Goose Island Backyard Rye Bourbon County Stout (2013)

Brewed By: Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois

Purchased: 22oz bottle from the Sheridan 'L' Longue in Chicago, IL; 2014 (bottled on 20NOV13 aka 11/20/13, #1004)

Style/ABV: Barrel-Aged American Stout, 12.7% 

Reported IBUs: 60

Something something I did this with my French Press/Randall Jr for way cheaper, but he who ticks is an idiot...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, 2013, 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. 

The Backyard Rye was a limited release variation of Bourbon County that came out during the 2013 release of BCBS. This beer is brewed with mulberries, marionberries, and boysenberries; and, unlike regular Bourbon County Stout, is aged in a rye whiskey barrel. Punching in at 60 IBUs, this one has a slightly lower ABV at 12.7%, most likely due to some of the alcohol being lost in the berries that the beer ages on. This one features all the usual Bourbon County malts and hops (Willamette hops; 2-Row, Munich, Chocolate, Caramel, Roast Barley, and Debittered Black malts). Let's glass this up and see if this was worth the premium price many months later.

Goose Island Backyard Rye Bourbon County Stout (2013 Vintage)

This one pours out like your typical Bourbon County affair, only the finger of mocha-brown head quickly fizzles out. The body is opaque black, if not slightly lighter than the base Bourbon County, with shades of cola-brown. There's not much in the way of head retention, but glossy alcohol legs coat the glass. It's kind of uneventful in the presentation, but at the end of the day presentation doesn't matter that much. 

This has a rich chocolate aroma, with notes that include raspberry truffles, deep chocolate truffles, cocoa, and brownies in the pan. The berries compliment the base beer in a completely unique way, bringing out the beer's roasted character, as well as bringing out some fruity caramel sugars. I'm getting some raisins in here, along with an array of berry notes. The berry notes are sweet and sugary, and flirt with molasses and complex caramel sugars. The whole nose is tied together with that bourbon/whiskey backing, with big rye barrel standing out on the nose. This is definitely a bourbon-barrel aged stout, but there's a lot more going on under the hood than just your typical roasty RIS in a barrel. As this warms up a bit, jammy fruits really start to emerge.

As far as how this tastes...first off, much like the Proprietor's, the use of the rye barrel really changes the dynamic of this beer compared to the base beer. The rye barrel and rye whiskey plays off the berries, giving this a jammy and earthy taste. I'm getting a lot of rye spice, alcohol heat, and then big jammy berries. The berry notes include your typical raspberry, blackberry, mulberry, boysenberry...and what the hell is a marionberry? I can't say I have ever had one of those. Oh: I guess I have had a marionberry. TIL marionberries are blackberries. THANKS, OBAMA. Anyway, the berries really play off the whiskey in here. I'm getting big chocolate and raspberry truffles up front, with lots of chocolate and caramel notes in the back. This detours into a raisin-whiskey note for a minute, with lots of berry-whiskey-alcohol notes that are super sweet. Complex caramel sugars emerge from the fray. The finish somehow rolls back into berry la-la land with a slightly tart, berry-like finish.

Fruit-infused Stouts are like anal sex. Some people love them, and some people have no interest in taking 6" of hard man meat up the poop-shoot. As far as fruit-infused Stouts go, I can think of very few ceilings higher than Bourbon County. The Bourbon County base is incredibly complex, and adding fruit to the mix really brings out some specific nuances you might have to really search for otherwise. First off: at 12.7% I find this to be quite drinkable. Having said that, this beer is boozy and seductive. There is some alcohol heat in this beer, and the fruit accentuates the whiskey-raisin booze. This is full-bodied, sugary-sweet stuff. Palate depth is divine and complexity isn't far behind either. I mean, all things aside, the base beer is one of the best beers in the world. As far as how this one progresses...up front it's all about the chocolate, berries, and raspberry truffles; the mids roll into that whiskey barrel, with raisin-berry-whiskey booze, tons of rye spice, jammy berries, and more chocolate/cocoa/truffles; the back end trails with whiskey, raisins, and berries, and drops some nice alcohol heat, rye spice, barrel, and warming booze. The finish is berries and alcohol. This is really delicious, and well-executed.

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Divine Brew on this. This is about on par with the Proprietor's. I'm a little surprised to be saying that, but yeah. Both the Proprietor's and the Backyard Rye bring out certain nuances that you can find in the base beer if you look hard enough. The Proprietor's brings out the nutty notes, and big coconut and pie character that you can find in the base beer. The Backyard Rye brings out big sugar/caramel notes, along with tons of whiskey-raisin, and jammy berry notes. Again...this is fantastically executed, and should be paired with nothing but your snifter and some time. Maybe some fruity dessert...I dunno. 

Random Thought: Is this beer worth more than $20 a bottle? That I do not know. Then again, I'm surprised to even have stumbled upon this beer. I sincerely thought I would never get to tick this beer, and I was okay with that. 

The rye barrel and expert craftsmanship from Goose Island is beyond your Randall/French Press, but you can get close to reproducing this beer by taking some raspberries and blackberries, and putting some regular Bourbon County Stout in the mix. Let that thing sit for an hour, and BAM. You have something very similar to this beer, without the crazy trade or expense. I do recommend trying that out.