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Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

overall
100
99
style
Serve in Snifter

bottled
common

on tap
common

Broad Distribution

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RATINGS: 2216   WEIGHTED AVG: 4.23   IBU: 60   EST. CALORIES: 450   ABV: 15%
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COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
"I really wanted to do something special for our 1000th batch at the original brewpub. Goose Island could have thrown a party. But we did something better. We brewed a beer. A really big batch of stout-so big the malt was coming out of the top of the mash tun. After fermentation we brought in some bourbon barrels to age the stout. One hundred and fifty days later, Bourbon County Stout was born-A liquid as dark and dense as a black hole with a thick foam the color of bourbon barrels. The nose is a mix of charred oak, vanilla,carmel and smoke. One sip has more flavor than your average case of beer. It overpowers anything in the room. People have even said that it’s a great cigar beer, but I haven’t yet tried a cigar that would stand up to it." Brewmaster Greg Hall;
IBU’s 60-High Color - Midnight
Was 11% abv,
2007 and 2008 - 13% abv
2011 - 14.5% abv
2012 - 15% abv

2013 - 14.9% abv

Editor’s Note: Baudoinia Fulton & Wood Series offering (And the Low Storage entry from FoBAB 2012) is simply Bourbon County Stout aged in the same barrels. It has been alted as it offers no different recipe or barrel type simply the presence of a distillers fungus on the barrels that adds no distinct characteristic to the beer from the fungus itself except for possible oxygen exposure changes. While Brewers Intent indicates that they consider it a new beer, no true distinction aside from this oxidation amount and possible aging time differences seperates the beers. It’s essentially a single barrel Bourbon County version something we have always treated as regular Bourbon County Stout in the past.


most recent ratings

4.6
   AROMA 9/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 18/20
strattonspeaks (92) - Springfield, Missouri, USA - DEC 18, 2013
What a freaking beer. Draft. Oily black pour with small dark brown head. Caramel film. Aroma permeates from 10 feet away. Bourbon, cask, vanilla, and molasses on the nose. Crazy rich aroma. Delectable taste. Soft up front---heavy vanilla, mild chocolate, deep caramel, roasted malt, wood, and flammable bourbon heat bringing up the rear. So thick. So rich. Has a mouthfeel all its own. Boozy, but not overly so. Really incredible.

4.2
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 16/20
Zymurgeist2 (748) - Redwood City, California, USA - DEC 17, 2013
Bottle to tulip. Flammable gas on the nose! Vanilla, wheat field and aged chocolate. Slight earthen hops. Faint floral, probably a mix of the hops and barrel. Perfume like as it warmed. Slick black and mostly brown highlights. In the right angle, the highlights show a little garnet. Full milky brown head quickly dissipates leaving nothing - expected for the high alcohol. Taste is chocolate with chewy yeast and booze from the mid-palate on. Solid bitter finish what is also slightly dry, surprising for all of the booze and malt thrown in here...and the barrel.

3
   AROMA 4/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 6/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 14/20
realjb29 (3) - olean, Alabama, USA - DEC 17, 2013 does not count
The 2013 edition i just tasted is really fresh made oct. 15th 2013. It pours thick like motor oil. the aroma is boozy with straight whiskey notes. Carbonation is almost non existent no head and no lacing even with swirling it creates only a small head that dissipates quickly. Taste weighs heavy on the tongue with notes of Bourbon, vanilla,oak,smoke,raisin, burnt molasses, and prunes. The finish is sweet like burnt brown sugar with a strong boozy finish. It seems to dissipate slowly leaving a very sugary boozy taste on the tongue. definitely recommend cellar aging i feel i might i have tried this beer to young.

4.2
   AROMA 9/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 17/20
dphoxie (101) - North Carolina, USA - DEC 17, 2013
Yup, as advertised this is a badass beer. Sooo much vanilla sweetness from the bourbon barrel. Its like they took the best parts of bourbon, and the best parts of imperial stout and kept out the crap. No alcohol burn, not much coffee roast, just good sweet/rich chocolate maltiness and vanilla sweetness. Will drop whatever I’m doing to get next years batch. So good now I won’t even bother attempting to cellar this beast.

4.6
   AROMA 9/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 18/20
kevinsenn (843) - Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA - DEC 17, 2013
2012 batch, on tap at Goose Island Clybourn. Jet-black with a brown head. Aroma is an assault on the nostrils with vanilla, bourbon, booze, and roasted barley. Taste is full of marshmallow, vanilla, caramel, chocolate, and is very sweet. Thick and smooth mouthfeel. Wow; this is something else.

4.3
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 18/20
baraciisch (1281) - USA - DEC 16, 2013
Pours a thick velvety black with minimal reddish tan head... Aroma is a bourbon bomb to the face... Notes of vanilla, molasses... Flavor is intensely rich with notes of bourbon, vanilla, oak, licorice, dark chocolate... Amazingly complex and well balanced... Alcohol well concealed... Amazing beer ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

4.3
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 18/20
pugfugly (2) - - DEC 16, 2013 does not count
One big advantage of the Goose Island purchase by ABInBev is more BCS. I really like this beer. It's pitch black and boozy, but not too boozy. Especially considering the high ABV. This is a great sipping beer in my opinion. I'll cellar some and see how it ages. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

4.2
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 10/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 16/20
curepute (43) - New York, USA - DEC 16, 2013
Jet black tiny brown head. Big vanilla nose with a hint of booze. Chocolate, burnt malts, vanilla. Booze goes down the center and the flavors fall off the side, great! A few years in a cellar will do wonders to this.

4.8
   AROMA 10/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 10/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 19/20
hopwine (70) - - DEC 16, 2013
2013: Pours the expected pitch black w/ tan head. Huge chewy mouthfeel, and unexpectedly low burn considering abv and aging time. Barrel character is huge in this beer...maybe the biggest I’ve experienced in any beer. Vanilla, coconut, bourbon and wood backed up by the base beer’s strong, deep chocolate and espresso character makes for one of the best beers I’ve ever had.

4.6
   AROMA 10/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 18/20
jweiss (9) - Washington, USA - DEC 15, 2013 does not count
Finally got the chance to try this much loved beverage. I appreciate it’s reputation. Bears an intense and well balanced combination of oak and bourbon flavors. Has a warming alcohol edge to it that I wish was just slight less pronounced. Could have a tad thicker mouth feel. Other than those minor details its an almost flawless beer.


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