It for sure looks like the heavy-duty stout season, because the leaves crunch beneath ft and frost glistens in the mornings. While usual dry stout is all about that spring rebirth (and St. Partick’s Day), imperial stouts tend to lean extra into fall and iciness vibes, due to a taste profile bursting with darkish spices, marzipan, sour darkish chocolate, toasted coconut, and the meaty dried result (among lots of different taste notes). And there’s no higher instance of that than Goose Island’s once-a-year and extremely coveted Bourbon County Stout collection.
Bourbon County Stouts
Below, I’m going to rank all seven bottles of the 2022 Bourbon County Stout lineup. I used to be fortunate sufficient to style those with the Goose Island workforce this yr. It used to be an ideal supply of perception into this very particular lineup of beers that lift critical bourbon whiskey notes. Incidentally, this yr’s lineup additionally celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of Bourbon County Stout.
Beyond the tasting notes supplied, I’ll even score those expressions in keeping with what tastes the most productive. Spoiler alert: These are all beautiful and nice, particularly in the event you’re on the lookout for a bourbon-forward stout revel in. Look at it this manner, this score is extra to steer your hand whilst you’re within the beer retailer, and if truth be told come throughout such bottles, which admittedly are steadily uncommon unearths. That additional method the cost of every one of those bottles goes to change beautifully wildly since Goose Island doesn’t counsel a retail worth. So you may be able to find them from any place between $11 and $30 a bottle this yr and into the masses of bucks for a similar bottle through 2023.
I will be able to alert you, as effectively, that in the event you’re no longer an avid whiskey or bourbon drinker, then a few of these may hit a bit of laborious at the palate. Each one has a prime ABV (above a typical bottle of wine) and steadily is best possibly loved shared with a chum after a pleasant yard fireplace beneath some flannel with some scorching canines and marshmallows roasting at the finish of sticks. Let’s dive in.
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7. Goose Island Bourbon County Coffee Stout
ABV: 13.2%
Average Price:$12-$20 (16.9 oz.. bottle)
The Beer:
This brew integrates Intelligentsia’s Turihamwe (which means “together”) espresso mix from Burundi. The espresso has a blank and candy edge that imbues itself into the stout because it ages within the bourbon barrels.
Tasting Notes:
Dark chocolate-covered espresso beans result in creamy coffee and a touch of drip clear-out espresso at the nostril after wealthy caramel maltiness with a touch of highly spiced nuttiness. There’s a transparent sense of freshly brewed espresso during the palate that leans towards mocha lattes and creamy darkish chocolate bars simply touched with cinnamon and clove. The finish is filled with extra sour espresso and chocolate with hints of spices, nuts, and vanilla pods.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the vital one-notes of the bunch. It’s nice in the event you’re on the lookout for an espresso spice however that’s about it. Look, it’s well-made and drinkable however except if you need a coffee-bomb stout, it’s somewhat monotone.
6. Goose Island Bourbon County Proprietor’s Stout
ABV: 13.4%
Average Price:$15-$30 (16.9 oz.. bottle)
The Beer:
This beer is a nod to Chicago’s cocktail scene. The thought used to be to imitate the flavor notes in a Jungle Bird Cocktail — a Seventies tropical shaker with blackstrap rum, Campari, pineapple juice, lime juice, and demerara syrup. To do this, the brewers added banana, coconut, lime, and pineapple into the bourbon barrels sooner than growing old.
Tasting Notes:
The tropical result pops at the nostril with a transparent sense of grilled pineapple after Almond Joy sweet bars, banana bread with walnuts and cinnamon, and a touch of clean citrus after dried florals and woody darkish spices. The palate leans into the Almond Joy vibe with wealthy darkish chocolate after peach skins and lime leaves with a refined trace of nutmeg and cherry/vanilla tobacco. The finish fades thru the ones acidic resulting in opposition to a comfortable vanilla-laden end.
Bottom Line:
This used to be great however very fruity. It roughly looks like probably the most bourbon-y notes had been drowned out. That stated this used to be a vivid and fruity spot among some very darkish beers. It simply wasn’t my cup of tea.
5. Goose Island Bourbon County Sir Issac’s Stout
ABV: 13.9%
Average Price:$12-$20 (16.9 oz.. bottle)
The Beer:
This beer used to be devised as a nod to Fig Newtons. The brew used to be elderly with 10,000 kilos of Black Mission figs, Graham Crackers, and herbal flavors to reach that taste profile.
Tasting Notes:
This pops with Fig Newton power at the nostril with a transparent sense of the cookie’s jammy inner and honey-laced cookie external after a touch of orange oils and lightweight molasses. The palate leans into spiced fig pudding with a touch of creamy brandy butter, comfortable nutmeg, and a touch of bitter cherry after malted vanilla, pipe tobacco, and rum raisin. The finish actually circles again round to the Fig Newton vibe whilst including additional honey and spice with a vanilla lusciousness.
