Bourbon County Brand Stout - Backyard
(has 1 batch)
Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois, United States 🇺🇸
Stout - Imperial Rotating Out of Production|
Score
7.70
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Feeling nostalgic this year, we dove into our Bourbon County vault and pulled out an iconic recipe. In 2013, we released “Backyard Rye” and our senior innovation manager Mike Siegel found himself hand picking mulberries off trees just steps away from our Goose Island Barrel House in Chicago. Inspired by that initial release and by his own childhood memories of picking fruit in his own backyard, Mike set to work on this year’s Bourbon County Backyard Stout.
This barrel-aged stout was first aged in bourbon barrels for at least one year, and then finished and blended with mulberries, boysenberries and marionberries. Each addition of berry contributes its own distinct flavor profile, with some adding sweetness and others providing acidity and complexity. A taste of the past, this imperial stout is a balanced and nuanced play on fresh fruit, vanilla, and chocolate.
This barrel-aged stout was first aged in bourbon barrels for at least one year, and then finished and blended with mulberries, boysenberries and marionberries. Each addition of berry contributes its own distinct flavor profile, with some adding sweetness and others providing acidity and complexity. A taste of the past, this imperial stout is a balanced and nuanced play on fresh fruit, vanilla, and chocolate.
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8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 8
Texture 9
Overall 8
Bottle shared at craft beer junction bermondsey tasting. Many thanks to Tipple for this one. A opaque black brown coloured pour with a oily tan head. Aroma is tangy dark fruits, dark berry, alcohol. Banana. Bronw sugar. Banana. Raisin, brown sugars. Palate is medium sweet, light tang, oily
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Apr 2025
at 14:11
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7.5
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle split at CBJ Tasting Night, thanks to Adrian, 09/04/2025.
Black topped with a khaki crown that thins to the edge.
Nose is chocolate, roast malts, spice, dried fruit rinds.
Taste comprises mellow booze, dark malts, dates, figs, minimal barrel, chocolate.
Full bodied, fine carbonation, drying close with a modest rising boost.
Okay sipper but lacking in barrel for me so a touch pedestrian for this series.
Black topped with a khaki crown that thins to the edge.
Nose is chocolate, roast malts, spice, dried fruit rinds.
Taste comprises mellow booze, dark malts, dates, figs, minimal barrel, chocolate.
Full bodied, fine carbonation, drying close with a modest rising boost.
Okay sipper but lacking in barrel for me so a touch pedestrian for this series.
Tried
on 09 Apr 2025
at 08:22
8/10
Malm� May 2024 tasting - rich dark sweet and roasted malts, silky chocolate, full bodied, getting some dark berry fruity accents into the bourbon infused sweet malty finish. Lovely. --- Beer merged from original tick of Bourbon County Brand Backyard Stout (2023) on 22 Jun 2024 at 17:34
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Mar 2025
at 05:55
8.4/10
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Appearance 9
Aroma 8
Flavor 8.5
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
2023 bottle poured, picked up at Norms. Dark, dense. Near black appearance. Almost no head here. Lots of barrel on the nose, dry oak, bourbon. Berries are really an afterthought here, and I could possibly even miss them in a blind. Come through a little better on the palate, with a subtle jammy character. Barely sweet, bourbon, molasses, some chocolate late. Really unique stout. Very fun addition to the always impressive line up of surprises each year.
Tried
from Bottle
from
Norm's Market
on 06 Feb 2025
at 04:03
8.5/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 8
Review based on the BJCP2021 guidelines (style 33B: bourbon barrel / 29A: mulberries, boysenberries, marionberries) 2023 Edition. AROMA: medium bourbon aroma with medium-low to low vanillin and wood. medium-low to low fruity background (raspberry-like). medium-low to low malty background with a sweet chocolate character. APPEARANCE: very dark brown body with slight ruby highlights. medium-low brown head with a slight red hue. TASTE: medium notes of red fruits (raspberry, blackberry) with slight bourbon and wood notes. medium-low background of roast malt (chocolate). medium-low bitterness. finishes semi-dry with slight roastiness. MOUTHFEEL: medium-high body with medium carbonation. smooth alcoholic warmth. OVERALL: a nice balanced barrel aged imperial stout with the base beer a bit more muted but understandable since its a 2023 bottle.
Tried
from Bottle
on 06 Jan 2025
at 16:38
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
500mL bottle, pours black with a small beige head. Aroma has tons of berries, bourbon barrels, and molasses. Flavour is full of berries, bourbon barrels, molasses, and fermented out brown sugars. Good infusion of the berries, mixing well with the bourbon and fermented out sugars. Far from the best BCBS variant but very solid nonetheless.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Dec 2024
at 19:13
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
Tap at Drunk Uncle. The berries sort of make it through the thick base, balancing out the flavor rather well. A pinch vinous, not unlike wine barrel aged stuff.OK, hard to drink more than a few ounces of.
Tried
from Draft
on 22 Dec 2024
at 02:05