Goose Island The Muddy Imperial Stout

Brewed By: Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2014 (bottled on 28AUG14 aka 8/28/14)

Style/ABV: Imperial Stout, 9.0% 

Reported IBUs: 32

I'm really happy to take a break to review a beer...I've been busy. This should be a good one though. 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 Muddy is a brand new beer that Goose Island just rolled out. The bottle reads: "Amplified sweetness with licorice notes." This one is part of Goose Island's classic ales imperial series, and will be made nationally available in September. This one is brewed with molasses, brewer's licorice, and Belgian dark rock candi sugar, for that intense diabeetus sweetness inspired by dead Chicago blues artists. The hops include Nugget, Mt. Hood, and EKG; malts include 2-Row, C-40, C-120, Dark Chocolate, and Midnight Wheat.

Goose Island The Muddy Imperial Stout

I realize in advance that Bourbon County and Bourbon County's base beer is the beer that everyone is going to hold The Muddy to. I think that is fair to some extent. I think it is also worth pointing out that Goose Island's other Stouts -- namely Big John and Night Stalker -- aren't even in the same country that houses the realm that Bourbon County resides in. Having said that, The Muddy pours out into a respectable dark brown body. This isn't an opaque, black affair. The beer does yield two fingers of lightly tan-brown head, and there is good retention, lacing, and alcohol legs. It doesn't matter though, because unlike online dating, looks really don't matter.

On the aroma: things that smell like stuff. This is actually surprisingly complex. Actually, it's not surprising because look at that grocery list of ingredients. I'm getting a lot of meaty roast, chocolate, and dark Belgian candy sugars on the nose. The candy sugar sort of melds into melted Hershey bars...yeah it is that kind of sweet affair. There is some cocoa and cream in here, and maybe a little faint anise. Swirling the beer also reveals some hints of dark fruits, namely raisins. This smells incredibly sweet, but there is good depth of aroma. 

At cooler temps, this dials up big roast, iced coffee, and anise/candy sugar. The candy sugar is probably what is adding the raisins, dark fruits, and honest-to-Sagan, grape drink notes. It has a Kahlua character that I can't shake, and I really want to add some vodka and cream to this for that authentic White Russian experience. I'm going to shower so I'll come back in 20 minutes and hopefully this will have warmed up. Alright...I'm back. This actually does unravel some nuances as it warms. I'm getting less fruity candy sugar and more toffee, burnt sugars, caramel, and some alcohol to boot. The molasses really start to come out, and the whole thing is backed by this ghostly melted Hershey bar note. It's incredibly sweet, but to Goose Island's credit, it is also incredibly layered and complex.

Like I said, this is aggressively sweet...and with this style, that's OKAY. This is full-bodied and dense with lazy carbonation and big sweetness...it feels a bit boozy. Honestly, it feels just right at 9.0%. Palate depth is on the thinner and lighter side for the style, but the complexity is really dialed up. All this beer is missing is a barrel. Not even a spirit barrel...just a barrel. I think aging this beer in a barrel would add that extra layer of flavor that would really push it into that divine territory of brews. Up front: dark fruits, raisins, sweet molasses, anise; the mids roll into big Kahlua, iced coffee, toffee, and alcohol; the back end features lingering anise/fruits, with melted Hershey bars sweetness, and some booze. The finish is quite sweet and sticky.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Decent Above-Average on this. I think this is a very good, complex beer...that is maybe too sweet. But this is also a 9.0% Imperial Stout, so being too sweet isn't exactly a problem. I think the beer could maybe be a little bigger, but I dunno. It's still a fantastic Imperial Stout, and I'm excited to buy more of this on the regular and to age for a bit. I hope they take my advice and throw some of this in a barrel. Food pairings here: chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.

Random Thought: I have a handful of beers I need to review, so hopefully I can power through a few within the next two days.