Coffee Stout
Goose Island Beer Co.

On-tap at Goose Island Clybourn. Served in a snifter.

A: Jet black with about a finger of mocha head filling the remainder of the snifter.

S: The most intense coffee smell I've ever experienced in a beer. Smells like pure cold-brewed coffee, with no burnt or roasted smell whatsoever.

T: Cold-brewed coffee with a hint of cream and a bit of a vanilla taste. Totally clean coffee taste with no bitterness, as the nose indicated.

M: Just a tad thinner than I would like it to be, but very well carbonated.

D: The most drinkable coffee stout I have had. This is a substantial beer that is still very drinkable, probably due to a combination of the relatively low ABV for a stout and the high carbonation for the style.

On-tap at the GI Clybourn brewpub. This batch was listed as 7.3% ABV. Served in a snifter.
Poured a dark brown color, almost opaque with mahogany hued edges and a full finger brown foamy head that fades slowly leaving streaky patterns of Belgian lacing behind. The smell is AMAZING!! It smells like that elusive perfect cup of roast coffee. The intensity is focused on the roasted bean. There is no burnt bitterness what so ever. PERFECT! Adequately carbonated, the mouth feel is medium bodied, smooth and creamy. As good as the mouth is, it's eclipsed by the equally wonderful roasted coffee flavor. The nose and the taste run away with the show. I thought Adan said that it came out at 7.3% ABV, but in any case, it's waaay tooo easy. An exceptional drinker. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Different from the Black Cat stout, which used the RIS as a base and was then "dry beaned" with coffee. This stout uses the same process but uses the SOB sweet stout as a base, instead of the RIS.

I don't know what adding coffee beans to an RIS would accomplish. It could be too rough, and it'd probably blot out a lot of the subtle complexities that make a good imperial stout. Adding coffee beans to a base of a sweet stout, however, is one of the smartest moves a brewmaster can make.

Pours nice. Deep and dark with a surprising head. A little ruby shine through at the bottom.

Smells like rich coffee and deep, sweet stout roasted grain. No hop presence whatsoever, the bitterness is all coffee and it's contrasted perfectly against the sweet roasted grain.

Tastes so good I'd group it along with Founder's Breakfast stout. A wonderful blend of bitter and sweet, like having a desert of rich pie or cheesecake along with a cup of black coffee. It works perfectly.

This is far and away the best beer that GI makes; even better than Bourbon County. Get to it now, before it's gone. NOW!