Bourbon County Brand Caramella Ale
Goose Island Beer Co.

A - Pours a clear amber with a thin off white head.

S - Aroma is caramel, cinnamon and bourbon.

T - The taste is caramel, cinnamon, toffee, vanilla, apple and nice bourbon heat in the finish.

M - Medium body with medium carbonation. Syrupy mouthfeel with a slick oily finish.

O - I really like this. Not as sweet as people say. Flavors meld well together.

10 oz draft pour. This is a tasty beer, but it's out of place as a 14.6% behemoth. A cinnamon candy apple beer should be, oh, about 6% abv. And a wheatwine (especially BBA) isn't a good vehicle for a cinnamon apple treatment. I would have enjoyed this a lot more as an unadulterated BBA wheatwine.

 

 

16.9oz bottle with a best by date of 01SEP25, opened 04JUL25.
1/2" beige head with limited retention on a garnet body with great clarity. No lace.
Intoxicating aroma of graham cracker, apple crumb cake, caramel, cinnamon that is fully integrated but still perceived with no doubt. Tart apple.
Full body with a thick and velvety, luscious mouthfeel. Slight heat.
Outstanding to World Class.

Brewers notes: Caramella or ‘candy’ in Italian is a wheatwine aged in Larceny Wheated Bourbon barrels with apple, cinnamon, and natural caramel flavor added after aging. Just like last year, the sweet smoothness from the Larceny Wheated Bourbon barrels adds a lingering warmth that complements the added flavor nuance. It’s nostalgia-inducing flavors are reminiscent of a caramel apple. Our Lead Lab Analyst, Joey Tidei, created this variant as a tribute to his love of seasonal flavors. This luscious embodiment of caramel perfectly paired with a slightly-tart apple flavor will transport you to a crisp Autumn day.

Bottle received in BIF2 Stouts & barleywines from @Bishop

Russet brown clear liquid poured into a tulip glass with a.thin taupe foam that quickly dissipates

Aroma is caramel apples, a slight hint of a cinnamon

Taste is apples, cinnamon ,

Low sudsing , thick , rich , syrupy

Delicious beer, cinnamon apple pie in a glass

2020 vintage, into a snifter.

Pours a light brown, minimal foam. Aroma is apples, dark caramels, and the signature Goose Island fudge note. Very sweet. I've had a lot of the OG, and the character of the base beer is quite present, but enhanced with apple and brown sugar. Flavor is exactly as expected, with a huge finish. Apples and caramel up front, with the fudge character inherent to Goose Island, but much brighter and more aggressive. There's a good bit of nutmeg and cinnamon as well, but the biggest winner is the finish. It alternates between bitter and sweet, with the spices taking on characters of whiskey and baked goods. The caramel is also quite present on the front palate, softening what would be a monster of a booze bomb. Feel is good, not too thick but appropriately heavy. Body is high, and it's not drinkable. It feels like a cocktail labelled on the menu as a dessert, but the bartender poured too much whiskey.

If you like wheated bourbon and can appreciate a dessert stout, this is probably the apex of beers for you. It's incredibly boozy and not too sweet, but has a ton of complexity and depth to reward drinkers who will put up with its myriad of ideas. Really, this beer is a mess of sweetness and whiskey, not nearly as good as the Vanilla Rye, but the combination of flavors is incredible.

Review: 2335
Name: Bourbon County Brand Caramella Ale
Brewery: Goose Island
Location: Chicago, IL
ABV: 14.6%
Style: Barrel-aged Wheatwine
Canned: 2020
Date: 15 March 2025
I am going back to Goose Island for a Wheatwine this time. I have little experience with these beers; I have a few in my cellar. I am using a tulip glass and serving the beer at 50 degrees. The pour created an airy, frothy, one-fingered, light tan head with poor retention. The quick dissipation left no lacing on the glass. The color is dark amber with ruby-orange hues, charting at SRM 25, and semi-opaque. According to the style guidelines, it says the head should have some retention; since this one did not, I am rating this one average.
Nosing the glass, I smell tart apple, caramel, toffee, medium-roasted malts, malty sweetness, bready biscuit, figs, dates, raisins, honey, and lightly toasted cereal grains. Smelling the beer again, I notice light floral esters, phenolics, vanilla, baking spices, and yeasty. I was surprised the barrel notes are not dominating but rather subdued. I detect bourbon, light char, and oak.
When I took the first sip, the caramel apple flavor with cinnamon and vanilla was more dominant. The barrel aging is not as subdued but has notes of bourbon, char, and oak. The base beer is malty, figgy, dates, raisins, toasted cereal grains, honey, toffee, and bready. The other flavors I noticed are earthiness, yeasty, honeysuckle, leather, and vanilla.
The body is medium-plus and has medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is luscious and chewy, finishing warm.
The beer tastes like a cinnamon caramel apple from the fair, soaked in bourbon and beer. Caramella is one of the few beers I have tried where the cinnamon does not come off as a dusty barn flavor. The ale does not have an overbearing sweetness but has a lovely balance.

 

BCBS 2020 brew, drink by September 2, 2025. Today is December 30, 2024, 8pm EST. Poured into a Kane stemmed stout glass.

Simple yet nice look. Caramel color that swirls from brown to reds from light changes. No head, lacing, or visible bubbles.

Brown sugar soaked wheat aroma. A touch of barrel aged wood along with apple and cinnamon.

Bourbon barrel soaked apple, cinnamon, and brown sugar taste.

It’s carbonated with a syrupy strong red wine feel. It’s a boozy smooth sipper.

Nice end of the year selection.

2020 vintage drank on 12-29-2024.

Back for 2024. Pours a cloudy copper color with a minimal head that lasts quite a while. Aroma is fruity. Taste is sweet fruits, caramel and vanilla. Very smooth with a strong alcohol warmth.

 

2020 vintage into a goblet. Shared with my son in law, a good decision. Celebrating my 67 times around the sun.

Excellent clear darkest amber brown body. Small head quickly fizzes away, no lacing. Aroma is strongly spiced apple cider and bourbon. On tasting, pretty sweet, apple and spice, and some good English fruit cake notes. Finish is smooth, boozy, very warming with the occasional burn.

Overall, great sipper before bedtime. I'll sleep well tonight.

2020 bottle with 14.6% ABV and a BB date of 1 September 2025 stamped on the label.

Appearance. Poured with a thin, fizzy, shortlived beige head over a lovely orange-brown body.

Aroma. Complex and less harmonious than might be expected. Repeated sniffs bring different elements into awareness. The BB aging is most obvious here.

Flavor. Exquisite mix of caramel and brown sugar sweetness, cinnamon, woody vanilla, whisky, baked apples and wheat bread.

Feel. Full, syrupy body with light carbonation. The high ABV is partially hidden.

Bottle: Poured a deep amber color ale with a brown foamy head with some retention and some lacing notes. Aroma of caramelized malt notes with some strong woody bourbon notes with traces of vanilla with some butterscotch notes. Taste is also a mix of deep caramelized notes with some woody bourbon notes with a semi-sweet finish and notes of vanilla and butterscotch notes with hints of cinnamon. Body is above average with good carbonation and some discernible alcohol notes. Interesting BA wheat wine but not sure about the caramel/butterscotch notes.