Goose Island Bourbon County Stout - Manhattan Barrel

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

Serve in Snifter

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8/11/12. GTMW. Oily black pour with a small tan head, less of a head than usual BCS. In general, in all aspects, this mostly strikes me as sweeter than regular/most BCS. The aroma shows some of the usual BCS aspects - chocolate, fudge, bourbon, wood, coffee, etc. - but with more sweetness, perhaps the vermouth, extra whiskey, etc. The flavor is much the same and the sweetness comes through to me even more. Still pretty tasty and definitely unique. Props to GI.

Sampled from the tap at 2011 FOBAB. Poured black with a small dark brown head that begins and remained at the edges. Aroma was full of roasted malts and dark chocolate with a hint of vanilla with a good amount of bourbon backing. Flavor was mainly roasted malts with a hint of strawberry and vanilla with some bourbon, but the Manhattan really does not come out that much.

Sampled on tap at FoBAB 2011 (Chicago, IL). Pours a murky blackish inky hue, a bit thick with no real head, loose touch of bubbly ring. Aromas are touches of sweet caramel and roastiness, toffee and oak, vanilla, gentle cocoa and moving into some touches of cherry, rye, and spirit. A bit understated. Initial is a lot of cherry, red fruit, and rye. Touches of toffee and cocoa mix into, some gentle roast, sweet malts, and barrel. Vanilla, gentle spice, cherries grow on. A bit hot into the backend, spirits and lingering roast and toast, barrel takes over. A bit thin for a BCS variant but the cherries and rye assert themselves with roast and sweetness growing around it. Vanilla, rye is a bit hot. Ok, interesting, but not the best BCS variant.

On tap (FoBAB 2011) : The aroma consists of chocolate, molasses, light maple syrup, vermouth, coconut, and some alcohol heat. It’s a dark brown with no transparency and a faint beige ring for a head that leaves minimal lacing. The flavor starts sweet with chocolate, maple, syrup, and vermouth. The finish has notes of light fruit and some whiskey. While I thought the aroma was pretty hot, I didn’t think it tasted hot. It’s medium-full bodied with mild carbonation and probably the thinnest mouthfeel of any BCS version I’ve had. Overall, it was okay, but as a sucker for BCS, it was a little disappointing for me. It’s definitely at the bottom for me as far as BCS varieties go.

draft at fobab. pours black tan head nose of choc cherry flavors have choc, muted cherry whiskey, notes, sweet vermouth caramel odd

draft... another bcs variant that feel short for me... super thin and really boozy, tons of vermouth and other pungent liquor creeps through, base is gone... nice try and idea but some things weren’t meant to mix

Draft at FoBAB 9. Pours a deep brown black with a brown head. Nose is sweeter and offers some fruitier notes. Bourbon and chocolate as well. Kind of muted and not as bombastic as normal Bourbon County. On tasting, it seems thinner and lacking somewhat. Some faint cherry suggestions and a winey note as well. A bit spicy and strange. I don’t really get it, but still curious.

Manhattan BCS served on tap at FOBAB... Pours similar to brbamle but a touch thicker with a similar head... Cherry and vanilla ssilky smooth with deacden richness. Bit of brown earthy grittiness from the cocktail. Cakey with sugary dark molasses...smooth earthy spice and cinammon. Boozy with bourbon. Slightly fruity. Thick fuller body than bramble. Faint muddled cocktail qualities. Bit of a miss overall from both this and bramble. 7/4/7/4/14

tap at fobab. love regular BCS. didn’t love this version. barrel seemed to mute and flatten the typical BCS characteristics. old muddy cocktail note seemed to stick around, but wasn’t exactly a welcome addition. wasn’t a bad beer, just not as good as regular BCS or the other variants, to me at least. BCS ghost pepper was the easy winner over this, with bramble somewhere in between the two.

On tap at Fobab 9. Pours near black with tan head. Aromas of roasted malts, vanilla, cherries, and bourbon. Flavors of bourbon, chocolate, cherries, vanilla, and fair amount of sweetness and booze. Mouthfeel was a little thin compared to regular BCS. Still has that nice silky quality though. I thought it worked well as it is kind of hard to mess up the base beer.