Thoughts on Goose Island's 2022 Bourbon County (BCBS) Lineup?

It was really well executed for what it is. Not my cup of tea but it wasn't the mess I feared it was going to be.

 

to be fair, up til 2015's issue, i was actually on team @Beer_Economicus & of the belief they'd been aging on beans. i tried but never could get a clear answer from anyone i would consider an authority on the matter.

IIRC correctly, a BA member actually shared video footage / link of the bottling line at the point the cold brew was topping off bottles for the 2015 run.

@VodkaPong87 ~ back in the time frame i'm speaking of, as best i recall of course, the discussion didn't relate to "thinning" then, but the main point the cold brew top-off seemed to settle was the explanation why coffee releases tended to sport noticeably lower abv than the regular releases.

 

Wait… they literally topped off the bottles of BCBS, call it BCBCS, and charge 70% more?? Is this really what’s happening?

 

Thanks! I'm looking forward to trying it despite my apprehension.

 

Only variant’s available in my area are coffee and biscotti. Just drank a biscotti and thought it was great, way better than coffee. Anise wasn’t overpowering at all and blended really well with the strong chocolate flavor. Great beer.

 

I have to assume that all the “too much anise” vs. “perfectly balanced anise” is due to individual palate differences. I absolutely hate licorice, but I can get behind anise in certain situations, and Absinthe is great when mixed, but a little harsh straight. I’m not sure how sensitive I am to it, though, because I avoid it like the plague.

Coconut, on the other hand, I love, but I have a hard time detecting it. So, I need a lot to really notice it.

I haven’t tried biscotti because it has almonds, and I am allergic to nuts. Glad to see so many enjoying it, though.

 

lol. keep in mind i was reflecting on something off the top of my head from either December 2015 or more likely early into 2016, but yeah if i am remembering & understood that video correctly, that's basically it. although, prior to 2015, the price on coffee was typically no more than $1 higher than the regular.

 

The last time I purchased BCBCS in a packaged format it was four-packs/12 ounce bottles and it was priced the same as regular BCBS at my local beer retailer ($24.99). I thought the price was exorbitant at the time but I decided it to buy it nonetheless and I really enjoyed drinking those four beer. Nowadays a single bottle of BCBCS is around 25 bucks at my local grocery store. No bueno!

 

I didn't enjoy it, due to the "natural flavors" included.

If these flavors are "natural" why can't you call them what they are? Most likely because you're dumping syrup into the beer.

See also: my distaste for almost all the Bourbon County "pastry" variations since the infection.

 

Duly noted....I will be opening this beverage Christmas Eve while waiting for my daughters (who still wait for Santa) to fall asleep... that way, even if I'm jaded about it...it will still be an enjoyable experience....

 

I doubt any nuances from a specific bean really come out in a beer. There's so much care and detail taken into brewing a great cup of coffee (temp., method/technique...etc.), you're just trying your best not to fuck up the coffee bean itself.

At best you might be able to detect high level details such as dark or light roast.

 

Is there any question that "natural flavors" is some kind of extract? I assume it means an alcohol based extract like the vanilla or almond you use in baking.

 

Just as an example, when they made Northwoods (2017?), the bottle says “blueberry juice and almond extract added”. So, you’d think if it was extract that they would just say that.

 

Well that does make it sound like they're using something significantly less appetizing this time then.

 

I think 2017 was the first time they used anything like that, and I remember at the time everyone being all up in arms that they used extract and not the item itself. Here we are 5 years later, and we’ve regressed further. “Just give us the extracts! Make it real!”

 

Was surprised to walk into Total Wine today and see the barley wine, Anniversary, and Sir Isaacs. Didn't know those made it to SD. Was tempted by the Anni, because I had the 2020 Anni and thought it was one of the best I've had. Price is just too damn high though, so just got a Sir Isaacs. Wish I could find 4 packs of the blend, but theirs were the willett, which is all I've seen around here.

 

And because of the discussions here you knew to avoid the Willet version.

Cheers to BA!

 

nah, I already got a pack of it a few weeks ago. I thought it was great, but liked the blend in the big bottle I had a little better, so would get a pack of that if I saw it.
edit: but yes, I knew what the cryptic bottle codes meant from reading here, so cheers to BA

 

Conjures up a faint memory of Founders KBS Espresso. But misses the mark. Thin, bitter coffee notes are there but not overwhelming in the way I would have hoped. Drinks pretty soft for 13% so I’m happy with that. I fall firmly in the camp of “I could have gotten better for less”. 9/7 bottling.

 

I had my first Goose Island BCBS, and it was very very good. So smooth and strong, but I still think I prefer Founders KBS better. I will prob drink the Bourbon Brand Coffee Stout tonight and see how that one holds up. Merry Christmas BAs!

 

We cracked open the Barleywine yesterday and overall, I thought it was very good. Very barrel/spirit forward, the base beer just hardly pops through, but tasty.

Overall, it's a fantastic beer that is honestly worth half the price they asked for it, IMO. If it was something like $18-25 a bottle, no brainer. But for what they were asking, hard pass. We have a few other BBA Barleywine options for half the price, even less, that are just as good.

 

It's funny, I was gonna say I thought I liked KBS Espresso quite a bit more as well, but looking at my reviews for both these beers, both got a 4.53, even with the BCBCS being 4 years old. Maybe I should revisit this years coffee variant...

 

Had the Coffee today, bottled 9/11/22. Absolutely loved it - big roasty coffee notes, some chocolate and barrel flavors, and lots of stone fruit (the star of this beer, IMHO) with a rich, creamy mouthfeel.

World class beer, IMHO.

 

Holy crap. Drinking a 9/8 Coffee right now and it’s a total dud! Almost no coffee! 100% confirming a batch variation, because the 9/6 I had was phenomenal (4.75 rating for me). This is actually less flavorful than the base. Wow. Now I know why so many people said they didn’t like the Coffee this year. I have one more 9/6 and I hope it’s as good as the first

 

Do you recall such variation in past year's releases?

Cheers!

 

Never had coffee before this year

 

It was not just the coffee version that folks have opined about.

Some folks posted that the 'regular' BCBS in certain barrels were not 'good'.

I have no recollection of past years where there have been such variability of the various versions of these beers.

Cheers!

 

Same. Forgot to look at the batch date though.

 

Drinking a Coffee now. I actually don’t get much coffee. It’s good, nothing like the great ones of yester year that I loved. Less sweet than regular which is good, but not much barrel.

 

As I drink it more, I hate to say it, this is meh. Not a well made beer at all.

 

My wife and I had the prop. It was awful. Neither of us finished it. It smelled really good but the taste was not there. I let it sit for over an hour to see if that would change the taste. Nothing. Was sad dumping it out.

 

Having 30th anniversary reserve now, seems to be a lot more carbonated than any other BCBS I have had in past, anyone else experience this?

 

I don’t remember it being much different than the base in all aspects