Proprietor’s Bourbon County Brand Stout (2022)
Goose Island Beer Co.

Dark with brown edging, the usual oil slick sheen on the top I’ve come to expect from a good coconut flavored stout. Tropical notes on the nose-definite banana and coconut, light on the lime and pineapple. Fruit forward with strong tropical flavors and a bourbon presence. A bit thick and syrupy, pleasant boozy burn. Not bad, but not great, and definitely interesting.

 

 

Best by 10/5/24

Oh man, I totally forgot about this one. I picked this up when I was in Chicago back in September and visited Goose Island. I didn’t buy several BCBS variants like I did the year before, but this one was calling my name. Historically I’ve enjoyed the fruited variants so this one should be right up my alley. Let’s pop it open and see what’s up

Pours a murky dark brown with absolutely no head. Still and some particulate floating around, definitely the ugliest of these I’ve ever seen

The nose here is very fruity, almost to a fault as I t dominates the barrel notes. I’m picking up on aromas of toasted coconut, pineapple juice, walnut, banana bread, milk chocolate, lime zest, light caramel, and smooth oak

Thankfully there’s more substance to it in taste. Surprising as I was assuming that the age had killed this one a bit based on the aroma. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting grilled pineapple, coconut, cocoa powder, sweet bourbon, lime zest, vanilla bean, smooth oak, light banana, and burnt caramel. The swallow brings notes of grilled pineapple, toasted walnut, cinnamon, earthy bourbon, toasted coconut, vanilla bean, smooth oak, light lime zest, and cocoa powder

A medium body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a smooth beer. Finishes neutral with a drying bitterness

This is one of the weirdest BCBS variants I’ve ever had. I’m assuming age hasn’t helped this in any way but it was probably strange right after release too

A little too much going on here. Not for me.

 

 

 

Pulled out of my cellar (somewhere in the 55 degree range) and poured into a Goose Island tulip. Very dark brown with neither a noticeable head nor any lacing. The smell was mostly coconut; banana was also obvious -- probably best described as tropical? Upon tasting, the bourbon barrel (and the oak) jumped out along with the coconut and banana, the pineapple was there on the aftertaste -- I didn't get any lime at all, despite consciously looking for it. One of the smoothest beers I've ever had, with just the slightest bit of carbonation keeping it from being what I'd call "flat". Based on the flavors and my typical preferences, I expected to be disappointed by this beer -- but I definitely wasn't. A very pleasant and delicious surprise, from my perspective. And I'm guessing the brewers (thankfully) accomplished exactly what they were endeavoring to do, however weird it may seem.

 

 

**
08/13/23

Bottle to snifter.




Big coconut nose.
Very nice. Some strange ingredients, but it all works. Pineapple is just a finish and kind of keeps itself separate. Banana similar, but even more subtle. Don't get lime really.

Below Avg for BCBS, but still quality.


**

This one pours a fairly dark black color, with a small head, and a little bit of lacing.

This smells like raw coconut, sweet and unrefined, with caramelized banana, rum, candied lime, and milk chocolate.

This isn’t rum barrel aged, but I think the lime + banana + coconut and generally booziness just tricks my mind into thinking rum here. There’s not a ton of overt bourbon barrel characteristics outside of a general booziness. This is overall one of the boozier Bourbon County variants that I’ve had, but the cocktail vibes that were intended here kind of work well with the boozier, liquor heavy feel of this. The coconut is sweet and tasty, but leaning a little bit too close to the suntan lotion line. It’s not quite there, but it’s a little reminiscent of that. The lime adds some light tropical flavor, and the banana is executed well.

This is medium bodied, boozy, but creamy and silky, with a good drinkability.

This isn’t quite my favorite Prop ever, but it was very creative and executed mostly well.

 

500 ml bottle into a snifter. Best by 10/5/24, had 12/17/22.

Pours near black and opaque, with no head and no lacing. Aromas of coconut, lime juice, bourbon, chocolate, malt, pineapple as it warms, light banana. Has a spicy aroma. Mostly the same flavors: coconut, pineapple, bourbon, malt, some lime, light banana. Also has a spicy flavor. Smooth, a very good full body, appropriately carbonated.

The coconut and pineapple star, the lime is lighter but enough to stand out, as well. Thought the flavors worked wonderfully. Glad to have a few more to try and find which ones have more banana. Really enjoyable.

 

Pleasantly surprised by this one. Was expecting something sort of weird and gimmicky, but actually found it tasted like a 'Dark Smooj' (as an aside -- get your hands on any flavor of Smooj if you haven't yet). The pineapple is the most prevalent, and converts an otherwise dark, cold-weather beer into something quite summery.

85/100

 

This is the most un-BCBS variant I’ve ever had, but that’s not to say it’s not good. (A close second would have to be the Coke-inspired one from last year). I actually enjoyed this much more than I thought I would.

Super tropical with huge hits of coconut, pineapple and lime, and the dark fruit and tobacco that I always find in regular BCBS is completely masked by these three flavors. As it warms, I’m getting the banana slightly on the finish.

The mouthfeel is full, but it seems to be not as chewy as regular.

A pretty good experiment, but having said that, I’m good with just the one, and am glad I got it on sale.

Serving: 1 pint 0.9 fl. oz. bottle poured into a GI BCBS snifter. Bottled on 10/5/22, making this almost exactly 6 months old.

A: Pours the typical BCBS pour with a catch: some floaties! The chunks from Prop 13 and 14 are back from the toasted coconut addition.

S: Huge coconut up front, followed by some slight lime zest and chocolate covered pineapple. Faint bourbon there at the end.

T: Big toasted coconut and vanilla right away. Finish is lime juice mixed with some milk chocolate or cocoa. Not a ton of pineapple in the flavor. Bourbon also a bit muted here as well.

M: Decently full. Maybe a touch more carbonation and fizzle that expected, wonder if that's the fruit juices.

O: Shout out to kodt for sending this to me in a trade (along with the BW!). This is an odd beer. Probably the one variant I had no idea what to expect going into since maybe 2015 Rare or Midnight Orange. Can't say I've ever had a BA stout with fruit juice or tropical flavors before. I was maybe expecting a DIPA overlayed onto a stout, but it's not quite that. The sweet flavors actually work pretty well with the base. It comes out very bright and sweet. Only knock would be that the flavors are so strong, they tend to mute the bourbon and the roast notes. Overall I'd like a little more balance as this can come across a touch muddy. But it's a risky beer that still probably payed off well. After all, more than a decade into this, they gotta mix it up and take risks once in a while, and the Prop series is the place to do it.

Recommendation: As with all Props, this is a must-try, even if you're nota huge fruit or cocktail lover.