Goose Island Bourbon County Stout - Coffee

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

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Smells like a super rich brownie with slight coffee tones and heavy vanilla and charred wood tones. Thick with a complex chocolate, roasty flavor with a finish of vanilla, coffee and wood...nice alc finish. Pure black with a ring of tan head.

22 oz. bottle, pours black with a very quickly dissipating light brown head. Nose is very deep with a wide array of qualities, featuring coffee upfront, bourbon, vanilla, molasses, and treacle toffee / fudge - orgasmic. Flavour is a sublime mix of bourbon, coffee, chocolate, and caramel fudge. Finishes with vanilla, chocolate and very mild booze (though well-hidden). Low carbonation. Body is viscous, sticky, velvety and super smooth. Simply one of the best imperial stouts out there.

From notes. First reviewed 5/2/2010. 2011 bottle update 2/6/2012. Poured from a 22 oz. bottle into a snifter. 2011 update: The 2011 version of this beer maintains everything that I loved about the first time I had it, and somehow is even better. I opened a 2011 bottle at cellar temperature and another was opened at fridge temperature at Kelly’s Pub. Like every other bourbon county (and variant) I have opened, this viscous black imperial stout oozes out of the bottle like some kind of black tar. Pitch black with just the slightest mahogany brown edges. The bottle I opened up at cellar temperature manufactured a robust mocha brown head on the initial pour into my snifter. With the ABV, the cap was not destined to last long, but it still provided a nice thin film over the beer and a frothy ring around the edge of the glass. When opened at colder temperatures, it is much more difficult to get much of any head to form, even with an aggressive pour. The biggest difference in my mind between the two vintages is the aroma. The Anjilanaka coffee beans used in this year’s batch simply explode out of the bottle when opened and waft up from the glass throughout the glass. As a coffee drinker, this is simply heaven. This coffee smells thoroughly roasted, with notes of hazelnut and burnt caramel in addition to a distant fruit note. Dark roasted malt, bitter chocolate, molasses, vanilla, oak, and bourbon all fade to the back behind a dominant coffee presence. There is no alcohol anywhere in the nose. The flavor is still very coffee-forward, but much more balanced than the aroma. Fresh Bolivian coffee roasted to perfection comes through first, with a strong showing from the dark, bitter chocolate, and roasted malt. Each of these blend and interact so well with the others flavors, creating an ever-changing wall of roasted and bitter flavors. Vanilla, molasses, and bourbon step in next, adding some sweetness and further depth to the flavor. The bourbon presence grows as the sip progresses and my tongue accustoms itself to the bitter coffee and roasted malt flavors. By the end, I get a bit more vanilla and some light oak as well. It has varying degrees of bitterness all the way through, with a clear emphasis on the coffee. The mouthfeel is exactly what I want in an imperial stout, and even though I have tried quite a few since I first had the Bourbon County Coffee, I have yet to find its equal. Each sip coats my entire mouth and tongue with a chewy, grainy, and smooth liquid. The flavors seem to permeate into every part of my mouth, and it is more of an experience that just ’drinking’ the beer. The carbonation is perfectly tuned to the ultra thick and viscous nature of the beer, giving it a milky creaminess and never getting in the way. This is as close to a perfect beer as I can think of; it is just absolutely incredible. Original review: 9/4/10/5/19 Poured from a 22 oz. bottle into a snifter. Bottled 3/26/10. #2133. This almost oozes out of the bottle, it is that thick. The color is completely pitch black, with thin brown head, which quickly erodes to a ring. It communicates the message - "Be ready, this is intense." A charismatic aroma; a smooth blend of robust roasted malt, roast coffee, with a nice bourbon presence, some bitter chocolate, and a few lingering alcohol phenols. Wow. If Bourbon County Stout is a smokey dragon, this is the well-refined dragon you can take out to a fancy dinner. It is wonderfully put together, with a smooth flavor all the way through. Roasted malt with hints of chocolate and vanilla start the sip, with roast coffee and bourbon balancing each other out. There is a slightly bitter aftertaste, and the alcohol warms the stomach. There is no real alcohol bite, though, which is quite surprising. The espresso flavor prevents this from being as overtly smokey and boozy like the regular BCS. Substantially better in my opinion. Could this be any smoother? Creamy, with perky carbonation contained in a very full body. I could sip this all day and all night. There is enough complexity to keep the whole glass interesting, but the smooth construction makes each sip wonderfully simple. I just had a revelation.

idk what to say.....this beer lives up to the hype. definitely drink at room temp to get the full complexity and taste of this beer.

After making the original Bourbon County Stout a top 10 personal rated beer and it’s cousin/brother/sister the Night Stalker a top 35 peronally rated beer I still had low expectations for this thing. Coffee mixed in with that original amazing brew that is BCS just didn’t seem like a great idea, but Greg Hall has really come to the plate and produced a stellar, smooth as silk, not over the top but brimming close to it, high quality beer with this thing. So rich, so smooth, so damned delicious. I bought 5 and know it will not be enough to satisfy my taste buds until we see it again next year. Produce more of this please. This new BCS series they have going is getting very interesting, excited to see what else it will bring.

Pours black as night with a small tan head with some nice lacing in my snifter. Aromas were amazing. Vanilla,espresso, chocolate,some cinnamon, dark fruits and a hint of bourbon. Amazing mouth feel. Velvet smooth and creamy. Bitter sweet to a nice roasted bitter finish. One of the best beers I have ever had. Please send some more to Mass Goose Island. A+++++

2012 bottle from Chevy Chase in DC. Enjoyed this a lot. Tried a 2011 version later, and wasn’t as good. Very smooth and well blended flavors.

We poured the bomber into large snifters and were greeted with a finger worth of tan head that settled down quickly to a wisp of film. However with a swirl of the glass it would easily come back. The body was a typical black stout but that was all that was typical of this stout. The first think that was really pronounced to me was the great coffee aromas. It was better than any Starbucks coffee I had. We all know coffee is a dominate aroma to overcome especially this one but I did get a slight vanilla note there as well. The flavors were out of this world, by far the best coffee stout I ever have experienced to date. I think this one will set the bar. I came of like a good French vanilla roast. With the hint of Madagascar vanilla to it. The alcohol was well hidden but felt after. The body of the brew was thick and full a very light carbonation so it even felt like a good coffee only colder than I drink. This I a great brew the one snifter was plenty for me but I will say I wanted more. A great stout but I even enjoy the bourbon one Goose Island produces so it wasn’t a hard sell for me.

22 oz. bottle generously shared at Grape & Gourmet’s Holiday Open House. Pours black with a creamy brown head. The aromas are coffee, dark chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, and oak. The flavors are as expected from the aroma but are wonderfully integrated and are met with a considerable amount of heat from the alcohol. The flavors surprisingly bring to the front more chocolate than coffee. All in all just a spectacular beer.

There’s not much that I can say about this beer that hasn’t already been said. Had it at DLD and it’s absolutely phenomenal! The coffee really cuts down the bourbon sweetness of the regular BCS without being overwhelming or cloyingly sweet, and makes it much more drinkable. Makes me a little more eager for the Rare BCS and Vanilla BCS later this year.