Goose Island Bourbon County 2019

The BCBS I have liked the least was 2017 Reserve. I really like BBA beers, pretty much what my cellar is comprised of, and what I prefer - but reserve was a bit overboard even for me. It seemed like whiskey with a dash of beer. I should give it another chance, maybe my taste was just off that day, but all I could taste was whiskey. That's not bad per se, but not what I expect in a beer.

 

Reserve was the best barrel aged stout I had last year and thats why I purchased 2 cases.. Please revisit and let us know your thoughts

 

I will if I can find one, though they have never distributed it here. I thought last year's Prop was incredible, as good as Vanilla.

 

God damn NY beer market!

 

I'd be in deep trouble if I had that kind of access to so many incredible beers. I'd end up on one of those hoarder shows.

 

We are spoiled and unappreciative.. Wish there was a way to spread the love

 

I'll send one your way this weekend cheers sir

 

Buy 50 cases of Goose Island IPA. It is what PA beer stores had to do to get one case of BCBS years ago.

 

A few years ago, our stores were being told their allocations were based on sales of Matilda and Sofie. Some store stocked up on those two but they didn't seem to move, and we continued to get just a few cases of regular BCBS to cover our market., with stores either getting nothing, a half case, or a case.

 

Many Indiana locations were also based on Sofie sales. For 3-4 months leading up to Black Friday, the largest liquor chain in the state would have it on sale ($3-4 off - a good amount).

Did not hear last year what it was based on - not have I now heard here in Ohio (where I now live) what it is based on.

 

I think it's now based on total GI sales, and we must be doing good because we were flooded with hundreds of cases of regular BCBS last year and got more cases of variants than we ever got cases of regular in the past.

 

GI's offerings have gotten much better over the last year or two. Things like Next Coast IPA, IPA Now, and Natural Villain are quite solid. I'm not surprised if stores are moving more of their product.

 

I'm with this guy. I have had better barrel aged beers than BCBS, but when you think about the mass distribution and availability of BCBS, it truly is unmatched, it's amazing what they do on a large scale and I return year after year and buy several bottles. I think what he means is that nobody can do it on such a mass scale and have such good quality. Like I said there are better BA beers, but how about ones that are mass produced and basically anyone in the country can acquire if they want, without a hassle? forget about it. You buy a BCBS and you are GUARANTEED to have a great beer. Except for one infected year only on certain dates and guess what, you got a refund or a new bottle in exchange or whatever right? Not a big deal. I will keep going back to BCBS every year, looking forward to it again.

 

And even though yes there are better ba stouts that BCBS, with the exception of those that are truly mind blowingly absurd (and often, those are so because they hit notes most of us have not experienced in a beer, if at least only very rarely), the rest are only marginally better, and that still depends on the day and your palate.

Beer can only be so good.

 

Yessir! The best BA stouts I have ever had were Side Project Beer Barrel Time 2018 and BCBS Vanilla Rye 2014. Both better than KBBS in my opinion. Granted not every BCBS is Vanilla Rye, but you could absolutely taste the BCBS base in the VR and see where the magic comes from.

(Side note on Side Project - Kind of jealous of anyone who lives in STL considering all the insane stuff coming out of there...but to my point, I can get BCBS in NJ )

 

I obviously agree (should not be a shock to anyone). Along these same lines, I have to wonder what straight BA stout anyone thinks is better that is not an extremely limited release, ticketed release, line up release, etc. Anything that is that small I feel like it is difficult or unfair to compare to - at that point, you have to compare every beer out there. Additionally, as @Sabtos stated, there will always be some differences in taste and preferences. But in terms of what pretty much everyone seems to agree is a killer beer? I just don’t know of any beer that - even if it is only regionally distributed - you could perhaps get a couple bottles at a shop down the street when it is released, that is this good and rated as high by as many people.

 

they would have fired me for my reviews long ago

 

I had a 2018 this weekend and thought it was fantastic. I'm definitely going to be picking up a case of 2019 if possible.