Goose Island Bourbon County Stout - Chocolate Cherry

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

Serve in Snifter

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Draft at Craft. Pours deep blackish, turbid, with minimal off-tan head. Nose is roasty dark malt, molasses, vanilla, tart bing cherry, cacao. Tastes rich, with roasty malt, molasses, a thick and complex mouthfeel, and the cherry accents without being overpowering. Delicious!

On tap at Chicago St. Pub, Joliet, IL. Solid black with no head, the aroma was kinda mellow bourbon barrel with light stout notes at first, but as it warmed, more and more cherry came out. The flavor is quite the opposite. First sip was all bourbon stout. Second added a huge blast of sweet cherries and a little more chocolate. Came off like a chocolate covered cherry dipped in coffee then bourbon. Smooth, with a wonderful balance of flavors that were all noticeable but not overwhelming. Another amazing twist on an already great beer.

On tap at GTMW, yeah, entering old notes during my days off, pours black with a thin light brown head, the aroma actually reminded me of just the normal BCS with nothing really standing out, maybe just a tad bit of cherry, the flavor on the other hand had more of the cherry coming through with the bourbon and oak in the finish, nice mouthfeel, good stuff.

8/11/12. GTMW. Oily black pour with almost no head. Light bourbon, chocolate, wood, coffee, and just barely a touch of cherry in the aroma. The flavor is basically parallel to regular BCS but with a hint of cherry sweetness in there, almost like cherry pie. Good, but I was definitely underwhelmed (keep in mind I rate the other BCSes very high).

Tap at GTMW. Dark black pour, no carbonation and an aroma of chocolate, bourbon and a hint of artificial cherry. Flavor is similar to the other variations. Bourbon and some mellow dark cherry and heavy bourbon. Decent.

Draft at Stout Fest. Pours a deep black/brown with a brown head. Nose is nice. Lots of pie cherries and chocolate, light vanilla and bourbon. Nice. On tasting, lots of pie cherry flavor mingling with the smooth bourbon county stout base. Loads of chocolate and molasses and booze, but the cherries rise to the top. Pretty damn cool beer here!

Stoutfest 2012, Dark black pour, cherry, chocolate, and bourbon aroma. Taste was a little too sweet and syrupy for me, kind of reminded me of a really good cough syrup.

Enjoyed on tap at Goose Island Stout Fest 2012 in Chicago, IL. One of the many BCS varieties on tap that day. Appearance is a rich pitch black with a thin tan rim. Aroma of cherry, chocolate, bit of coffee, light sweetness, booze is noticeable but not as dominant like other BCS varieties. Taste is a light sour, rich, but still pretty smooth with the cherries being balanced nicely with the chocolate. Not my favorite BCS variety but still very good, happy to have tried.

Bottle. Black and very very powerful. Immediate impact of vanilla followed by lots of complex full bodied flavours. A but overpowering for my own taste but still one to go for.

Luckily I made my way up to Minnesota for craft beer week and got to try this rare piece of goose! A: Dark black no head just like the other Bourbon County beers. S: Really nice. I could smell the cherry in it but not overpowering or nasty/cheap smelling like a maraschino cherry is. Getting strong bourbon notes, I wonder if this was made with the 2010 version because it smells like a fresh BCBS. T: Damn that is good! Like a chocolate covered cherry. Very sweet and bourbony but I love both those things in stouts so yeah this is doing it for me. It is a fresh Bourbon County but the cherry flavor seems to balance that "hotness" a bit. O: Yet another grand slam in my eyes for the bourbon county style. I am really lucky to have tried this and I have to admit I drank about 4-5 of these that night. Spectacular.