Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout 2014

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 08/28/2014)

Style/ABV: Barrel-Aged American Stout, 13.8% 

Reported IBUs: 60

I've been all up on the 2014 variants of Bourbon County, including the vanilla, prop, and coffee, so it is high time I review the 2014 base beer. 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 2014 Bourbon County Stout punches in at 13.8% ABV, 60 IBUs, and is brewed with 2-Row, Munich, Chocolate, Caramel, Roast Barley, and Debittered Black malts; Willamette hops; and is aged in bourbon barrels. 

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout 2014

If you are unfamiliar with how Bourbon County looks, do yourself a favor and skip the descriptors on sites like BA. All you really need is this formula: [synonym for black] body + [synonym for opaque] + [synonym for brown-colored head] + [comment about alcohol legs]. Like many barrel-aged beers, this one also has pour head retention. It's a barrel-aged stout. Ceasaronis abide. 

The 2014 vintage is a departure from previous year's, with pronounced fruity notes immediately noticeable on the aroma. It smells very much like a stripped down Backyard Rye in some respects, with notes of raspberry, cherry, boysenberry, blackberry, and even some faint raisin. The fruity notes don't offset the fat, usual, Bourbon County aromas; you still get tons of fudge, fat bourbon sweetness, chocolate, brownie, coconut, and macaroons. There's a good amount of turbinado sugar in here as well, with some brown sugar. It's very much a layered and complex aroma, and it's very much a layered and complex beer.

The taste is very much a mirror of the aroma, with intensely fruity, booze soaked notes on the outset. The beer hits you up with tons of barrel, raspberry/boysenberry/blackberry fruit up front, and then dips into the bourbon, chocolate, fudge, and sugary sweetness we've all come to love from Bourbon County. The back end lingers with sticky-sweet sugars, fruits, barrel, some complex roast, and then finishes surprisingly dry. 

This is uber complex, and the 2014 vintage's fruity notes are an enjoyable addition. Palate depth is great, the beer has insane duration, and this is a full-bodied beer. You feel the weight of the 13.8%, and this is definitely a sipper. I'm not going to run through the front-end, mids, and back-end, but this is intensely fruity up front, features a lot of bourbon sweetness and chocolate/fudge/macaroons in the mids, and rolls out more fruits, alcohol, and nice dryness in the back. This is just insanely complex this year with the additional layer of the fruits...and while I have really enjoyed previous vintages that highlighted the fudge/chocolate/brownie/coconut/macaroon aspect of this beer, I think the fruity notes are equally appreciable and will make this an interesting beer to age down the stretch. 

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Decent Divine Brew on this. I can't really say if this is the best vintage of Bourbon County, because I think a lot of that comes down to individual preference. What I will say is I really appreciate the fruity layers, and I am curious to see if they hold up with age. This is the type of beer you can age...but it is drinking great fresh. You can pair this with ice cream, a cigar, dry cakes, a raunchy burger, or just snifter it and think about it. I also have some Randall plans for this vintage. Mmm. 

Random Thought: Seriously, I'm not looking forward to next year's release.