Goose Island Bourbon Barrel Aged Wheatmiser

Brewed by Goose Island Beer Company (Brewpubs)
Style: Barley Wine
Chicago, Illinois USA

Serve in Snifter

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Draft @ FoBAB 2009, Chicago, IL Pours a clear amber color with a small off-white head. Has a sweetish malty caramel and dark fruit aroma with hints of bourbon. Sweetish malty dark fruit and caramel flavor with hints of vanilla and wood. Has a sweetish malty caramel and dark fruit finish.

On tap at Clybourn location: Pours a clear copper orange with a thin ring of white bubbles. Has a big bourbon woody oak aroma with some light cardboard, caramel, and vanilla notes. Starts with pretty good fullness and light caramely sweet wheat with a touch of oxidation and big bourbon oaky flavor before a drier, woody, slightly warming finish. The barrel seems to dominate here and there’s a little too much oxidation.

On tap at FoBAB 5. Poured a lightly hazy, caramelly-deep brown with a short cap of off-white head. The aroma was sweet and extremely rich with bourbon, vanilla, and darker fruits.. very malty, with little indication of wheat in the nose. The flavor had sweet grainier bourbon, vanilla, and medium-skinned-to-darker fruits at the base with warm, tart wheat around the tongue.. warm and malty finish with a touch of overt alcohol. Grainy, sweet, and challenging on the palate.. warm and syrupy at times, too.. great barrel integration. This was a very large beer, and it carried itself VERY well! One of the highlights of the fest.

FoBAB 2007: Honey and coppery hue with a small head and some lace. The nose has a initial uppercut of booze and heavy malt (honey, sugar, wheat, apple, pear, vanilla, oak, phenols, and a hint of rubber).

The taste is marzipan, honey comb with a smack of vanilla with a fruity midsection that finished spicy and woody, boozy throughout but not overpowering. The mouth feel is smooth, oily, sticky with a noticeable warming. This is great stuff but not for the meek of palate. A lot of things to contemplate.

FoBAB 2008. Poured a clear dark orange color with an off white head. Pleasant aromas of caramel, toffee, whiskey, fig, and orange liqueur. Medium to full bodied and sweet with a warming alcohol effect. Caramel, vanilla, bourbon, butter, and dark fruit flavors. Good stuff.

On tap at Clybourn. Poured an orange amber with an off-white head. Aroma consisted of notes of fruits, sweet grain and bourbon. Started a bit grainy sweet and then the alcohol takes over leading to a finish of almost purely alcohol. Nice and thick on the tongue.

draft @ GI Clybourn. Amber orange pour. Caramel malts, bourbon, oak with light vanilla in the aroma. Taste was rich maltiness, oaky bourbon, nice alcohol burn, balanced but still pretty intense. Nice offering from Goose Island

on tap at FoBAB V: pours auburn w/ white head. nose of bourbon, oak, vanilla. flavors of sweet cotton candy, bourbon, caramelly, oaky, vanilla, awesome stuff but not as good as Wooden Hell which was also there.

UPDATED: OCT 31, 2008 FOBAB ’07....appearance: dark caramel brown with a thin ivory head....aroma: all i smell in this one is bourbon vanilla and booze....taste: candied brown sugar, bourbon, and a little too sweet overall.....i very much preferred wooden hell to this but not a bad offering overall.

10/31/08 On tap at GI Cly. Nice to be able to sit down with this one. aroma is pretty much the same but the flavors had more variety this time around. some bitterness in the finish cut into the bourbon and toffee flavors. a lot nicer this time around.

Draft at the brewpub. Pour is dark red-brown, dissipating head, no lacing. Nose is distinct for play-doh and mead/honey. As it warmed, honey was the predominating character, very sweet. Taste is rich and complex, slight bitterness and distinct bourbon character, though not boozy at all. well-hidden alcohol. Taste also has some marshmallows, a touch of salt and a ton of vanilla. Very slick and easy to drink. Very good and properly aged in a barrel.