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.

Deschutes The Abyss (2013 Reserve)

Brewed By: Deschutes Brewing Company in Bend, Oregon

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at Binny's in Urbana, IL; 2013 ("Best after 08/16/14")

Style/ABV: Barrel-Aged Russian Imperial Stout, 11.0%
Reported IBUs: 86

Last night's Fresh Squeezed IPA was definitely a primer for tonight's beer. About Deschutes:

The Deschutes Brewing Company was founded by Gary Fish on June 27th, 1988, when they opened the doors to their Bond Street Public House pub. The brewery has since expanded, growing to be one of the top craft beer producers in America. The brewery also operates a pub in Portland, and has a dedicated brewing facility overlooking the Deschutes river. For more information, check out the brewery's website; their Facebook page; their Twitter; or Wikipedia. 

The Abyss really needs no introduction at this point. This epic Imperial Stout has been around since 2006? I think 2006. This one is brewed with all sorts of ingredients, and features a blend of three barrel-aged additions. The bottle reads: "The Abyss: malt beverage brewed with black strap molasses, licorice, with cherry bark and vanilla added with 6% aged in oak bourbon barrels, 11% aged in oak barrels, and 11% aged in oak wine barrels."  As suggested by the "Best after" date, this one will and can be aged...but I'm impatient and I think this vintage is doing alright fresh.

Deschutes The Abyss (2013 Reserve)

This beer lives up to its name, of course. It pours into a pitch black, opaque body, and produces three fingers of DARK BROWN, mocha-colored head. The head is thick and dense, like a root beer float, leaving massive webs of lacing as it drops off, and sustaining nicely for an 11.0% barrel-aged beer. Glossy alcohol legs can be seen trailing off the sides when you swirl the beer -- they lag behind the massive brown strokes of lacing that also coat the glass. Good stuff, yo.

This is fantastically complex in terms of the aroma. The first thing that jumps out to me is the massive barrel character that is present, followed by huge woody aromas, and then big cherry wood and cherry bark. It's huge. Beneath the massive barrel/wood character is huge meaty roast and coffee. There's a big coffee aroma on the nose. Also surprising (to me) are the fruity notes on the aroma. I'm not getting a ton of bourbon...but there's a lot of oak and a lot of slightly acidic pinot notes. I'm getting dark fruits, molasses, red wine, chocolate, and roast. You definitely get the licorice on the aroma too. The licorice plays off the molasses, acidic espresso, and pinot barrel. Just fantastic.

Wow...this is just blissful. Like I said, I think this 2013 Vintage is drinking just fine now, but it will definitely age gracefully. What do you taste? Well, a lot of stuff. The back end features layers of intense roast, coffee, chocolate, and lingering wood tannin; gripping barrel character, and some big bitterness towards the back. There's big cherries and licorice up front, with some woody notes, and the mid-palate hits a brief citrus-hop note and then pudwhacks your palate with coffee and subtle vanilla bean and anise. The cherry/raisin/molasses note is blissfully in your face up front, giving way to massive barrel goodness. I'm getting a lot of wood tannin and oak in here...with more pinot than bourbon. There are definitely shades of bourbon in the taste, but nothing jumping out at me. I probably wouldn't peg the bourbon in a blind tasting.

If you like aggressive, woody Russian Imperial Stouts with huge barrel character...this is your beer. But it's still reasonable at 11.0% and 86 IBUs. Maybe at one time that was on the high end of extreme, but these days, that's like, "okay, an American-style RIS." It's still a bad-ass beer though. The mouthfeel is full-bodied, with creamy, acidic, well-carbonated beer up front. That rolls into a hoppy midsection, which is almost juicy, and then the back end dials up the wood tannin, roast, dark grain, and dry finish. Palate depth is awesome, with great duration, and this beer is super complex. This beer embraces each barrel and ingredient, and unravels in layers. And it's drinkable (says the alcoholic). Palate progression? Up front, molasses, licorice, cherry, barrel/wood; the middle hits a hop note, citrus, wood, coffee, espresso, acidic pinot character, barrel, anise, chocolate/vanilla; the back end starts off with huge espresso/coffee, dials up the roast and dark grains, and finishes dry and sticky. 

Rating: Divine Brew (5.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew on this...I'm not going to bullshit with the 4.5. I'm always looking to give a critical rating to over hyped beers, but this one meets expectations and then some. It's all in the barrel character. This beer has massive barrel notes in the aroma and taste, and it makes the beer an absolute treat to drink. This one is dry, with lots of wood tannin, and aggressive bitterness. For those reasons, I wouldn't recommend this beer to newer beer drinkers. Those qualities also mean this beer will pair well with spicy foods...maybe chipotle dark chocolate, dry habanero wings, chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream, or maybe a mole sauce. Recommended if you find it, even at jacked up prices.

Random Thought: The wax on this one was a PITA. I ended up scratching my finger trying to get the bottle open.