Bourbon County Beers That May (Or May Not) Happen This Year

Whatever you might think about Goose Island which was acquired by Anheuser-Busch in 2011, their annual Bourbon County beer release every fall still matters to many. And we’ve a number of possible 2018 offerings that may or may not happen…

To be ready for the annual release labels Goose Island has to submit labels their labels for approval by to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). And the public can search the bureau’s database for advance notice as to what a brewery is hoping to release.

And as Josh Noel quite correctly explains for the Chicago Tribune, not every TTB submission becomes a final Black Friday release,  some beers don’t turn out as hoped and are abandoned.

In 2017 the Chicago-based brewery declined to release a planned Bourbon County Reserve Barleywine variation that had been aged for 20 months in 35-year-old Heaven Hill barrels due to concerns that it hadn’t developed as hoped.

But according to My Beer Buzz, an entertaining website that monitors the TTB constantly, here are Bourbon County Brand Releases that they are at least for now planning to release this year, the day after Thanksgiving…

• Bourbon County Brand Stout
• Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout, aged in bourbon barrels with Intelligentsia dark roast coffee beans
• Reserve Bourbon County Brand Stout, aged in 12-year-old Elijah Craig bourbon barrels
• Bourbon County Brand Neapolitan Stout, aged in bourbon barrels and blended with strawberry puree, chocolate, vanilla and lactose
• Proprietors Bourbon County Brand Stout, aged in bourbon barrels with cocoa nibs and chocolate added
• Bourbon County Brand Bramble Rye Stout, aged in rye whiskey barrels and blended with raspberries and blackberries
• Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout, aged in bourbon barrels with vanilla beans
• Bourbon County Brand Horchata Stout, aged in bourbon barrels and flavored with Ceylon cinnamon, vanilla and lactose
• Bourbon County Brand Wheatwine, aged in bourbon barrels

Considered the first commercial stout to be aged in bourbon barrels, a practice that brewers around the world have adopted since Goose Island debuted the now legendary stout in 1995.

Goose Island will also continue their Proprietors Bourbon County Stout tradition in 2018 – a beer that is only available in Chicagoland and as a result has become one of the most world’s most collectable beers.

 

All image credts: Goose Island Beer