Goose Island Rare Bourbon County Stout

Rare Bourbon County Stout
Goose Island Beer Co.
Chicago, IL
13.00% ABV
Style: Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

C: Black
H: To Dark To Tell
N: Hello Bourbon....nose is filled with the booze, sweet chocolate malts, hints of roast and vanilla

The Ferm: First and foremost BIGGGG THANKS to Master Brewer Abbott for sharing this beer with myself and several other people Monday Night. Once again the "beer family" in South Florida always surprises me with their generosity. I personally would have contemplated sitting in a dark room alone with this bottle and drinking 100% of it alone....well maybe not. I am sort-a afraid of the dark after all. Regardless, Thank You!
I was very much so looking forward to this beer since I found out that Goose Island would be releasing it only once, and the base beer is my all time favorite stout. Barrel Aged for 2 Years this thing has to be good....RIGHT?!?
And Good it was! Great....maybe, but for sure DAMN GOOD. Tons of Bourbon in the flavor...but it is not that "hot". The beer is perfectly balanced flavor wise with strong notes of the barrel treatment leading to hints of dark chocolate, vanilla, and coffee. Daily Drinker....if you were a millionaire and did not care about calories....FOR SURE. The beer was faintly carbonated which was nice...as too much carbonation would have ruined the experience.
So is this better than that bottle of 2008 Bourbon County Stout which was opened and reviewed not too long ago? No....but it is damn close. I would love to be able to snag a bottle or two of this and age it for a bit...I have a feeling this will turn out to be one of the best imperial stouts to date with age on it.

Score: 4.89999

2008 Bourbon County Brand Stout

Bourbon County Brand Stout - 2008
Goose Island Beer Co.
Chicago, IL
13.00% ABV
Style: American Double / Imperial Stout

C: Clarity? Really? This is motor-oil!
H: BLACK As Night
N: Boozey & Bourbon

The Ferm: Alright I have to say after the Dark Lord vertical that was done back in December, I am gun shy about aging beers that I really like. This was a bottle I was sitting on but since I had two of them I decided to open on up to see how it is maturing.
HOLY JESUS! This beer is still as boozey as I remember it being fresh. It has mellowed out just a bit in the past few years but it still has a bit of a bite to it. Good? NO! GREAT!
Once of my favorite stouts just got better with time. There is a lot of vanilla, bourbon, and sweet malt. Hints of dark chocolate dance on the palate as well.
I can not wait to crack open the vertical of this that I am sitting on (currently 07-10).

Score: 5.00 (this beer is perfect!)

Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout

Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout
Goose Island Beer Co.
Chicago, IL
13.00% ABV
Style: American Double / Imperial Stout

C: Way to dark to tell
H: BLACK
N: Boozey, Bourbon, Vanilla, Dark Chocolate

Miguel: Before the day of having this I would be one of the first people to admit that I was never impressed by Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout. I've tried it a number of times and it just seemed like nothing special to me. I guess my general dislike for bourbon aged beers can contribute to that but when the Ferm offered to try some of the Vanilla version I wasn't going to say no. Also earlier in the day we had a 2008 bottle of the normal Bourbon County Stout and I must say that it was so much better with age than the new ones I've sampled before. But anyway onto the Vanilla version. The nose is mostly sweet bourbon and cherries. I get a little brown sugar smell too but no real vanilla. The taste brings forward a slight vanilla taste but nothing huge. Probably will come forward more with age. A lot of the same tastes as the smell in there too. It has an extremely warming feel to it. All my innerds felts like they were sitting by a fire on a winter evening. A very good beer but a slight bit let down with the minimal vanilla taste.
Score: 4.4925

The Ferm: Wow this is quite crazy...I am sampling this beer next to a 2008 Bourbon County Stout. The Vanilla is extremely hot (boozey). There is a good amount of vanilla up front with a strong lingering vanilla flavor in your mouth. I must make it known that I love the base beer with a passion, and the treatments have been stellar so far (check previous reviews). BCBVS is not as good as the Coffee or the standard BCBS, but it is a different beer. It holds its own in the family though. Very solid beer!
Score: 4.712

Wadesda #1

Wadesda #1
Brasserie De La Senne / De Zenne Brouwerij
Belgium
8.50% ABV
Style: American Wild Ale

C: Cloudy
H: Dark Yellow
N: Sweet and Sour, with a little funk

The Ferm: Hats off to The Cerveza Chica for picking this treat up for me while on her "girls" trip to Chicago. The gentleman at Binny's more than likely did not expect to run into a young lady that knew so much about beer and what her husband has had/not had.
Little information was found about this when she brought it back from the trip. I was able to find out that Shelton Brothers only imported a limited amount of bottles into the United States, and that it was a collaboration beer using a Cantillon yeast strain.
On to the beer: Wont lie but the nose of the beer made the mouth water! Hints of lemon and sweet tarts danced in my head. The attack of the first taste was interesting....straight sour, which followed with a smooth sweet finish. Similar to a lemonade if I must compare. Wadesda #1 had a wonderful body that was smooth for being sour upfront. Unlike most other sours that the acidic flavor lingers, this beer transitioned well into a sweeter flavor which hung around longer than the tartness.
Good pick up Cerveza Chica!

Score: 4.42