Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout - 2014

This is the 2014 vintage of Goose Island's Bourbon County Brand Stout. It is a 13.8% ABV stout aged in bourbon barrels. I am going to try one now relatively new and then try it again in a couple years. So make sure to keep coming back to the blog for the next few years and see how it develops.

The beer pours black as liquefied coal. There is a relatively short head of dark brown foam. The aroma is very pleasant upfront bourbon, sweet, black molasses, dark fruits, with lighter, blended notes of char and chocolate smoothing out the edges. The taste follows the aromas, mixing bourbon with darkened sugars upfront. The dark fruits are present, but less than in the aroma, and the lighter notes of char and dark chocolate again round out the edges. The beer drinks smooth, thick, rich, but also with a tingle of carbonation. It is sweet, but ends as dry as sweet, with a moderate bitterness, and some moderate alcohol heat. There is a lingering aftertaste of bourbon and a pleasant warming effect. I like the upfront bourbon, we'll see what happens to this over time.