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Episode 166 - Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout 2025 Preview
94 Plays1 month ago
This week Brandon, Tony and Matthew discuss the 2025 Goose Island BCBS lineup while sipping through some past Bourbon County Variants.
Check out the full lineup here: https://www.gooseisland.com/bourbon-county-brand-stout
Theme music provided by Myke Kelli (@mykekelli)
Outro music provided by @FluidMinds
Check out all our episodes at www.themaltinghour.com
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Transcript
Introductions
00:00:06
Speaker
Welcome to the Moltinger!
00:00:35
Speaker
Welcome to the Molting Hour. I one hosts, Tony Glick, joined always with... Brandon Winninger. And to his right, my left... Matthew Moltenhauer. What's going on, guys? Not much. You were waiting for me to say, how are you doing, Matthew?
00:00:46
Speaker
You're on enough. We're not doing that anymore. You're just here. You're just a part of this. Oh, yeah. Just ride with it. How are you guys doing? Doing good? Yeah, it's been a long week. Busy week.
Brewery Fest Highlights
00:00:57
Speaker
Did a friend's brewery fest. Rabbit just had their anniversary, so... Yeah, I forgot about it. I wanted to go...
00:01:04
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, it was fun. They make really good sours. Really? I did not know that. They had two of the Gnome series. There was like a key lime, kiwi one. Ooh, that sounds good. And a grape sour. Both were fantastic. Nice. How was the whole fest itself? Was fun,
00:01:22
Speaker
Yeah, it was fun. It's like a 12-hour festival. it They call it like one of the weirdest fests, and they had... like knights in armor fighting. Whoa. Like, they're combat people from Wisconsin and then they had fake wrestling goats. Just because you're from wisconsin doesn't mean you have to throw in that they're fake combat people from Wisconsin. They kept saying it.
00:01:42
Speaker
um And everyone's dressed up in like medieval and fake costumes. Were there jerky legs? No. No. But Ray did make Puerto Rican rice and beans and like pulled pork. That was real good.
00:01:57
Speaker
There's nothing better than Puerto Rican rice and beans. Agreed. Yeah. My sister does it pretty good.
Personal Week Recaps
00:02:03
Speaker
That was a fun fest and drank a lot of NA beers there, too, because it was in Homewood, so I didn't want to take the metro out there. That's a good idea. Driving back and not wanting to do that. Makes sense.
00:02:13
Speaker
Yeah, Tim did not drink NA beers. Oh no, Tim. That's why I rode with you. Or took the Metro. I don't know. Brandon, how about you? how ah we go It's been a while. It's not been that. It's been while. It's only been like what two weeks since we released an episode. yeah We have done a lot since then. We went on our camping trip. Kind of rehashed some of that. but yeah Brandon, how have you been?
00:02:35
Speaker
I'm good. I've... and so it's So it's not a surprise. I'm drinking an NA beer. It's actually my first NA beer that I've had this week. I've literally just been chugging water all week.
00:02:46
Speaker
i Just taking a break from hitting the beer for a while just to kind of get a little reset. His stomach is killing him. Yeah. My stomach was like really messed up. And it was like it was for the majority of this week too, which was really weird. Yeah.
00:03:02
Speaker
I really do think the camping trip kind made it worse. Did you get food poisoning? Did you get this? I'm like, i don't know. She's like, what did you eat? Well, Tony cooked the whole time. Overcooked the steak. Whatever the case was. um But it's actually, it's been good. i And it's funny because normally when I do dry January, I go to bed early, sleep. That part hasn't changed. This whole week, it's been like midnight, I'm falling asleep. I'm like, what the hell? Why can't I sleep? Huh. um and then like up at like six in the morning sometimes four in the morning and i'm like well i'm up and then i'll like sit there and like think i'm gonna go do something and then like or i'm get my day started and i'll sit there for a while then i'll look at my clock and it's like 5 30 and then i'm falling back asleep i'm like what the hell and then like literally becca's alarm goes off at 5 30 and i'm like well now i'm just laying here now we're awake awake yeah how's your week been recovering tony
00:03:57
Speaker
It was good. It was fine. i had a pretty hot week in the... yeah, we're about to get hit with storm. ah Sorry, I was looking at the radar. I know, I had my windows.
00:04:08
Speaker
i was about to walk and I was like, oh, windows are open. Good call. It was a hot week in the warehouse. um Had some fun this weekend. Did some karaoke on Friday. Did a...
00:04:20
Speaker
Little festival carnival yesterday and then today went and saw the Fantastic Four movie with some friends in Virginia and we had breakfast at 8 o'clock. Movie was at 10. was home by 1245. Nice. Movie days are just a little bit long.
00:04:35
Speaker
Now we did do a couple recordings during camping. We'll say this. Our camping, if you follow us, some of us, our camping got cut short. We got some rain in the tent.
