Goose Island Bramble Rye Bourbon County Stout

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

Serve in Snifter

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Bottle: Poured a dark thick black with fast dissipating head, in fact it didn’t last much past the initial pour. The aroma is quite complex there is strong boozy bourbon at first whiff, however as I continued to smell I could pick up the berries. The taste is a mix of bourbon and slightly tart berry fruit, I really picked up a spicy finish at the end. Which I can only explain is the rye whiskey. This beer is a nice sipper. I appreciate savnac sharing this beer with me.

22 oz bottle thanks to Dunt. Pours thick and black with virtually no head. Aroma is heavy whiskey and berries with all the aroma of the base beer in the background. Flavor is sweet berry jam, hot boozy whisky, dark roasted coffee and malt and some acidic flavor from the fruit. Slightly thinner body than the regular version with mild carbonation and an oily mouth feel. I like this beer, the fruit, heavy booze and base beer come together pretty well in the aroma and flavor, it’s the appearance and mouth feel that bring it down for me some.

Bottle with huge thanks to Matt for breaking this out and sharing it. Pours a deep black with a medium sized tan head that shows up with some good agitation, though otherwise it does sit a little low. Berries on the nose are huge here, warm bourbon, chocolate and a touch of raisins as it warms. Tastes like one of those little flat chocolate squares that’s beer filled with berry preserves. Dark chocolate. Cocoa, warm, smooth, and boozy. Chocolate, cocoa, berries. Chewy, full of bourbon, raisin on the finish, chocolate, berries. Quite nice.

Thanks much to emacgee for sharing this bad boy! I’m almost always impressed with BCS variants (and really, with such an ass-rocking base beer, what’s not to love?) but this one impresses not just in hedonic terms but also in imagination. In the abstract, I’d not have thought that the sharpness of the rye and tannins of the barrel would necessarily work with berries, but I found it dangerously infectious. Huge fruit in the nose, and only slightly less so among the deep flavors (where it came across as more jammy). While the usual BSC properties are certainly there, with all that’s going on it seems as if there are only mild roasts and choc. Slight bitterness in the finish, somehow bringing out the booze as a closer. Terrific.

Bottle. Aroma - chocolate sweetness. Flavor - Tart fruit, sweet chocolate, raspberry.

Bottle split with mcberko. Pours solid black with no head. Aroma of red berries, bourbon, hints of vanilla. Flavour of dark berries, abv well hidden, vanilla. Medium bodied, rich, partly cloying. Very nice.

UPDATED: MAY 25, 2012 22 oz. bottle, pours pitch black with virtually zero head, just some tan lacing that immediately dissipates. Aroma exudes loads of rich black raspberries, very subtle whiskey and not much else of the regular BCS on the nose. Flavour brings out the berries on top of everything - loads of raspberries, blackberries, natural sweetness from the berries - no roast, chocolate or coffee or anything resembling the base beer. ABV is amazingly well-worked in for being 12.8%. Light-bodied, but heavy flavours, quite cloying in sweetness. Certainly doesn’t feel like a stout / imp. stout to me. Soft carbonation and sweet fruity. Good rendition of BCS, but far from the best.

Holy shit, this beer is huge, sweet, and pretty amazing. Stays on this side of cloying, offering sweet and lovely raspberry and blackberry jam with well-integrated whiskey/oak notes on top of an already-amazing stout. I love it.

Shared bottle with Mr Hunt, thanks for the opportunity. Pours a solid used motor oil black without much of a head. Smell is Roasty. chocolate and tart dark fruits with hints of vanilla and oak. This is certainly less boozy in the aroma than the standard version. This stuff tastes great. It’s a rich thick chocolaty roasty stout with a really nice sweet and sometimes tart fruity edge to it. Thick rich creamy mouthfeel with a light level of carbonation and a substantial body. I wish this were a bit easier to obtain because I really enjoyed this.

Shared by someone at the Monte’s Krown tasting yesterday. Thanks for this. Pours a jet black with a thin eggshell head. Aromas of anise, rye, some toffee notes. Very anise forward in the taste, dry, black twizzlers, flavorful and bitter. Excellent.