This is my review of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout.

Barrels are one of oldest inventions in use today.  Herodotus is credited with the earliest written account over the use of barrels to transport wine, during the 5th century BC (or BCE if you are so inclined). The barrel itself may have origins further into antiquity due to evidence the Egyptians used buckets with slats held together by a metal ring dating to 2690 BCE.  There isn’t much of a jump between a bucket’s design and a barrel, simply build your bucket higher, curve the slats, add another ring and give it a lid.  Your bucket is now a barrel.

It is difficult to say who built it first.  Some believe an iron age civilization such as the Celts or the Vikings.  Others credit the Romans, who previously transported wine in clay jugs.  The word for the tradesman, Cooper, after all comes from the Latin word Cupa, which means cask.  And of course there is always this theory…

Whoever it was, modern tools and processes aside, this is an invention that has remained virtually unchanged for centuries. 

Falling further down the rabbit hole, gun barrels were initially built in a similar fashion.  Due to the medieval guild system, where tradesman rarely worked with others outside the guild, lest they learn the trade secrets, coopers were consulted to build barrels for hand cannons.  The earliest design was constructed by slabs of metal arranged in a cylinder with metal collars welded around the cylinder for strength.  Later designs where a cylindrical blank was bored out, followed by rifling to cut into the bore was developed when the tools, techniques and metallurgy allowed for the modern design.  This is why gun barrels are called barrels.

This is no ordinary stout.  It is aged in a bourbon barrel that otherwise would spend the next 30 years in Scotland turning whisky into something that smells like burnt leather boots. This is a 14.5% abv beast that has a high enough alcohol content and is complex enough that a disciplined drinker can age this similar to wine for up to 5 years–per the instructions on the bottle.  The bottle itself is well done.  Instead of settling on the standard bomber, they opted to have their own fashioned with their name permanently embossed in the bottle.  This tells me no corner was cut, no expense was spared in crafting this…and I slammed it down with a beer bong!

Like a champ

No, not really.  They call for a brandy snifter but the one I have is sized to hold an ounce of liquor so I called the trusty chalice out of the bullpen.  The beer pours like used 10w30.  Its nose reminds me of fresh cut wood, whiskey, fruitcake and chocolate.  You are greeted with an intense rush of sweet bourbon and finishes with like a smooth imperial stout.  It’s really difficult to describe it, so you have to try one of these yourself.  It is crafted in the manner of old where a craftsman, expert in his trade, puts everything he has into every project and gives his customer the best quality work possible.  It’s a limited release for 2017 so I bought another the following morning to keep in my liquor cabinet.  It costs $10 now, but if you find it later….Goose Island Bourbon County Stout 4.9/5.