Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stouts return
Some Black Friday procuring objectives are crammed with foam and fermentation.
Each 12 months since 2010, beer lovers have lined up – some even camped out – at beer sellers across the U.S. on the day after Thanksgiving to grab up the Chicago-based Goose Island Beer Co.’s bourbon-barrel aged unique Bourbon County Brand Stout and extra flavored beers.
“As far as we know, it started the whole craze of people enjoying lining up to buy beer,” stated Goose Island president Todd Ahsmann. “Now you can find people lining up pretty much any weekend all over the country for different beer releases, but back then it was really novel.”
Just as traditional stores plan to observe and modify Black Friday crowd circulation stressing on-line procuring and curbside pickup, Goose Island has requested retailers to take security measures to stop any unneeded crowd gatherings in the course of the coronavirus pandemic. Some shops have already held lotteries and others could have particular processes to pre-purchase the beer and have choose instances to choose it up. (Check native retailers.)
Holiday issues:‘Guilt gifting’ is a thing in 2020 as we try to make up for a rough year
Black Friday 2020 retailer hours:When Walmart, Target, Best Buy and others open their doors Friday amid COVID-19
“We are all in this together and ask that you respect social distancing measures put in place and be patient with us and your local retailer or bottle shop,” the brewery stated in a blog post last month. “While the process of purchasing this year’s BCS lineup may be a little different, what’s in the bottle is what it’s all about … and we promise it’ll be worth it.”
Those who’ve gotten an early style of the seven beers being launched Friday say this 12 months’s batch of Bourbon County Stouts is outstanding. “It is one of the best lineups Goose Island has done in a long time,” stated Josh Noel, a beer author on the Chicago Tribune, who surveyed several beer writers about the brews.
What’s the massive deal about Bourbon County Stout, which pour out inky clean and have a boozy richness? “What attracts me is how layered and flavorful it is,” stated Noel, who can also be the creator of “Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out: Goose Island, Anheuser-Busch, and How Craft Beer Became Big Business.” Anheuser-Busch set off a wave of huge beer firm acquisitions of impartial regional breweries by shopping for Goose Island in 2011.
“When one of these beers is at its best there is a lot of interesting stuff going on. You will get oak and bourbon, chocolate and vanilla and coconut and berry and char and tobacco and leather,” Noel stated. “All these really interesting flavors mingled together can just make for an absolutely wonderful beer drinking experience.”
The fundamental beer, Bourbon County Stout (14.3% or 14.6% alcohol by quantity), is aged for at the very least one 12 months in bourbon barrels from distilleries resembling Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill and Wild Turkey. If you’re new to chasing Bourbon County Stout, most counsel shopping for at the very least two bottles – one to drink now and one other to retailer, because it positive aspects taste in extra bottle growing old.
Typically offered for $13 or extra, this stout would be the most available at shops, and it serves as the bottom for 5 different imperial stouts together with Birthday Bourbon County Stout (14.6% ABV), which was aged in Old Forester Birthday Bourbon barrels, and Anniversary Bourbon County Stout (15.2% ABV), aged two years in Weller 12 Year barrels.
Availability of those two beers might be extra restricted, so if you’re a beer and/or whiskey aficionado, you’ll want to snatch these up in case you discover them. Pricing might be increased than the usual Bourbon County; all costs are decided by retailers. And these two earned the highest two spots in Noel’s Chicago Tribune rankings.
Three different beers might be extra broadly accessible: Bourbon County Special #4 Stout (13.3% ABV), an oatmeal stout made with Intelligentsia Coffee beans and bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup, Bourbon County Kentucky Fog Stout (14.1% ABV), made with honey and Earl Grey and Black teas, and the extra opaque Bourbon County Caramella Ale (14.6% ABV), a wheatwine aged in Larceny Wheated Bourbon barrels and enhanced with apple, cinnamon, and pure caramel taste. (Think apple pie.)
Lastly, the Proprietor’s Bourbon County Stout (14.2% ABV), created by Goose Island brewer Emily Kosmal as a tribute to spumoni, is made with pistachios, cacao nibs, candied cherries, and pure vanilla flavors. (This will solely be accessible within the Chicago space.)
If you possibly can’t get ahold of Bourbon County beers, take into consideration supporting native breweries, Noel suggests.
“There is so much excellent barrel-aged stout no matter where you are you can walk into a local beer store and ask for a recommendation on a barrel-aged stout,” he stated, “and the person behind the counter is almost certain to point you to something that is really good.”
Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider.
