We Tried And Ranked Every 2024 Goose Island Bourbon County Stout Beer

Ah, autumn traditions: picking apples, carving pumpkins, TPing cranky Old Man Boone's house. But there's one annual November event that has a certain class of consumer more excited than most, and it's the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout lineup. These highly sought-after beers are hard to find, pricier than most, and heavy on the tongue, and everyone who knows about them will tell you: They're totally worth it.

They're the first stouts aged in bourbon barrels, and quite likely the first beers aged in whiskey barrels in modern beermaking, as Goose Island has been releasing its Bourbon County Stout since 1992 — long before the craft craze truly took off and arguably preceding even Samuel Adams at this, although a thin rumor exists of a Scottish brewery that may have beaten Goose Island to it. (It isn't Innis & Gunn, is all I can tell you. The famed Edinburgh brewery made its name on the process but didn't open until 2003.)

You might just find these popping up in odd places like a grocery store with a solid craft selection. I've seen them show up in Stew Leonard's, so East Coasters shouldn't immediately despair if their local package store lets them down. Presumably, that's true throughout the country as well. And if heavy, ultra-malty stouts aren't your thing, don't fret — Goose Island has your hop-loving tongue covered with its Beer Hug lineup. But if stouts are your jam, read on. I've tasted and ranked the entirety of Goose Island's 2024 Bourbon County Stout lineup.

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

A twice-barreled stout graduating from used casks that once housed Bardstown's (itself twice-barreled) Origin Series Rye, and then finishing up in a hybrid cherry/oak-stave barrel, Bardstown Cask Finish Stout tastes like a baking tour of Europe. Cherry chocolate cake and marbled rye come howling like a winter wind out of the bottleneck and then head south to warmer climes with suggestions of Italian biscotti. After its breadiness and almond notes fade, it hands the reins over to the anise flavor of black Twizzlers.

Boy, does it drink heavy ... at first. It's really worth holding on your tongue, and it lightens up swiftly, becoming a palatable — even thin? — sipper that's quite enjoyable and won't wear your tongue down too fast. That's surprising for the most boldly whiskey-ed label in the box, although Original probably has more absorptive credentials.

I might have placed this one a little higher if the fade from the 16% ABV sucker punch to playful slap took a little longer. It feels like Bardstown Cask Finish Stout splits the difference, but on the other hand, you'll get what you came for no matter which side you prefer.

A Chicago exclusive since 2013, Proprietor's changes dramatically every year, and this time, it takes two big steps into full-on barley wine while also pretending it's a spicy margarita. You will believe a stout can approach a cocktail with this sweet and sour mixture of lime, tamarind, and guajillo pepper spice. It's not the first time Proprietor's has turned its tastes toward hot pepper, but it still escalates the endeavor of Goose Island's perennial self-challenge: "What's so far removed from stout as to really show our chops?"

Funny enough, for all that power, Proprietor's Barleywine is one to space out your sips and let it truly flourish on and on after the actual swig, as it diminishes to more subtlety and complexity. Pretty impressive and unexpected, considering that this is the first Proprietor's barley wine.

It's an achievement, though it's not the best Proprietor's I've had. Granted, that's almost apples to oranges given how much this one swerves from previous installments, but it's got tough competition to duke it out with in 2024, anyway.

True to its name, Bourbon County takes you on a tour of Kentucky's biggest names, aged in barrels from Wild Turkey, Four Roses, Heaven Hill, and Buffalo Trace. I struggle every year to figure out why these BCS releases, with their comparatively low ABVs, can be harder to finish than even the lightest bourbon, and I think I've figured it out at last: They're so dang smooth I can drink four times as much without noticing, so I'm actually more at parity than I believe. 

But this bottle? I'm not getting that deep into it before I hit my ceiling, good as it is. I'd believe it if I found out part of Goose Island's process for reaching 14.7% was blending a German chocolate cake up in molasses. I like both of those, as well as the way Original actually tastes like rye without tasting like specifically bread ... something of its own achievement. I get caraway, too, and I'm not saying no to it. But all in all, a little of this is a whole lot, and I find my steepest cliff in this imperial stout.

If you want to know how fierce the competition was this time around, Proprietor's and Original usually vie for the top when I taste these, and this year, the best in my experience, they shuffled around the back half despite being up to snuff with previous years.

