Proprietor’s Bourbon County Brand Stout (2021)
Goose Island Beer Co.

 

 

 

 

Pours a viscous black, a small tan head fades quickly. Alot of smells for the boogar machine, chocolate, vanilla, coconut and more. Taste buds get all that and more too much more. Thick'n chewy, no carbonation. Overall, this was just to busy, i prefer the tried and true original.

 

 

500ml bottle, 2021 vintage, poured into a 2012 Bourbon County snifter glass.

The beer pours a deep jet black color, thick, viscous, and oily with a fizzy tan khaki head that rises nicely but dissipates quickly and yields no lacing. The aroma is very nice, lots of freeze dried breakfast cereal strawberry and vanilla cream, underlying chocolate, charred oak, bourbon, brown sugar, toffee, and coconut. The flavors are good, big chocolate, burnt oak and toasted coconut, bourbon, freeze dried strawberry, vanilla marshmallow, stone fruits, brown sugar and lingering fusel alcohol heat. The mouthfeel is good, coating and super smooth medium body with a hot and dry finish.

Verdict: A nice stout from Goose Island. The strawberry is quite pronounced but definitely reads like a freeze dried cereal strawberry rather than anything remotely fresh. The balance of the adjuncts is well done but overall, it's a bit overkill.

Generously picked up by a friend. Poured into a tulip and enjoyed on my back deck.
Pours a deep and dark brown, with garnet highlights. Small mocha head fizzled away rather quickly. Little specks of coconut float on the surface.
Nose is delightful although missing any strawberry. No matter to me. Fudgey brownie, toasted coconut, some burnt malts, molasses, slight barrel.
Moving on to the taste. Initially I get a quick hit of candy strawberry. Next comes sweet chocolate, fudge, vanilla, toasted coconut and smooth bourbon. There is a building candied strawberry note that stays as the rest of the flavors fade. No heat or booze either.
Could be a little bit thicker in the mouthfeel. I feel like OG BCS is always thicker than the adjuncted Goose Island BCSes.
Overall, I’m impressed. I’ve heard/read some not favorable remarks on this year’s Prop but I just don’t see it. Strawberry is hard to capture in a beer and this is enough for me without being overbearing. I’m enjoying.

Bottle purchased onsite at Goose Island Clybourn in Chicago, IL.

This one pours a very dark black color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like dried and slightly sweet strawberry, with dark chocolate, marshmallow, char, coconut, and bourbon.

This isn't quite as sweet as it could have been, which is a plus. There's lots of chocolate, plus like almost a marshmallow fluff type flavor, with just a hint of strawberry, and the typical dark but sweet chocolate character of the base stout. There's not a ton of barrel here, compared to regular BCBS. I think the added flavorings kind of drowned out the barrel. With a little bit more barrel, this would be just about top tier.

This is creamy, thick, and not at all boozy, with a nice drinkability.

This is somewhere in the middle for Prop variants - still very nice though.

The strawberry and vanilla are so well done, and not too sweet as a plus.

 

 

Bottle. Little tan head that fades. Black, but dark brown hued.

Strawberries for days. Amazing. The vanilla and coconut meld together and add a little sweetness. Chocolate and cocoa. Vanilla frosting finish. Nice bourbon and oak notes. The barrels show nicely with this prop. One of the better props as of lately.

 

Pours jet black, decent sized mocha colored head that dissipates quickly leaving essentially no lacing. Aroma is chocolate, big strawberry, more mild coconut. It literally does smell like strawberry ice cream which is kinda crazy, but not like it a junky super artificial pastry stout kind of way. Can’t really explain what I mean there but if you are NOT a pastry stout fan you probably get what I’m saying. Anyways, base beer roastiness is present and compliments the adjuncts nicely. Bourbon barrel characters on the mild end for a BCBS but are there. Wonderful nose. Taste follows, is less adjunct heavy, although they are definitely there. It’s roasted malt up front, followed by big berry notes, then oaky vanilla barrel notes, with berries coming back on the finish. Strawberry works exceptionally well here, surprised to hear this is the first time strawberries were incorporated in BCBS. Mouthfeel is full bodied, appropriate carbonation, ABV well masked. It’s well balanced and not cloying, so it’s very drinkable. Overall, this is a phenomenal beer. Balanced, complex, adjuncts shine but don’t dominate, rather compliment, the base beer. One of the better props to date and easily the best of the 2021 BCBS variants with adjuncts.

