Goose Island Announces Eight 2019 Bourbon County Stout Variants & 3-Year Vertical Box Set

We brought you all eleven potential variants ((Original, Double Barrel, Irish-Style Coffee, Café De Olla, Proprietors, Mon Chéri and five more)), and now Goose Island will separate the real releases from the place holders with this announcement:

The 2019 Goose Island Bourbon County Stout beers will include:

• Bourbon County Stout: Aged in Heaven Hill, Buffalo Trace, & Wild Turkey Bourbon barrels.
  

• Bourbon County Double Barrel Stout: “Double the barrels and double the time,”  aged in 11-year-old Elijah Craig Bourbon barrels.  The beer is then aged in 12-year-old Elijah Craig Bourbon barrels before being packaged. –-Bourbon County Double Barrel Stout was first aged 12 months in 11-year-old Elijah Craig barrels, then transferred to fresh 12-year-old Elijah Craig barrels to age for another year. The result is a stout like no other
• 2-Year Reserve Bourbon County Stout: imperial stout aged for 2-years in 11-year-old Knob Creek Bourbon barrels—double the barrel-aging time of standard BCS–2-Year Reserve Bourbon County Stout was aged 24 months in 11-year-old 25th Anniversary Knob Creek barrels. The barrels delivered an oak-forward intensity accented with subtle hazelnut and chocolate notes that complimented the flavors inherent in Original BCS
• Reserve Rye Bourbon County Stout: This aged in Heaven Hill Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey barrels
  –Our Reserve series shows how a premium single source bourbon barrel can influence our original BCS. The 2019 Reserve Rye was aged in 100% Rittenhouse Rye barrels, imparting fruit and spice flavors. Reserve Rye accentuates all that makes Rittenhouse and Bourbon County unique

• Proprietor’s Reserve Bourbon County Stout: This year’s Proprietor’s is an “homage to variants of years past.”
  –-2019 Proprietor’s Bourbon County Stout is an homage to some of the most beloved ingredients from Bourbon County variants of years past. Toasted pecans, coconut, cocoa, and vanilla mingle together to create flavors reminiscent of Tiramisu

• Bourbon County Wheatwine Ale: English-style with 100% aged in Larceny Bourbon barrels–Wheatwine, the @FOBABofficial award-winning variant, returns. This year Wheatwine was aged 100% in Larceny wheated bourbon casks, resulting in a softer flavor profile, full of caramel, vanilla, butterscotch, and toffee flavors, while carrying the nuances of the barrels.
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• Bourbon County Café de Olla Stout: a Mexican-style coffee stout aged in Bourbon barrels with Intelligentsia coffee, Cassia bark, orange peel and Panela sugar added.
  –-Created with our neighbors,@Intelligentsia, Café de Olla is inspired by the traditional Mexican beverage. We added coffee beans and cold brew coffee to Original BCS and then enhanced this beer further by adding cassia bark, orange peel, and panela sugar

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• Bourbon County Mon Chéri Stout: stout aged in Bourbon barrels with cherries. granola, oats, brown sugar and 100% natural flavor added –-Mon Chéri is made with Balaton and Montmorency cherries, oats, and a dash of brown sugar. The interplay of these ingredients creates aromas of amaretto and almond. With each sip you’ll instantly be reminded of cherry cobbler.

“We’re really excited for this year’s release,” –-Keith Gabbett, Goose Island brewmaster. “Bourbon County Stout Original is one of the best yet with lots of rich chocolate and fudge notes. We’ve pushed our own expectations of what a BCS variant can be, which has resulted in some fantastic versions.”

An Announcement From Our Brewmaster Keith Gabbett

Bourbon County has always been one of my favorite beers, even before I worked at Goose Island. From those early days of drinking it at the Clybourn pub as a fan to actually getting to brew it as a brewer and now overseeing this year’s creation of Bourbon County as Brewmaster, I’m excited that it’s come full circle and I have the opportunity to share details of this year’s release with everyone.

I love the subtle nuances each year brings forward. We’re really excited for the 2019 release; the original is one of the best yet with lots of rich chocolate and fudge notes. This year we’ve pushed our own expectations of what a BCS variant can be, which has resulted in some fantastic variants, and I’m exceptionally proud of Bourbon County Double Barrel Stout. We aged Bourbon County for a year in 11-year-old Elijah Craig barrels before we decided to up the ante and age it for another year, this time in 12-year-old Elijah Craig barrels. The layering of two coveted barrel ages from the same distillery and the extended aging time allows us to really showcase what’s possible with Bourbon County Stout

Goose Island will also release a Vertical Collection with 2017, 2018, and 2019 Bourbon County Stout in a box.–-This year, we are proud to offer the Bourbon County Stout Vertical Collection. This is an opportunity for beer lovers to enhance their understanding of how Bourbon County develops over time by tasting vintages of 2017, 2018, and 2019 side by side.

[Editor’s Note]:  The place-holder / fake variants will be: Irish-Style Coffee Stout, Bourbon County Dry-Hopped, & Oyster Stout.