Goose Island Bourbon County Coffee Stout

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

Serve in Snifter

Brassin 2010. Bouteille de 22 oz partagée lors d’un souper Ratebeer Montréal. Arôme: Odeur de café frais moulu. Apparence: La couleur est noire opaque. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de café et de vanille avec une pointe de caramel et de chocolat. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est plein avec une texture onctueuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Présence de vanille en arrière goût. (Rating #4144)

2011 Release - Intelligentsia Anjilanaka Beans, 22 oz bomber bottled on 1/11/2012 #1431. Poured into a brandy snifter. A - Pitch black viscous body with a dark mocha head. Fades quickly to some very light edging. Alcoholic legs with minimal lacing. Looks identical to standard BCBS. S - Very different from the other coffee stouts I’ve tried. It starts off initially with a huge coffee presence, but its very savory and spicy rather than sweet. There is notes of black pepper, leather, licorice, and soy. The finish is burnt oak and light vanilla. T - Much sweeter than the nose. This is one of the best coffee beers I have ever tried. I don’t even think I’ve even had coffee that has tasted this good. Very very dark roasted espresso beans laced with vanilla, coconut, cocoa powder and charred oak. The finish is smooth with bourbon and lightly bitter beans. Phenomenal, one of the best tasting stouts I have tasted. Mouth feel is silky smooth and the viscous body coats the mouth evenly. 14% abv is not noticeable at all. O - This doesn’t beat out the base beer for me. I absolutely love the complexity that is BCBS, and I think adding coffee takes away from that experience a bit. Its integrated really well, but its just too much happening at once. However, this is the best coffee beer I have ever tasted. The flavors are just so intense and world class. A near perfect stout.

From a bottle in Sätila new years evening 2011. Dark beer with a tanned head. Licorice, coffee, tar, malty, chocolate aroma. A huge wounderful flavour palette with coffee, chocolate, malt tarand a many mote tastes. This is love in a bottle again :-)

Pours the darkest totally opaque brown I’ve ever seen. Initially, a decent dark chocolate head literally fizzes away (sounded like a cola) to nothing within less than a minute. Aroma is bourbon, espresso and vanilla. Absolutely delicious taste teaming with a number of flavors. Molasses, vanilla, caramel, espresso coffee, chocolate and a warm alcohol mouthfeel are all there. Some evidence of the bourbon from the barrel, as well. Top notch stuff!

The 2010 bottling is really settling in beautifully with a bit less than 2 years of age. This beer was never really hoppy to begin with, but the flavor profie is really rounding out with sweet, rich, chocolate and vanilla, coffee and cream, and caramel. Lovely stuff... Wish I had more of it.

So Greg at Churchkey told me that DC only got 15 bottles of this stuff, and he had just 4 bottles left. So I snagged one and shared it with the 3 Stars crew, who were there to launch their new B.W. Rye #3, a really nice saison, which they also offered on cask with lemon peel and citra hops. Oh, and the bourbon county coffee was not bad either, thankfully more of a beer than a cup of coffee. The aroma was nice, but the flavor was really amazing. Well deserving of all its kudos.

A dark black body with a brown head that faded quickly. Carbonation was very mild. Aroma had a strong booze presence. There was nice roasted coffee notes, but the bourbon really overpowered the beer. Flavor was very sweet, almost cloying, there was just enough bitterness from the roasted malts and coffee malts to prevent it. Aftertaste was a lingering bourbon flavor. Interesting flavors of wood and charcoal. Nice body. A decent beer, its initial sweetness may have taken away from it.

This is a bit of a palate wrecker. The sweet butteriness is so good but its like a really rich flourless chocolate cake, so good but man, after three bites, you start sweating just looking at the thing. absolutely delicious but TAKE YOUR TIME with it. youve been warned.