Goose Island Has Announced This Year’s Bourbon County Flavors
Attention beer nerds!!! Goose Island has finally let everyone know what special beers you'll be able to buy the day after Thanksgiving.
For those who don't know, Chicago based brewer Goose Island has been releasing special beers brewed in bourbon casks every Black Friday since 2010.
These beers are hot commodities, usually selling out at locations in days if not hours.
I am somewhat of a beer nerd and have had the pleasure of enjoying a handful of these special beers over the years. You usually need to know someone to get a bottle or just get really lucky.
One place in Rockford that I know you can get these from is Cork Keg & Spirits in the Edgebrook Center. I've heard rumors that you can get them other places like Woodman's and Artale's but have not had success in the past.
Here's what you can look forward to drinking the day after Thanksgiving:
- Bourbon County Brand Stout (This is the basic flavor that they have every year and is what all the other flavors begin as)
- Reserve Bourbon County Brand Stout (aged in 12-year-old Elijah Craig Barrel Proof bourbon barrels)
- Proprietor's Bourbon County Brand Stout (blended with dark chocolate and two types of cocoa nibs)
- Bourbon County Brand Wheatwine (replacing usual release Bourbon County Brand Barleywine; wheatwine is barleywine with wheat in the grain bill)
- Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout (aged with vanilla beans; the return of a popular release first made in 2010)
- Bourbon County Brand Bramble Rye Stout (aged in rye whiskey barrels, then gets an addition of raspberry and blackberry juice and puree; another former favorite)
- Bourbon County Brand Coffee Barleywine (debuting this year; an English-style barleywine with Intelligentsia coffee beans from Guatemala)
- Bourbon County Brand Midnight Orange Stout (made with chocolate and orange zest)
I personally am looking most forward to that last one, the Midnight Orange Stout.
If you're unfamiliar to the brand and are looking to try something new or maybe get these as a gift for your favorite beer person (these make GREAT gifts) be warned, they're not giving these away. If I remember correctly, a 4-pack usually costs somewhere around $30.
They're worth it trust me.