Rye continues to rule the day here, comprising 31% of this beer's mash, in the form of three types of rye. Proprietor's never leaves Chicago, except in review samples like your truly's, but Rare is the proprietor's Proprietor's — so exclusive you'll have to go to one of two locations: the brewery taproom or Goose Island's Salt Shed Pub. And you should because, jeez Louise, this 18% ABV stout drinks nicely. Specifically, my notes say "Ooooh," but you get the gist. A year each in two sets of King of Kentucky barrels led to this. Straightforward rye flavor and more black licorice may not be your thing — they're not my first picks in food, but I have to tell you that when it works, it really works, and it works better here than I think you're likely to find anywhere else. 

"It's ridiculously delicious," says Goose Island president Todd Ahsmann, and that's not bragging; it's a beer nerd's passion for a ... well, rare gem. He said if the beer hadn't lived up to the name, the brewers would have quietly drunk it themselves, but it's a triumph whose deep rye nose is joined to the aroma of cacao nibs. It's similar to Original, but tarter and less likely to incur taste bud fatigue.

The usual Prop Day, when Proprietor's Stout is celebrated across the land, has been replaced this year by Rare Day, on November 16, 2024. It's a first-come, first-served chance to buy the allocated package containing this grail.

There's always at least one dessert profile in the Bourbon County Stout annual release, and it actually gets suggested anonymously by folks in the entire company, with their identities released only when the target flavor is selected. It's usually where Goose Island really gets to show off how far it can stride from the typical beer profile and convince you that the company has somehow infused an entire baked good into a bottle. This year, we've got a macaroon — not macaron — stout that uses 13,500 pounds of toasted coconut chips in the 16-month original stout base.

Why so many? Because tree nuts "are very oil-rich, and those flavors can fade rather quickly." says Michael Siegel. In fact, at the time of bottling, the team even overclocks it a smidge so that it settles into the flavor profile they're aiming for by release. "These are ready to go" says Siegel, "the day they're available. There's no need to age them. We've done that for you."

This was the second-to-last beer our virtual tasting group sampled, and the noses just kept getting more and more alluring, peaking here. Perhaps some credit is due to the candied ginger that's in here, too, to get its 14.6% ABV result where it needs to go. "'Adjunct' isn't a dirty word in our brewery," says Siegel, which he compares to painting with flavors; sometimes an outside taste will render the final effect brewers want. Now, uh, how about that macaron stout for 2025?

Look, we all know the collectors are champing at the bit for that Rare. But come here and let my sweet tooth show you the real get for 2024's Bourbon County Stout release. I'm drinking it again right now, and it's like a rainbow from sweet to malty in more than seven shades. You'll catch the rye stout from rye barrels mainly by inhaling its aroma, and from sipping on out, it's so vanilla that's it's fruity, and no, that observation wouldn't have made sense to me either until I tried this.

Goose Island didn't cut corners here, chopping up the entire vanilla bean rather than using extract. "If we only used the inside, you wouldn't be getting that really leathery, almost tobacco-y" flavor, says senior brewmaster Daryl Hoedtke. And he's right. He's so right. More than anything else in this series, Vanilla Rye Stout tastes like a bourbon — a really, really great bourbon. It's marshmallow creamy with graham cracker notes as well, and now I just need to blend it with Rare to make a s'more. I am not sharing it with any of you.

American oak also expresses vanillin, notes Goose Island innovation manager Michael Siegel, and I might just have to go gnaw on a tree trunk if this is what's hiding in there. If you're going to spend double digits on a beer, it ought to be one this damned good. Let those other suckers stand in line while you load up on these for hearty holiday pours with friends.

This is my third year reviewing the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout series, and I'm pretty comfortable comparing memories of glories past with the Chicago brewer's ever more ambitious offerings. In addition, stout is my favorite type of beer, and whiskey is my main beat here at Tasting Table, so I'm able to compare the baselines and differentiating effects of familiar distillations with Goose Island's innovative techniques.

With beers this potent, I sampled them in stages, mindful of the whiskeys' effects on bouquet, taste, chew, finish, and final flourish. Trust me when I say that you're going to enjoy these a lot more in small sips spaced out to let the craft of their production truly reveal itself. Splitting a bottle with friends and passing around some paired snacks is a great way to enjoy these.

And don't be afraid to do as I did and recap them and return them to storage. Less is a lot more with hefty beers like these. Tip: You don't need a capper to do this; if you're careful about opening them gently, you can usually pry the cap back on safely by using a bottle opener in reverse from top down to teeth — well enough to preserve carbonation. Enjoy!