Rare Bourbon County Brand Stout (2010)
Goose Island Beer Co.

 

I’m sure this was a banger…..12 years ago. This was simply just past it’s prime regrettably.

 

 

 

Chocolate, vanilla, barrel. Very dark, thick color. Silky, smooth, gets even better as it warms. Slightly boozy, but still excellent.

Purchased from Lush in 2011 as part of a package.

The best beer I ever had. I had it at the opening of the Beer Temple in Chicago a couple years after it came out. I have yet to have a better beer. Especially a BBA Stout. Thanks Beer Temple for doing that opening, I will be forever grateful.

Bottled 11/19/10; drank 3/5/15 @ Tiny Lounge. Bottle# 7454.

Black appearance.

Almost no dark tan head; no lace.

Marshmallow, vanilla, milk chocolate & cherry nose.

Silky, medium thick mouthfeel.

Vanilla, milk chocolate, marshmallow & caramel flavors up front; booze heat & faint pineapple (?!) notes emerged as this warmed.

A truly remarkable beer that aged beautifully.

Drank in 2019, bottle is about 9.5 years old at this point. Smell is chocolate and dark fruit, but oddly weak. It was hard to get much smell off of this at all. The taste followed the smell - tons of flavors swirling around, chocolate, vanilla, dark fruit, but also weaker than I would have expected. The feel is outstanding, and all of those years really smoothed it all out. Overall, great beer. Possibly a little past its prime, but it's still got it.

 

Pours black with dark brown head. Lot of bourbon on aroma with boozy notes mixed with roasted malts. Thick and chewy mouthfeel. Flavors of caramel, molasses, cocoa, brown sugar, bourbon. Still a little boozy taste on finish but excellent overall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take a stellar vintage of BCBS, elevate the nose and palate with scents and flavors imbued by Pappy barrels, increase the viscosity of an already thick and chewy stout, and enjoy one of the finest beers ever crafted for human consumption. There is virtually nothing wrong with this beer, even after all of these years.

It is the best beer that Goose Island has ever made. If ever you feel the need to tick a whale, this might be the best value still out there on the trade market today.