Bottom Line:
This is beautiful rattling excellent and delivers on what’s promised on the label. It’s balanced and no longer overdone with a major imperial stout intensity and a touch of bourbon nonetheless within the combine. That stated, in the event, you’re no longer into Fig Newtons, this is probably not your jam.
4. Goose Island Bourbon County Biscotti Stout
ABV: 14.3%
Average Price:$12-$20 (16.9 oz.. bottle)
The Beer:
This stout took place looking to recreate almond biscotti dipped in darkish chocolate sauce. To do so, the brewers at Goose Island added cocoa nibs, toasted almonds, anise seed, and herbal flavors to the bourbon barrels whilst the stout elderly.
Tasting Notes:
That anise kicks at the nostril with a slight salted black licorice essence after wet marzipan lined in darkish chocolate and an excellent dose of salted toffee sauce reduce with bourbon. The palate leans into the almond vibes whilst including a cinnamon toast feels after spiced Christmas cake, dried pink berries, candied citrus, and various fatty nuts. The finish has an waffle feel to it with cinnamon syrup and roasted almonds blending with a lush vanilla base.
Bottom Line:
I like this (I’m a sucker for a large number of almond taste notes). That stated this used to be a tad one-note on that almond entrance. I don’t say that as a slight to this beer as a result of I adore it, nevertheless, it’s no doubt any longer a common crowd-pleaser (for bourbon stout drinkers) like the following couple of in this record.
3. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
ABV: 14.3%
Average Price:$12-$15 (16.9 oz.. bottle)
The Beer:
This is the vintage and authentic imperial stout from the Goose Island Bourbon County line. The brew is elderly in freshly emptied bourbon barrels from Heaven Hill, Four Roses, Wild Turkey, and Buffalo Trace. Those barrels are then combined into this darkish and thick elixir sooner than bottling.
Tasting Notes:
The nostril is a simply vintage imperial stout with large notes of salted chocolate bars, creamy vanilla malts, and lots of nutmegs after a touch of bitter cherry and canned brown bread. The palate leans into that deep and malty vanilla with a swirl of darkish chocolate sauce after a few blackstrap molasses, Almond Joy, and rum-raisin with a touch of candy cinnamon, allspice, and delicate anise. The finish lingers with a lush end filled with almond shells, stewed pear, and woody cinnamon after that clean vanilla maltiness.
Bottom Line:
This is the quintessential imperial stout. It’s deep, viscous, and filled with large taste notes that lean into vintage bourbon notes.
2. Goose Island Bourbon County Two-Year Barleywine Reserve
ABV: 17%
Average Price:$15-$30 (16.9 oz.. bottle)
The Beer:
This mix of imperial stouts is comprised of wildly uncommon bourbon barrels. Goose Island used to be in a position to save Heaven Hill’s Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond barrels for this expression. The barrels held Old Fitz’s 14-year, 16-year, and 17-year-old bourbon expressions. Goose Island’s stout used to be crammed into the ones freshly emptied barrels and left to leisure for 2 lengthy years sooner than mixing and bottling for this yr’s run.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a deep sense of burnt caramel malts (they nearly spell out “Malliard” to the senses as you inhale this one) with darkish chocolate powder blended with buttery toffee reduce with darkish bitter mash bourbon notes, bitter cherries tossed in kosher salt, and a touch of figgy jam pies dusted with powdered sugar. There’s a way of wealthy and wet marzipan at the palate with a touch of orange oils and a wink of dried roses after creamy darkish chocolate and a whisper extra of bitter cherry. The finish layers the vanilla into the darkish caramelized malts and dips all of it in that darkish chocolate with woody anise, clove, and cinnamon including a second of heat.
Bottom Line:
This is simply extra special. It’s roughly funky and bitter whilst turning in severely thick bourbon vibes.
1. Goose Island Bourbon County thirtieth Anniversary Reserve Stout
ABV: 14.4%
Average Price:$15-$30 (16.9 oz.. bottle)
The Beer:
This expression celebrates the unique collaboration between Goose Island’s Gregory Hall and Beam’s Booker Noe (each legend of their fields) all that long ago 30 years in the past once they first began Bourbon County Stout in combination in 1992. This beer is elderly in Beam barrels from the Small Batch Bourbon Collection. The finished result’s a mix of beers elderly in 36% Booker’s, 33% Knob Creek, 17% Basil Hayden, and 14% Baker’s barrels.
Tasting Notes:
That Beam-iness comes thru right away at the nostril with an old-school sourdough doughnut vibe after a bitter cherry compote, vanilla malt, and hefty darkish chocolate with a touch of milkiness and coffee bean roast qualities. The palate pops with cinnamon sweet and eggnog creaminess and nutmeg after darkish chocolate brownies bespeckled with dried bitter cherries and simply kissed with completing salt. The finish has a complicated Mounds bar vibe after shredded toasted coconut and wealthy marzipan reduced with burnt orange and darkish cherry bark tobacco.
Bottom Line:
Exceptional. There’s not nothing extra to mention.
