Bourbon County Brand Stout
Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois, United States 🇺🇸
Stout - Imperial Winter|
Score
8.48
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Appearance - 9 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 8.5
Fles 29,5cl thuis. Roasted malts, vanille, eik, caramel, redelijk boozy, bourbon, fudge, licht plakkerig, pure chocolade, wat liquorice, marsepein, bittertonen, zoeten. (13-3-2026).
Appearance - 9 | Aroma - 9.5 | Flavor - 9.5 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 8.5
500ml bottle, 2024 vintage. Roasted malt aroma with notes of chocolate, brown sugar, vanilla, bourbon and oak. Pours deep brown with a thin mocha brown head that has little retention and no lacing. Starts with rich roasted malt, brown sugar and oak flavors as well as having a rich, full body and silky smooth mouthfeel. Finishes incredibly smooth with chocolate, bourbon and vanilla flavors. Truly elite imperial stout.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
2005 bottle acquired in an awesome trade with Htsprint1. Thanks so much Noah! Shared with Eyedrinkale and Egajdzis on 8/27/2005.
Pours a thick, viscous deep black, opaque, heavy looking substance, with a small, thick tan head, that is not long retained, little bit of legs on the glass. Sediment on the bottom of the bottle. Aroma of coconuts, sweet molasses and rich toffee. Oaky and just very strong. Touches of charred wood smoke is very dry in the nose and gives some balance to the sweet coconut, chocolate fudge, vanilla and light alcohol. Being very underwhelmed by most Imperial Stouts I have tried lately, especially the barrel-aged ones, I’ve got to say, I was incredibly impressed and refreshed by this one. Granted this isnt a terribly refreshing beer, but it was just nice to see a unique imperial stout that dosent bludgeon you with hops or alcohol. Even the roast is fairly restrained here, relatively speaking. What you do get a lot of, is coconut, sweet vanilla beans and chocolate fudge, though a bit drier than all that sounds. Rich, thick mouthfeel is borderline syrupy, and significantly malty sweet, but for me, it works. Very viscous and oily, with a very low carbonation. It goes down easy, on my palate, though. The bourbon is somehow flavorul, moreso than it is drying or sharp. Sweet chocolate-vanilla sticks with you, as some late hops grows as it warms. Bourbony flavors are always present but don’t really bother me, even at the end of the glass. Very full body. Love to get more of this stuff.
Rerate Or rather, resample, I’m not changing my marks because this beer is maturing very nicely. At about a year old now, the bourbon is still under control, even moreso now, with a creamy/chocolatey texture without gobs of harsh roast or hops. Smokiness and ashiness are controlled and used to balance, not overwhelm. Awesome.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
27 February 2026. BCBS Tasting @ Stacks (Sint-Kruis). Cheers to Ward for hosting the event! Many thanks to Louis for generously sharing the bottles!
Cloudy black, no head. Intense bourbon, medicine, tobacco, espresso, teriyaki, black olive, pecan, liqueur-filled pralines, vanilla bean, oak. Sweet date, raisin & prune wrapped in a dark-chocolatey, pecan-nutty and dark fudge-like malt body with subtle umami teriyaki, some smoke and bitter coffee. Peppery hops in the finish, lingering bitter coffee, fondant, oaky vanilla and warming bourbon alcohol. Full body, thin, oily texture, soft carbonation. Has evidently aged (thinned by alcohol; umami, somewhat medicinal flavours) but this has only added layers of complexity to an already rounded base beer. Excellent!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle. Pours opaque dark brown with a small frothy dark beige head, bourbon aroma, low carbonation, medium bitter dark chocolate, oak, bourbon taste, coffee flavor, smooth body, long bourbon finish. Tasty but boozy.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8
Bottle to snifter. Pours pitch black with a thin, lasting beige head. Aroma is oaky, bourbon and chocolate. Taste is similar and boozy. Thick texture, a few steps below chewy. Pretty great overall, one of the only good brews out out by AB.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 10
Bottle shared, black beer, small head. Aroma is booze, vanilla, bourbon, wood, liquorice, roast. Taste is the same, quite heavy and boozy but nice
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Tap at BeerTemple, Amsterdam, 15th January 2026. It’s a good stout as it should be, but found this vintage a bit boozy