Goose Island - Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout (2010)

Goose Island brewer's notes: "Everyday Goose Island smells the wonderful coffee roasting next to our brewery at Chicago's Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea. This world class roaster puts the same passion and skill into their coffee as Goose Island does with its beer. This excellent stout is made with a different coffee from our friends next door each year. With the change in coffee comes a change in the flavor profile, making each release truly unique from the previous years.

Recipe Information:

Style: Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Coffee Stout
Alcohol by Volume: 15%
International Bitterness Units: 60
Color: Midnight
Hops: Willamette
Malt: 2-Row, Munich, Chocolate, Caramel, Roast Barley, Debittered Black
Coffee: 2010 Release - Intelligentsia Black Cat Espresso Beans"

Another bottle I acquired in a trade, Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout (BCBCS) is brewed annually since 2010 in the fall/early winter months. It sees mostly Midwest and East coast distribution, and is one of those bottles that people tend to chase down; it flies off the shelves (if it even makes it to the shelf.) I'm fortunate to have a bottle of this, and so happy to finally try it for the first time!

Appearance: Pours opaque, jet black, like motor oil. A lacy tan head of about one finger in height eventually recedes to a thin tan ring, and no lacing is left on the sides of the glass.

Smell: Bold notes of coffee, dark fruit, molasses, and bourbon.

Taste: The bourbon flavor is massive and immediately apparent. Though the coffee is also noticeable, it's also less than I would have expected, especially considering this is meant to be a coffee stout. It's probably from the age -- the coffee has faded over time. There isn't a huge presence from the barrel itself -- not a lot of woody or earthy notes. Other than the bourbon and coffee, there is a sweetness from the roasted malt that tastes like dark chocolate, and molasses like in the nose.

Mouthfeel: Pretty standard on the palate. Rich and creamy, thick and viscous. The huge body carries the big flavors well.

Overall: This was really good, although I wish I hadn't hung onto it for as long as I did. I would have liked to taste more of the coffee. My mistakes aside, this brew nicely balances all of the heavy-hitting flavors and drinks really smoothly, especially considering the high ABV on it. I have a 2012 that hopefully I'll be able to open fresh and get more of the coffee, and I'll definitely be seeking it out in the upcoming years!

4.5/5

Goose Island - King Henry

Good evening, all! Assuming I counted correctly, this marks my 100th review! Yay! To celebrate, I wanted to open something special. I'd been trying to get my hands on this beer for awhile. Shortly after it was released last year, it wasn't too difficult to get. But once people started drinking it, they realized it was delicious and snatched up every last bottle. Since this only hit the midwest and northeast markets, trading was my only option, and at long last, a stellar east coast friend was able to send me a bottle last month.

King Henry is a 13.4% ABV barleywine that Goose Island says was "Aged in bourbon barrels, [and] is a burgundy hued English-style barleywine with aromas of vanilla, oak, and dark fruit. Caramel and toffee flavors blend together with bold notes of bourbon delivered in a smooth body followed by a malty finish. No matter the occasion, King Henry promises a regal drinking experience." I'd also like to add that this beer wasn't just thrown in any bourbon barrels; rather, it aged in Pappy Van Winkle 23 year barrels that Goose Island had previously used to age their Rare Bourbon County stout.

Appearance: From the side of the glass it appears dark, opaque brown, but from the top you can see that's actually clear, just extremely dark. There is very little head on the pour, and it receded to nothing in seconds. Swirling the beer in the glass leaves large legs running back down the sides. This even looks big in every way.

Smell: The nose on this is just insane. Toffee, caramel, spicy bourbon, vanilla, cherry, oak, cocoa, fig, and molasses. I can't even believe the complexity of the smell of this beer.

Taste: There is prominent spicy vanilla from the bourbon, as well as a big note of dark chocolate, sweet molasses, brown sugar, salt toffee, and dark fruit. There is a small hint of soy sauce, which some will say is a negative, but I've never really minded it.

Mouthfeel: Thick and sparingly carbonated, this has all the weight of a melted chocolate milkshake, but packs surprisingly little heat, considering the alcohol percentage.

Overall: This is a massive barleywine that is, without question, the best barelywine I've tasted to date. The barrel treatment definitely imparted some flavor from the Rare Bourbon County Stout, which lent some fantastically unique (to the style) bitter/dark chocolate flavor, which actually helped balance some of the typical barleywine sweetness. This beer has a lot of hype and huge fans, so I don't really need to go on and on about how great it is -- but it is great.

5/5

Goose Island - Bourbon County Brand Stout

From Goose Island's website: "A liquid as dark and dense as a black hole with thick foam the color of a bourbon barrel. The nose is an intense mix of charred oak, chocolate, vanilla, caramel and smoke. One sip has more flavor than your average case of beer."

Goose Island is located in Chicago, and does limited distribution to California. We used to see bottles of the Bourbon County Brand Stout (BCBS) out here, but in recent years they've cut back on their distro to provide more of it locally. This beer has seen an immense surge in popularity, and though Goose Island produces reasonably large quantities of it once a year, it is becoming less easy for locals to get much of, and even more difficult to get as a trader. Still, some friendly Chicagoland folks have come through for me, so my first birthday beer today is going to be this 14.5% ABV monster.

Appearance: Completely dark, opaque black, with a thin layer of brown head that recedes very quickly. There is no lingering lacing, but you can definitely see the legs on the side of the glass that the alcohol leaves behind with every sip.

Smell: Wow -- huge bourbon notes upfront: spice, vanilla, dark fruit, oak. There are also hints of dark chocolate. It's such an incredibly huge nose, so bold and full, but no hint of the huge amount of alcohol.

Taste: Just like on those, the alcohol is remarkably absent from the taste here. Vanilla, molasses, fig, spicy wood/oak, and cranberry hit hard in the first wave of flavor. Dark chocolate, very rich, comes in toward the middle of the palate and remains as a lingering flavor. The notes from the bourbon are melded together with the base flavors from the beer so well -- nothing dominates, and each note has its time to shine.

Mouthfeel: Thick, rich, and creamy. Between the heavy mouthfeel and the powerful flavors, this beer is definitely a sipper. It's meant to be savored and shared.

Overall: This is a favorite of many. Barrel-aged stouts are often treated like the kings of beers, because of the absolutely knockout flavors and the craftsmanship involved in the barrel-aging process. Much like with sours, it took me awhile to warm up to bourbon barrel aged beers, because the taste of the bourbon was always strong and not very pleasing to me. Now, after trying so many, I've definitely grown used to these flavors. My first love will always be IPAs, but this is a style I can certainly appreciate as a craft beer lover. Admittedly, my overall score for this one is partially influenced by what this beer means to other people -- I can absolutely appreciate the balance and complexity here, particularly at the production level that Goose Island is always operating under in order to manufacture this. It's not at the very top of my list, but it's truly an excellent beer.

4.5/5