Goose Island Rare Bourbon County Stout (365 Day 31)

By scot in 365 Days of American Craft Beer on Saturday, January 1st, 2011

Goose Island Rare Bourbon County Stout

Rare Bourbon County Stout by Goose Island is the last in the line of Bourbon County releases this year. It is also, by far, the most anticipated and talk about release of the four (normal, coffee, vanilla, and rare).

There are several reasons why this American craft beer is on everyone’s radar (maybe not to buy, but just out of curiosity, at least):

• This is the base beer of Bourbon County Stout aged in 23-year old Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Barrels for 2-years.
• Speculation on the cost of the bottles ranged from over $80 to the eventual cost of $42.99 for a 22 ounce bottle. Almost $2.00 per ounce.
• 12,000 bottles (or so) were produced.
• How much better could this huge stout get after being aged in these rare bourbon barrels?

Shared this with my wife and Rich on New Year’s Eve and it was the perfect beer to start the evening. Wow, this beer is damn near perfect in all ways. Definitely one to be savored and shared with friends. I think I could have easily rated this one a perfect 10, but I don’t like saying a beer is perfect, especially since I haven’t tried them all to compare. Recently had Black Tuesday, finding that beer to be in the stratosphere, I really believe that Rare is in the team photo.

The beer is huge in complexities and, quite possibly, almost worth the price. I wouldn’t tell you to go broke if you can’t afford it, but pitch in and share with friends. You will all cherish the occasion. A thought to ponder: based on the smoothness of this beer currently, what will aging really do to this beer as it is drinking fantastic right now? This could be the perfect time to drink it. Enjoy!

Aroma: 10, Taste: 10, Look: 9, Drinkability: 10, Overall: 9.9

Useless Fact: While in Alcatraz, Al Capone was inmate #85.