Bourbon County 2018

Most people don't do well with change. That includes myself. But I'm pretty excited for some of these. Particularly Vanilla, Bramble, and Coffee BW for sure.

"According to a source they were diversionary tactics to throw beer nerds — and the media — off the scent of this year’s actual lineup of eight beers"

How dare they ! I demand satisfaction
...and a safe space!

 

Totally called this on page 3....

 

Coffee BW has always been amazing at events. But nobody has ever pined for Orange in a stout!!! Oh well, at least we have nilla and Bramble

 

So Wheatwine is the new barleywine and they put coffee into barleywine to make a barleywine variant?

I feel like this was done to move the needle on the folks who pass on barleywine (looking at most of last year's binny's line given the surplus of barleywine at the end of the day). It should entice more people to try it, but still think these two will be the least desirable to the masses due to their general penchant to pass on beers labeled -wine.

 

We got goosed on a few of these! Excited about Barleywine with coffee. The orange seems interesting/confusing. I do hope that with the breadth of varieties that they're going to release that there is decent availability. I think now, more than ever a variety pack needs to be made. Wondering if the wheatwine is going to be the barleywine companion to the regular. Also some new, interesting acronyms are going to be coming...

 

You may be right but, as @DLDlulz posted Coffee BW has always been amazing at events, so pass at your peril, masses.

 

I haven't gotten my bottle yet, but is anyone else getting green pepper flavors from their coffee barleywine?

 

That was because of the temp the beer was being served at during Fobab. Duh

 

My picks exactly. But I'll still check out the orange. I'm interested in coffee barleywine, and we'll see about prop.

 

The lineup is looking good...

 

Horchata would have been cool. Still happy about Vanilla and Bramble. Shrug emoji on midnight orange and I'll live without coffee.

 

Midnight Orange sounds great. Sounds like they probably split the batch on prop and added orange.

 

Need me a bottle of the Elijah Craig aged. That sounds fantastic.

 

And coulrophobes complain about my avatar!

 

Detailed descriptions of each at: https://www.gooseisland.com/blog/announcing-2018-bourbon-county-variants

Original Bourbon County Brand StoutAged in 4+ year old Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels, the original bourbon barrel aged stout is as good as when we first made it over 20 years ago. Flavors of cocoa, vanilla, caramel, almond, cherry, plus leather and tobacco flavors permeate this complex beer that deepens with each sip.

As Brewmaster Jared Jankoski stated, “It ain’t broke, and we didn’t try to fix it.”

Reserve Bourbon County Brand Stout
The same recipe as BCBS, but aged in 12-year old “Elijah Craig Barrel Proof” bourbon barrels. This bourbon was awarded 2017 “Whisky of the Year” by Whisky Advocate, the top honor in the world of international whiskey. Reserve is intended to showcase the nuances of a premium single source, and highly sought after bourbon.

Proprietor's Bourbon County Brand Stout
This year’s Proprietor’s explores the broad spectrum of chocolate. Using a combination of dark chocolate and two types of cocoa nibs, this rich and decadent beer highlights the whole range of chocolate from smooth and silky milk chocolate flavors, to deep and earthy dark chocolate.

Bourbon County Brand Wheatwine
Made from two-row and malted wheat, Bourbon County Brand Wheatwine is making its debut this year. As the first recipe to veer from the original Imperial Stout since Barleywine in 2013, Wheatwine is a deep amber color, lighter than it’s BCBS counterparts and a true medium to convey the characteristics of 4+ year old Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels. Wheatwine is full of high caramel, vanilla, butterscotch, and toffee flavors.

Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout
This longtime favorite is making a long-awaited return to the BCBS roster. Utilizing whole grade A vanilla beans from Madagascar, this year’s BCBS Vanilla delivers on all the quintessential things fans love about this variant: aromatic vanilla, marshmallow, toffee, oak and floral notes highlighting the creamy mouthfeel and enhancing the chocolate flavors that are ingrained in BCBS.

Bourbon County Brand Bramble Rye Stout
For this variant we aged Bourbon County Stout in rye whiskey barrels then added raspberry and blackberry juice and puree from Michigan and Washington. The result is complex jammy fruit notes that are prominent, but well integrated with the caramel and chocolate flavors of the beer and spicy rye character from the barrels.

Bourbon County Brand Coffee Barleywine
Working with our friends at Intelligentsia, we flew down to Guatemala to source some of the world's best coffee to use as we release the first-ever Coffee Barleywine. The beer is an English-style Barleywine, meaning malt forward, and aged in 4+ year old Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels before adding La Soledad coffee beans right before packaging to retain a bold coffee aroma and flavor.

Bourbon County Brand Midnight Orange Stout
Brewer Oscar and Quality Analyst Paul created the concept for this new variant of BCBS. The result? Midnight Orange. They combined two things we love, orange and chocolate, taking Bourbon County into a new and exciting direction. While the chocolate compliments the Bourbon County base, the orange zest offers a point of contrast for a bold new flavor profile to delight Bourbon County fans and newcomers alike.

 

Cautiously optimistic on Bramble. Wondering what the use of raspberry and blackberry juice will do to the beer, if anything. Backyard was fantastic, probably because it was made with fresh berries, not berry juice. Northwoods was made with juice and was pretty polarizing.

 

In the description it states "juice AND puree" to achieve the jammy notes. We shall see. I'm optimistic.

 

i’m pretty excited about the return of vanilla. hopefully it’s as easy to track down as north woods was in my neck of the woods

the way this reads it sounds like it’s already been packaged?? isn’t it like still 3 months out before release?

 

What could be better than combining two of our most infected beers?

 

My Northwoods says it was bottled Aug 10, 2017 so they could be bottling stuff already especially with the larger variety this year.