Bourbon County Cherry Rye

Well, my thirtieth post.  Time for a little celebration.

Hey there good lookin

This here is Goose Island Bourbon County Cherry Rye.  It is made by taking the base beer for the regular Bourbon County Stout and aging it in rye whiskey barrels instead, with cherries thrown in.  The hype for this beer is such that I could not find it at all in Illinois.  My very first trip to a Whole Foods since moving out east though?  Found two bottles right on the shelf.

It sure doesn't look any different from the regular Bourbon County.  I'm convinced you could pour pink dye in this beer and it would still look pitch black and flat.

No matter how hard you pour this beer, you will never get the amount of foam Goose Island wants you to believe you will.

This smells like somebody took a bit of bourbon and blended it with a Neapolitan milkshake made with cherries instead of strawberries.  I mean, wow, it smells smooth and sweet and not like a beer at all.  The underlying stout smell is sort of overwhelmed by wood and whiskey in the standard BCBS; here it is totally obliterated.  I couldn’t positively say that this was aged in rye whiskey barrels if I had this blind, but lots of bourbon has rye in it anyway.   Bottom line, whiskey and oak (vanilla) dominate with cherry following close behind, with beer (chocolate) coming up a distant last.

The flavor follows a similar track as the aroma.  I get cherry upfront and molasses too---well what do you know, there is a stout in here after all.  Whiskey is there too, and now I would say that it tastes more like rye.  I don’t drink enough whiskey to really positively identify one over another, but it tastes different enough that I could say “not bourbon.”  Chocolate is there too; sometimes I wish they would just release the base beer (Cook County Stout) on its own; it’s pretty much a chocolate bomb amongst stouts.  Hops are entirely nonexistent here.  I get some chocolate fudge-like flavor.  This is very tasty.

The way this settles into your mouth after drinking it is the best part of Bourbon County Cherry Rye.  The mixture of vanilla (from the oak) and cherry brings back that cherry milkshake sensation, while a bit of spicy rye and a long mild warmth bring to mind a fine whiskey.  Oh, and to add to that: the texture is very, very smooth.  It is a bit sweet, and the sweetness does get to be a bit much as the beer heats up a bit, but the bite from the whiskey cuts that down a bit.  There is a mild astringency that is probably tannins from the wood, but it doesn’t obstruct anything (it also probably helps keep the sweetness in check).

Well, this wasn’t cheap.  And it was only sold in a single 650ml bottle (a bit smaller than a wine bottle) so make sure you can split it with someone (or two).  But it is a pretty damn awesome beer.  If it was maybe 10%-15% cheaper I would probably buy it again in a heartbeat if I saw it on the shelf.  Unfortunately, beers like this only appreciate in value and by now you would only be able to find it on a trading forum, not the shelf.  Everyone in the Chicagoland area should just be happy Goose keeps doing these one-time variations; if you look for them every release, you’ll eventually be able to find one (and it will probably be about this good, given how spectacular Goose is at barrel aging).

This does make me wish I had found Bramble Rye, though.  I like blackberries….