Goose Island King Henry

Formerly brewed at Goose Island Beer Company (AB-InBev)
Style: Barley Wine
Chicago, Illinois USA

Serve in Snifter

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what kind of asshole wears metal on his shoes? .. pours a deep molasses plum .. . quite hot, burns the tongue a touch - toffee mostly, burnt toffee and barrel notes .. . to hot to be good, but in a year or two- should be amazing .. . . your basic crib job.

Ok.. Im not normally a barley wine fan but this beer is amazing. Toffee, vanilla, maple, light toast and medium sweetness with amazing aromas and flavors. One of the best beers ive ever had. Drink it!

Ok this was ridiculous. This shouldnt be currency, this is an amazing toasted toffee barleywine. Not overly sweet but with amazing flavors.

Thanks to Sean T and the Chicago crew for the sample. Wonderful rich sweet aroma. Subtle fruit with notes of candy and maple. Mwonderful sweetness. Loads of vanilla and maple. Sherry like sweetness with loads of caramel and summer fruits. The best beer I have had in quite sometime.

Bottle. Aroma- chocolate, bourbon, vanilla. Flavor - chocolate and bourbon.

Bottle @ home, courtesy of fortsambo- a very generous, local friend. Thanks for providing this for JetsonFest II. Dark reddish purple appearance with a disappearing, cream colored head. Really, very nice caramel/toffee/whiskey, oaky, sweet caramel, red fruity aroma with no sign of booze. Quite good so far. Thick dark caramel malty, rich chocolate, super smooth whiskey/oaky/vanilla, dark red fruity flavor. Tons of caramel, chocolate, and whiskey and you can definitely see the BCS Rare influence but I think I may prefer FW Abacus and Kuhnhenn BBBW. Really a fine beer- glad this made an appearance at JetsonFest II.

Bottle split with mcberko. Pours solid black no head. Aroma of vanilla, bourbon, liqueur, roasted malts. Flavour as above, dark fruits, lots of vanilla. Full bodied, well balanced, beautiful.

22 oz. bottle, pours a dark, dark amber brown with a tiny ring of tan head. Aroma of bourbon barrels, vanilla, sweet sherry-like liqueur, caramel / toffee, and a sort of English malt character. Flavour is incredibly rich and complex - with vanilla, dark fruits, sherry liqueur, caramel and toffee, bourbon barrels, and subtle English malt qualities. Quite complex, though quite cloying in sweetness. Delicious in small quantities. Very good, though too sweet and certainly overrated.

Brewery: Goose Island Brewing Co
Date: March 24, 2012
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, HMOG
Appearance: clear dark brown, fine tan head
Aroma: sweet chocolate and bourbon aroma, caramel and vanilla sweetness
Flavor: rich bourbon flavor, chocolate candy, caramel, vanilla, hot caramel
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.9/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***+ /4

Initial rating FoBAB 2011 and since in bottle: Deep ruddy brown with some reddish highlights topped by a small but lasting off-white head with good lace and some oily legs. The aroma has a big vanilla bean , bourbon, oak, roast, toast, golden molasses, fruit cake and rye bread vapours. Earthy and leathery esters as well. The taste starts with mind numbing sweet malts and bourbon overtones supported dark fruits, dark breads, mild oak, cleansing alcohol, and constant mild herbal hop bitterness. Much like a classic English Barley wine, the sweetness and old school oxidization adds to a be rounded and complex palate. The mouth feel is wonderfully sticky, oily, lush and warming... a great sipper! This is so YUMMY, my favorite at the fest and the bottle did nothing to change my mind. GET YA SOME!!