Goose Island finalizes Bourbon County Stout Lineup

gooseThe following article comes courtesy of Chicago Tribune writer Josh Noel. Another Black Friday release should see beer lovers hitting the liquor stores early! Cheers!

Goose Island has finalized its roster of 2014 releases in its vaunted Bourbon County Stout series, all of which will be released, as usual, on Black Friday. This year that lands on Nov. 28.

Beergraphs.com lists seven of the world’s top 20 beers as from the Bourbon County Stout series. The rankings may be due for a shakeup.

Here’s Goose Island’s lineup:
 
Bourbon County Brand Stout: Same recipe has always, this bourbon barrel-aged stout will be available nationally in four-packs.
 
Proprietors: The second annual release under the Proprietor’s Bourbon County Brand Stout will feature panela sugar that’s made into a syrup with coconut water, Cassia bark (which is essentially cinnamon) and cocoa nibs. (Last year’s version, a stout aged in rye whiskey barrels with toasted coconut, might have been the brewery’s best release of 2013.) Available only in Chicago, in 22-ounce bottles.
 
Vanilla Rye: Goose’s previous stab at a Vanilla Bourbon County Stout beer, in 2010, remains one of the brewery’s most-lauded beers ever. A return seemed inevitable, and here it is — sort of.

This incarnation is aged in rye whiskey, instead of bourbon, barrels. Goose is using barrels from four different distilleries, then blending the results before bottling. Each rye barrel is aging with two pounds of vanilla beans from Mexico and Madagascar. There will be limited nationwide availability in 22-ounce bottles.
 
Coffee: An annual staple, but with a different coffee infusion every year, the 2014 incarnation features Rwandan coffee from Intelligentsia. Available in four-packs nationally.

Barleywine: This beer debuted last year and will be similar to the original, featuring “third use” barrels — former Kentucky bourbon barrels that later housed Bourbon County Stout before hosting the barelywine. Available in four-packs of 12-ounce bottles.

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