 

Well they pretty much nailed the taste of a strawberry éclair ice cream bar. I did like this one better than the Prop previous three years. It was not too sweet thought the strawberry was pretty dominant .

 

Looks deep, dark with brown head. Smells actually descent as well, like a Neapolitan. But the flavor is really strawberry artificial in taste, and doesn't get any better as it warms. Thinner than years past BCBS.

 

 

This is better than the more expensive Elijah Craig collaboration, and it’s interesting in flavor, in a way that makes it a worthwhile deviation from the basic BCBS. I hate coconut, and I still loved this beer. If you’re in Chicagoland and can find it, I say get yourself one.

 

Looks nice, huge mocha head looks like a chocolate milkshake black & tan with coffee. Smells like Twizzlers. Artificial strawberry and faint coconut/vanilla surface over time. Tastes like Twizzlers, with that weirdly mealy, gummy flavor that doesn’t really taste like fruit. Kind of gross actually. Not unlike trotting out John Hall to union bust at the Clybourn brewpub. Base BCS is there, but the artificial flavorings take over to an unpleasant degree. Medium bodied, artificial strawberry is the most prominent flavor.

Did the world really need another candy-flavored popsicle beer? Goose Island is clearly out of ideas at this point. ABInbev just keeps wringing the last drops from their BCS golden hen, riding the gravy train til the biscuit wheels fall off. The fancy box was way more interesting than the contents of the bottle. Thanks to Lee & Liz for this one!

Contrary to other reviews, I’m not getting this “strawberry dominance”. Is it there? Yes. But I find, after opening and letting it sit fir 15 minutes or so, the flavors sort of blend nicely. It is cakey, like a strawberry flavored cake with vanilla frosting and some shaved coconut on top. Bourbon flavor is very slight (for the brand) but is still very much there. Just way in the background. I find the body on the heavier side of medium. Finishes with a bourbony chocolate covered strawberry taste.

Poured a quickly dissipating head, no lacing. Notes of strawberry, coconut, and vanilla. Sweet tasting, big notes of coconut and strawberry, mild vanilla. A bit of bourbon presence. Medium bodied, mouth watering finish, boozy. Like a strawberry sundae.

 

 

Pitch black usual body but the head is reserved to a brown ring. Smell has the strawberry and coconut meld in with the base bcbs stout more, vanilla is a natural fit given the usual bcbs profile, and it really works for me: molasses, bourbon, semi-sweet chocolate and light leather support well. Taste however is segregated: on one side of the sip you have bcbs stout, and the other you have very sweet strawberry coulis with big coconut and lesser vanilla. Feel is warm, bright for style, smooth and sugar do culminate a bit. Has to be for dessert given the sweetness, it's a fine stout, but not up to the usual bcbs standards

 

 

Bottled 10/13/21; drank 12/7/21 @ the Yarchives.

Black/brown appearance.

An even pour yielded a small, noisy tan head which quickly dissipated; no lace.

Strawberry syrup & faint milk chocolate syrup notes in the nose.

Medium thick, sticky mouthfeel.

Strawberry syrup and faint chocolate syrup flavors; artificial and cloying.

Full pass on this moving forward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am pleasantly surprised. I've let it warm for 20 minutes or so and the strawberry and vanilla flavors stand out but do not overpower the base. Right out of the tap the aroma was pretty muted, but with warmth it definitely has a cake aroma with strawberry and vanilla notes with a hint of coconut. Flavors match and the feel, thinner than the typical base, is still creamy and full.