The Goose Island Barrel Warehouse, Humboldt Park, Chicago
Goose Island’s Four Star Pils was the reception beer as we entered the largest warehouse for barrel aged beer that Chicago has ever seen. We are talking over 120,000 square feet dedicated to bringing you the one of the most important beers in American history – Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout.
By now, you know the story; BCS was first brewed in 1992, it’s been bottled annually since 1996. In 2015 there will be five variants (including a barleywine) that will appear on Black Friday.
We got together recently with the good folks at the Goose Island Beer Company for a peek at what you can expect next month. The event included brewers and the marketing crew, part of whom were responsible for the amazing 52-minute documentary, Grit & Grain, The Story of Bourbon County Brand Stout.
For me the jewel of the lineup is Bourbon County Rare. You can draw your own conclusions; I personally got excited about Rare and BCS Coffee (infused w Intelligentsia Los Delirios)
Grit & Grain: The Story of Bourbon County Stout
Here’s the complete 2015 Roster
Bourbon County Stout– The OG. The standard by which barrel aged stout excellence is measured.
Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout – Infused with cold pressed Nicaraguan Los Delirios coffee from Chicago based roasters Intelligentsia.
Bourbon County Brand Barleywine– English-style barleywine that uses a blend of second-use Bourbon County Stout barrels and new American oak barrels.
Bourbon County Brand Regal Rye Stout– 20 lbs of Luxardo candied cherries and fresh sour cherries added to each barrel. Regal is aged in rye whiskey barrels with sea salt added for good measure.
Proprietor’s Bourbon County Stout– This is year three of Prop. It’s a Chicago- only release that features bourbon aged maple syrup, toasted pecans and guajillo peppers.
Rare Bourbon County Brand Stout. 200 Heaven Hill Barrels filled with bourbon in 1979 emptied in 2013 to age Bourbon County Stout for 2 years.
2015 Rare & Prop are boxed and ribbed for your pleasure
Brewers separated guests into groups of four to discuss the 2015 lineup. We filled a Vintage Ale Chalice with the original, then each variant in a 6 oz. taster glass.
Brewer Di Rodriguez encouraged us to sip the OG between each sip of the variants. When Di speaks, we shut up and drink (and eat chocolate). Her recipe of BCS- bourbon aged maple syrup, toasted pecans and guajillo peppers was chosen as the Proprietors blend this year. Di started her journey as a member of the DryHop Brewers crew. Her take Bourbon County is the only one exclusively available in Chicago.
New bottle format courtesy of VSA Partners
Coffee’s label has been changed from red last year to orange this year
Rare
The sweet, spicy goodness of Prop. Chicago only
In 2015, you will see Black Friday celebrated with a 20 –city rollout, up from 8 cities in 2014. For Bourbon County Rare the team acquired 200 of the 35-year Heaven Hill casks for aging.
Unlike year’s past, the brewery has decided this year to throw an event at the Barrel Warehouse to celebrate the annual Bourbon County Stout releases.
Rare Day will feature live performances from Chicago’s own Black Oil Brothers, they are the band featured in the BCS documentary. This party, scheduled for November 13th, will give nerds the opportunity to purchase 3 bottles of Bourbon County Rare weeks before its release date.
–Nkosi
Have you seen/heard any breakdown of how many barrels were used for the OG and each variant? I’ve seen 4,500 barrels total and 200 for rare, but no individual numbers for OG, Barleywine, Coffee, Prop, and Regal Rye.
we know for sure that there were 200 of the 35yr Heaven Hill barrels for BCS Rare. Good question, we’ll find out for you in a week or so
nkosio, were you ever able to figure out production numbers?
Also, how many bottles of Rare were made from the 200 barrels?