Mybeerbuzz .com Highlights 2020 Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout Variants (Review)

I’ve been writing about beer for close to 13-years, and I’ll admit that there are very few beers remaining from the early days that still to this day generate the excitement that today’s beers do. Back in 2009 when it was released as the very first Bourbon barrel-aged beer, this beer was really hard to get outside the Midwest, but I did manage to get some. Jump forward to 2020 and I can say that I’m equally excited to get a chance to enjoy it once again.

If you haven’t guessed already, I’m talking about Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout and yes, today I’m lucky enough to get the chance for an early peek at several of the 2020 variants.  If you haven’t been following along, the 2020 variants were announced in Aug and they include seven different variants:

• Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
• Goose Island Bourbon County Kentucky Fog Stout
• Goose Island Bourbon County Special #4 Stout
• Goose Island Bourbon County Caramella Ale
• Goose Island Proprietor’s Bourbon County Stout
• Goose Island Birthday Bourbon County Stout
• Goose Island Anniversary Bourbon County Stout

The 2020 variants are aged in a variety of barrels from Whiskey distilleries and as always they are really unique.

Today I’ll be sampling several of the most unique BCBS variants and I can’t wait to get started….so off we go.

Goose Island Proprietor’s Bourbon County Brand Stout

ABV:  14.2%
Style:  Barrel-Aged Stout (Spumoni-inspired)
Packaging:  16.9oz bottles
Appearance:  Pitch black with just a hint of mahogany
Aroma:  Cocoa, Bourbon and sweet cherry
Mouthfeel:   Silky and satisfying
Taste:   Dark chocolate, cherry, Bourbon, vanilla and nutty
Overall:  Proprietor’s Bourbon County Brand Stout is a really unique blend of flavors that each seem to contribute more than the previous flavor. To say it is really complex with a lot of depth would be like saying the Atlantic Ocean as a bit of water in it. This beer has wonderful layers of dark chocolate, vanilla, pistachio and Bourbon with a nice balancing punch of cherry. The overall spumoni-inspired blend was really executed well and the resulting beer has to be one of my all-time BCBS variants.

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Kentucky Fog Stout

ABV:  14.1%   
Style:  Barrel-Aged Stout (London Fog tea drink-inspired)
Packaging:  16.9oz bottles
Appearance:  Deep black brown
Aroma:  Citrus, honey and herbal aromas
Mouthfeel:   Sturdy and rich
Taste:   Honey, tea and citrus
Overall:  As I read back my own descriptors of this beer I can’t help but think that they do this beer no justice. Kentucky Fog is really complex with the tea flavors you would expect, but with a really enjoyable sticky honey flavor that comes along for the ride. The citrus is definitely there and I would agree that there’s a deep black licorice flavor in the mix, but I really liked the sweet pie crust flavor that balanced it all out in the final bit of each sip. Overall this beer is much easier to drink than it is to describe or explain, but suffice to say it is a really good variant.

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Special # 4

ABV:  13.3%   
Style:  Oatmeal Barrel-Aged Stout
Packaging:  16.9oz bottles
Appearance:  Dark Black
Aroma:  Cocoa, coffee and vanilla
Mouthfeel:   Soft and creamy
Taste:  Dark roast coffee, chocolate, dark fruits and vanilla
Overall:  You can’t miss the presence of coffee in Special # 4, but not necessarily in the way that you would expect. The Ethiopian Metad Buku coffee brings out not only the bitter coffee notes you’d expect, but also a dark fruit character that was really enjoyable. The beer is complex like the other variants but the soft mouthfeel from the crystal oats and maple syrup combines with the coffee and vanilla flavors to make for a really enjoyable sip. Overall this breakfast stout on steroids was a really good combination and one that I think we’ll see again in the future.

Most of the Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout variants will be available beginning on Black Friday (11/27) 2020 in 16.9oz bottles and a limited series of kegs. Details on Proprietor’s can be found here. This year’s crop of variants have to be some of my favorites and I highly recommend you try them all (if you can)…and when you do try them, be sure to let us know what YOU think.