Bourbon County Brand Stout - Special #4
Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois, United States 🇺🇸
Stout - Imperial Rotating Out of Production|
Score
8.05
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Bourbon County Special #4 Stout is an oatmeal stout variant of our original Bourbon County Stout recipe, also aged in bourbon barrels, that uses crystal oats to add a nutty character and a smooth mouthfeel. After barrel aging, we added Intelligentsia Coffee, both their cold coffee and single origin coffee beans from Ethiopia, called “Metad Buku,” to bring out a pleasant fruity coffee character. Lastly bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup from Bissell Maple Farm in Ohio is added which provides complexity to the nutty oats and coffee to round out the flavors, ultimately reminiscent of your breakfast ‘special’ at the local diner.
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8.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 9
Overall 8
355ml bottle @ Benzai's Anti-Carnival Valentine's Day Tasting, Feb 26. Pours dark, unclear, deep tan head. Rich cakey chocolate, smooth with that familiar prominent bourbon undercurrent, nice vanilla shades with some coffee elements kicking about, good bitter finish. Decent.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Mar 2026
at 09:50
8.3/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8.5
Flavor 8.5
Texture 8
Overall 8
27 February 2026. BCBS Tasting @ Stacks (Sint-Kruis). Cheers to Ward for hosting the event!
Hazy black, very thin, beige head. Maple syrup, coffee bean, tobacco, fondant, brown bread, blue plum, bourbon. Sweet fig, vague sourish blackcurrant, coffee bean and dark-chocolatey, brown-bready maltiness. Herbal hops, lingering maple syrup, soft smoke, boozy bourbon alcohol. Full body, oily texture, soft carbonation. BCBS with a little twist, very good.
Hazy black, very thin, beige head. Maple syrup, coffee bean, tobacco, fondant, brown bread, blue plum, bourbon. Sweet fig, vague sourish blackcurrant, coffee bean and dark-chocolatey, brown-bready maltiness. Herbal hops, lingering maple syrup, soft smoke, boozy bourbon alcohol. Full body, oily texture, soft carbonation. BCBS with a little twist, very good.
Tried
on 27 Feb 2026
at 15:30
8.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8.5
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle shared. Black with small tan head. Chocolate, booze, bourbon, maple, vanilla, coffee, toffee, earthy. Solid sweet, medium bitter. Full bodied. This is lovely.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Jan 2026
at 23:17
8.6/10
—
Appearance 9
Aroma 8.5
Flavor 8.5
Texture 9
Overall 8.5
Bottle @ Kvickly Middelfart. Pours Black with a small beige head. Nose is deep. Complex. Massive bourbon, Vanilla, Maple and coffee beans. Slick, vinous and smooth. Super delight! 4.4.
Tried
on 10 Jan 2026
at 19:10
8.4/10
—
Appearance 9
Aroma 8
Flavor 8.5
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottled 500ml. -at Ambasada Zagreb. Black coloured, small brownish head, bourbon and light alcohol in the nose. Roasted malt, bourbon, dark chocolate, notes of coconut and maple with some alcohol in the nose. Quite nice and enjoyable.
Tried
from Bottle
from
Ambasada.
on 25 Dec 2025
at 13:01
8.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8.5
Texture 8
Overall 9
Draft at BeerTemple, Amsterdam, 1st October 2025. Great body, thick and black with intense flavours
Tried
from Draft
on 29 Oct 2025
at 17:46
9/10
Tried
from Bottle
on 24 Oct 2025
at 20:03
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
armoa of roasted malts, chocolate cookies, toffee, bourbon. mellow velvety aroma, but alc. is sticking out a bit.
Flavor quite nice nice, chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, honey or coconut or syrup, bitter dark caramel (would rather not have this) . end is lacking a serious roasted malty aftertaste, instead i get a watery borbonish meh..
decent bourbon BA imp stout, but not the best. at least not now, 5yrs after botteling.
Flavor quite nice nice, chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, honey or coconut or syrup, bitter dark caramel (would rather not have this) . end is lacking a serious roasted malty aftertaste, instead i get a watery borbonish meh..
decent bourbon BA imp stout, but not the best. at least not now, 5yrs after botteling.
Tried
from Bottle
from
Kihoskh
on 13 Sep 2025
at 11:13
9.1/10
—
Appearance 9
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 9
Overall 9.5
Bottle, 2020, 13.3%. Color: Black, thin brown head. Aroma: Coffee, roasted malt, hints of vanilla. Taste: Coffee, some fruity coffee bean, earthy, some maple syrup, subtle Bourbon, vanilla. Roasted malt. Some hop in the background. Over moderate sweet, moderate to over moderate bitterness. Dry finish. Coffee is overwhelming. Full body, soft carbonation. Bit creamy, warming mouthfeel. Very nice.
Tried
from Bottle
from
Hoptimaal
on 24 Jun 2025
at 19:25
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Tap at BPBW. Black body, didn't note the head. Just very basic notes for whatever reason. Very well balanced, smooth stout with an excellent chocolate profile in the aroma and the body, coffee notes quite integrated into the rest. Excellent for what it is.
Tried
from Draft
on 31 May 2025
at 15:07