Goose Island Big John (2012)

Brewed By: Goose Island Beer Company (owned by AB InBev) in Chicago, Illinois

Purchased: 22oz bomber bought at Binny's in IL; 2012 (bottled 12/07/12)

Style/ABV: Russian Imperial Stout, 11.5% 

Reported IBUs: 60 

As I notch yet another Goose Island Stout into writing, or on my belt, or wherever...I have to laugh at the randomness and availability of the 2012 Bourbon County Stout. At least for us Chicago folk. I was at the Jewel-Osco on Ashland the other day (by no means a special store), when I found a few 4-packs of Bourbon County Stout, along with some bottles of Madame Rose. Seriously, what's up with that? It's January 22nd, and BCBS is still showing up in random stores. About Goose Island:

Goose Island is a Chicago-based brewery that began as a brewpub on Clybourn, which opened on May 1988. The actual brewery opened on 1995, and is located on the Southwest side of Chicago. The second brewpub, located in Wrigleyville by the Chicago Cubs, was opened in 1999. On March 28, 2011, Goose Island sold 58% of the brewery to Anheuser-Busch. The remaining 42% of the brewery is supposed to be acquired by A-B InBev in the future, and there has been much discussion about the brewery's takeover. On November 16th, founder and CEO, John Hall, announced he would be leaving Goose Island. On January 1st, 2012, Anheuser-Busch "veteran" Andy Goeler will take over Goose Island. Additionally, around the same time as John Hall's departure, resident barrel-program leader John Laffler also announced his departure from Goose Island. There have been many changes regarding Goose Island...so we will see what the future has in store for Goose Island. 

I'm normally not one to open what will -- hopefully -- be a dessert beer, on a random Tuesday night. But it's as cold as ice out there, as Chicago finally decided to have a winter. So I'm kind of in the mood for a big, filling, warming, black....Imperial Stout. This is that, and not...that.

As we've covered, Goose Island takes their base Stout (their Cook County Stout), and puts it in Bourbon Barrels, or dry hops it, or ages it with cacao nibs. Inspired by the epic Chicago Skyline, or more specifically, the John Hancock, the Big John features tons of roasted malt and cacao nibs that provide massive chocolate flavor and aroma. You can get all the vitals on Goose Island's Big John page. Clocking in at 11.5% ABV, and packing 60 IBUs, this beer uses Columbus hops, and is brewed with 2-Row, Munich, Chocolate, Caramel, Roasted Barley, and De-bittered Black malts. The bottle label says: "Develops in the bottle for up to 1 year." You can probably age this for longer, at the risk of the cacao flavors dropping out. Let's glass this up and see what we got.

Goose Island Big John

This beer pours ink-black; dark as night; the DARK KNIGHT. Really, it looks like BCS. What differentiates this from BCS is that you get a pinky's worth of dark, coffee-brown head, and the head hangs around for a bit. The head features some nice bubbles, and as it drops away, you are left with a nice hazy-brown cauldron effect. You also get that brown ring. This has some nice alcohol legs, and features clingy lacing. Swirling the beer kicks up some head. In bright light, I catch glimpses of brown on the edges, but this is a pretty ominous and opaque lookin' Stout.

The aroma on this is helping me put the Night Stalker into perspective. It sorts of makes sense. I'm getting a lot of anise, black licorice, and dark fruits on the nose. When I swirl the beer, I kick up some big roast aromas and some big chocolate. What's really interesting, however, is the HUGE umami aroma I'm getting. I couldn't quite place my finger on this with the Night Stalker...but I'm getting it big here. I'm getting big mushrooms on this, hints of soy, and just an "umami" thing. I'm also picking up on some char. 

Oh man...the taste on this is really nice. At first you get sharp roast, hints of dark fruits, dark fruits...and then BAM. This blows up the chocolate and roast, with underlying alcohol complexity. There's a big chocolate-cacao-mushroom thing driving this beer, with hints of soy and mushroom on the finish. If you let this beer sit on your tongue, and move your tongue through it, you get thick chocolate syrup, melted chocolate, milk chocolate turning into more bitter chocolate, nice roast, and some anise and booze in the back. I'm also picking up on some hints of coffee, and some molasses...usual suspects. 

This is super thick and oily. We're talking milkshake thick. This is a full-bodied beer, with excellent palate depth, and big complexity. This has light carbonation, and has a sticky/sugary/oily finish. At 11.5% ABV, this is surprisingly drinkable, but this is definitely more of a sipper. Maybe share a bomber with a friend? Up front is coffee, roast, chocolate, dark fruits; this rolls into dark fruits, anise, chocolate, big roast, bitter chocolates, and hints of soy; the back end is soy, roast, mushroom, lingering coffee, and fade to sticky, bitter, and dry...boozy complexity throughout.

Rating: Above-Average

I gotta go with a Lite Above-Average on this. I'm really enjoying this, and unlike the Night Stalker, I think all the right pieces fell into place here. For a beer brewed with cacao, this is surprisingly balanced and complex (and boozy in the right way). Unlike say...a Southern Tier offering...this is more subtle, and has a lot going on. The umami thing is great. I'm getting mushrooms, soy sauce...I would pair this beer with an aggressive burger with an aggressive cheese, steak and mushrooms, salty pretzels dipped in chocolate, or a cigar with woody flavors. Considering that bombers of this beer cost around 10 dollars, this is a steal. I don't know if I would age this...drink this one fresh, camp on the Night Stalker. 

Random Thought: I have an Untappd account now, bitches. Finally, my stream of consciousness...bigger than ma bank roll: https://untappd.com/user/adhdjon