capone’s, Craft, and Wegman’s Collegeville. Pours thick, rich, jet black, with gorgeous dark brown head. Nose is a luscious medley of roasty choc malt, cacao, I get a lot of pruney/raisiny aromas, and some black currant esters and hazelnut. Tastes thick, rich, complex, perfectly matches with my Oliva Series V maduro Churchill cigar, with a big roasty malt, vanilla, cacao, somewhat sweet, molasses, and raisin/fig/prune/black currant undertones. This one is the Energizer Bunny of impy Stouts in that it never lets up. It pounds your palate and olfactory membranes from beginning to end. What a great beer.

Inky black with modest, creamy, brown head / Intense nose of backstrap molasses, dark chocolate, dark fruit / Very full body, inky and dense, chewy, moderately sweet but with good balance, and noticeable bitterness on the finish / Intense flavors of backstrap molasses, semisweet chocolate, prune, plum, roast coffee, licorice / Something this intense isn’t something I would choose to drink, but it’s undeniably a great thing.

Bottle. Pours a thick, sludgy black with thin mocha head and thin lined lace. Notes of roasted malts, chocolate, booze. Pretty tasty

Dark and syrupy. Lots of chocolate taste in this one. Will have to see how it does after aging a bit.

Bottled December 7, 2012.
Appearance: The beer is near pitch black on the pour and it appears so in the glass. The head is thin with poor retention, settling quickly into a brown thick ring and a light coating.
Aroma: Cocoa comes through strong, rather sweet, with a hint of earthy notes, it reminds me of earthy coffee. Milk chocolate aromas come through the strongest though.
Taste: Lots of chocolate here, slightly bittersweet, backed by dark fruits, perhaps some vinegar?
Palate: Thick and chewy, a bit soft in texture though the carbonation becomes a bit sharp towards the end.
Overall: I think there might be something off in this as I don’t know if this is supposed to be as fruity as it is. The vinegar hints throw this off. I had a similar problem with Night Stalker too, so I’m guessing it’s an infection.

UPDATED: MAY 3, 2013 Espresso strength coffee aroma...dark black color; thick looking. Small tan head. Taste is smooth chocolate, vanilla, caramel, butterscotch. Smokey, or maybe burnt aftertaste. Very thick, low carbonation. Overall this is a really nice beer. Only the "unrefreshing" aspect keeps this from being my favorite beer.

Pours black with thick reddish brown head that fades slowly. Aroma is a bomb of chocolate, with small hints of vanilla andd booze, the chocolate aroma is like malted chocolate balls. Taste is great as well, malted milk balls, chocolate covered raisins, other rich dark fruit notes, maybe even some berry notes. Awesome mouthfeel, fantastic impy stout, I don’t care if they are in-bev or not, goose island makes so e great brews.

Bomber poured into Duvel tulip glass. Bottle 12-7-12 #815. Pours an abyss black with a small brown head that quickly fades leaving a tiny ring on the glass edges. A:cocoa up front, candied sugar, molasses, toffee, cream, booze. M:smooth, creamy malt, semi-sweet chocolate. Leaves a slight chalky bitterness after a few minutes. Not in the same league as BCS but a great stout nonetheless.

Pours a deep black with a creamy deep tan lacing head. Aroma of molasses, dark fruits, chocolate and caramel. Flavor of dark fruits, coffee, roasted malts, vanilla, molasses and dark chocolate.