Goose Island Bourbon County - 2021 (Chicagoland)

After having most of the adjuncted variants from 2020, I can honestly say they either need to do away with them or just stick with the basics. I'm sure they will still have adjuncted variants but I think they're leaning into the reserve/double barrels that are more straightforward to pull off and I'm assuming have a higher profit margin.

2020 was the year that finally did it for me though, it broke my BCBS box ticking obsession. I'm sure all of these will be solid BA stouts but with the reserve/db approach I'm less inclined to feel the need to seek these out, especially at their price points.

I think the focus on reserve/db has been a long time coming but I'm curious to see the approach they take with adjuncts.

 

I support this motion. More for me

 

Agreed. The reserve BCBS are usually the best IMO. I would lop Birthday and Anniversary in there from last years. It’s the adjuncts that they’ve been screwing up. I pray they will go back to a regular BA Coffee stout. Please GI atay away from the wheat wines, tea, artificial fruits and so forth.

 

Also do away with the wheat wine and bring back bcbbw

 

Unless they want to make vanilla again, or Prop 13/14, just do seven or eight barrel treatments in the lineup and call it a day. I’m past the experimental stage of tea and weird pastries, to Tony’s point.

 

I’m a vanilla ***** and VR is one of my all time favorite brews but the last vanilla was pretty bad fresh (too much vanilla and artificial tasting). Oddly as it aged it has gotten better IMO as the vanilla is mellowing out some. If they can do something like ‘14 VR I would be ecstatic.

 

I'll never understand the bolded criticism of the 2018 Vanilla; they literally hand split grade A Madagascar vanilla beans and used 0 syrup in this beer.

I get "too much vanilla" (which isn't a thing for me, at all, but I get it), but there is nothing artificial about the vanilla flavor in that beer.

To each their own, though, I'm pretty sure my palate is trash.

 

Asked my friend who was there to fact-check me here...he confirmed it's 100% Madagascar vanilla, with no syryp...but they used the whole pod. NOT hand split. Full disclosure.

 

I agree that they have been the best of the bunch as of late, but maybe it is just me but I don't feel the need to go out there and try every variant of BCBS the way I used to with the focus on the reserve/db variants. It's weird in that I like them more than most of the recent variants but am less likely to seek them out, especially given the price point they've been listed at.

 

I loved it fresh and still like it now. If anyone wants a imitation vanilla stout try dark charge vanilla stout holy fuck, that was more imitation vanilla than stout.

 

Beaver bung?

 

It it possible our taste of vanilla is influenced by what is added? Raw cacao tastes much different from the processed chocolate bars it is used in. Sugar and fat transforms the flavor. My recollection of raw vanilla is that it isn't sweet so it has that artificial taste like an extract which is also unsweetened and a reflection of the raw flavor. Most people's perception of vanilla is actually probably closer to raw vanilla + sugar where it is sweet and rounded so perhaps we are confusing "artificial" with the taste of raw vanilla.

 

Not sure what that is or if it’s a person it’s not me.

 

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman....-and-why-we-use-it-in-cakes-and-icing-3030071

 

Great now I know what it’s like to rim job a beaver