Beer Spotlight!

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout Variants

In 1995 (most likely), Goose Island Brewing Company, already seven years old (16 years before they were acquired by AB InBev), introduced in its taproom an imperial stout that they had aged in used Jim Beam bourbon barrels. That brew was the Bourbon County Stout, the first, legend has it, U.S. commercially offered bourbon barrel-aged stout ever to grace public glasses. All hail Goose Island.

Today, the Bourbon County Stout still sees an annual fall release, but it is also joined by a handful of variants — some rebrews, some new. We have two of the 2022 variants in the shop. If you’re up for big, rich beers, these are well worth your time.

Goose Island Bourbon County Coffee Stout

$23.99 for the 16.9oz bottle
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Coffee Stout

Last released in 2017, the Bourbon County Coffee Stout pulls its java from Chicago’s Intelligentsia Coffee, specifically their Turihamwe blend from Burundi, and it is an intense pull! There’s so much good going on in this brew. There’s the richness and smoothness of the stout, the creaminess and vanilla notes from the barrel plus the bite of the bourbon, all of it enveloped by the dark bitterness of the coffee. However, it’s not an unpleasant bitterness because it blends so well. The whole package is very rich but not sweet and is so, so complex. Not a chuggable experience, this coffee stout is an explosion of flavors that demands your attention.

Goose Island Bourbon County Sir Isaac’s Stout

$23.99 for the 16.9oz bottle
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stout with Figs and Graham Crackers

Sir Isaac — as in Newton. Newton — as in figs. The idea for this stout was born when one member of Goose Island’s e-commerce team shared, with her co-worker, her childhood memories of stealing figs from her grandmother’s cookie jar. One imperial stout, some graham crackers, and 10,000 pounds of Black Mission figs later, we have a new Bourbon County variant. As you can imagine, the figs take prominence, rising above the other flavors like a sweet, fruity whale breaching in the stout-dark ocean. However, the fig totally fits with the other flavors. It’s one of those ideas you hear about and think, “wacky,” and then you taste and you think, “inspired.”