00:04:46
Speaker
We did get there Thursday, hung out. Friday, spent the whole day there. It was nice. And then Saturday morning and the wee hours, got a little bit of rain. And then we got up and grabbed some coffee and drove around where a downpour happened. And Brandon and I got rain in the tent.
00:05:05
Speaker
And we decided right there and then, Mama, I'm coming home. R.I.P. Ozzy. Yeah, which, you know, it was nice to get home Saturday night, not going lie, because Sunday was nice to being really home and already settled in and not getting back at 9 o'clock on a Sunday night. Agreed. I did have a great time with you guys, though.
00:05:24
Speaker
That was so much fun. Yeah, the ferry is... think that was my favorite part, both both ways. The ferry coming back, I feel like it was little better. Yeah. and the ferry going forward?
00:05:35
Speaker
No, the ferry going there it was fun, but I feel like the ferry going there, you know, it was like Secret Agent, man, trying to hide the... By the way, there's a half of those Smirnoff left in my refrigerator still. That's hilarious.
00:05:47
Speaker
ah Red, white, and blue. Or red, white, and berry, whatever the hell it's called. But boy, man, that was that was a good time, guys.
Camping Trip Tales
00:05:54
Speaker
Thank you very much. yeah Thank you for showing me that place. yeah Washington Island is incredible. i The schoolhouse... Schoolhouse Beach? Schoolhouse Beach with the white pebbles was amazing.
00:06:07
Speaker
What was that kid's name? man Xander? like hercules Oh, shit. We already talked about that coaster. yeah I forget, we had Hawk, Xander, something like that.
00:06:18
Speaker
Hawk, get over here! yeah Man, it was so sad when he came back. Did you see my... stack of rocks now oh boy I think my favorite, if you watch my reel that I posted, when it gets to the point where we're on the white stone beach, I have us filming and you just go, ready? One, two, three. And you go, yay!
00:06:40
Speaker
On the rocks? Yeah. I did see that. yeah, that was a great time. I think think some of the... I know we have two recordings. One... was there Did you listen to at all?
00:06:52
Speaker
No. Okay. One of them might have that interference. One of them we do know that we didn't get that interference. Yeah. So we might have one or two. It'll be next week. But anyways, that's that's a little
Bourbon County Stout Variants
00:07:03
Speaker
recap here. But this particular episode, we're talking about something that only comes but once a year.
00:07:11
Speaker
and It is Goose Island's 2025 Bourbon County brand stout release with all their variants, all that fun stuff. And we were privy enough to have a preview of it, what was coming out before everything came out.
00:07:27
Speaker
We couldn't talk about it with anybody. We told nobody. Brandon and I barely even talked to each other about it. That's how secretive it was. But that's super cool. But it was awesome because they also gave us a bunch of information here that we're going talk about in this episode because we're very excited about it as we normally are.
00:07:42
Speaker
Matthew, they're now neighbors of yours at the other facility. So I can only imagine with Prop Day, you know maybe you should be in that facility and hang out. Yeah, it'll be fun. I mean, they help us with everything. We just hosted the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild meeting this past week, and they gave us all the tables for the vendors to use. That's nice. Yeah, that's super cool.
00:08:00
Speaker
They help out a lot. We like them. Our old brewer's there. Oh, yeah, that's right. Goose Island's great. And with that being said, Matthew and I are drinking last year one of last year's variants, the Vanilla Rye Stout.
00:08:14
Speaker
Have you had a sip of it yet? Yeah. No, I haven't. God bless this fucking coaster. I'm going to swap it. I'm going to swap here, like this, and that. we God bless that. This was one of my favorite variants from last year.
00:08:26
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't have have this one last year, so I'm excited. It's mainly just because I love vanilla. I mean, throw vanilla in anything, and it's good. Yeah. for know I feel like since last time I had Goose, I know they're always big. This feels...
00:08:42
Speaker
really rich the actual stout yeah um feels a little bit thicker than i remember think it's from i think it's because of the temperature of it um because well at least that's how i've interpreted because i've had have had it before or last year's i remember having it and i was like wasn't thick because pours like cola and not like motor oil
00:09:05
Speaker
True. Give me that. But yeah, it's its i know that a lot of their vanillas, sometimes people think could be overpowering. This one in particular, i really enjoyed. I think it was like right on the cusp of if you did a little bit more, i think it would have been too much for some people. For me, I think this is perfect. They get a lot of vanilla and I still get the the bourbon and everything that comes with the stout.
00:09:29
Speaker
i So you said vanilla rye? Yeah. So is it aged in rye barrels? That's a great question. That'd be my guess, which, honestly, I think that's the perfect... It says the... me see. Rye Stout aged in rye whiskey barrels with Madagascar vanilla beans.
00:09:43
Speaker
Yeah. I think one of the last episodes we did with the rye... Oh, that was the the pipe works. Yep. Yeah, and I think we all thought it was a little bit too s spicy. I think that's probably why the vanilla works so well with this, is it...
00:09:57
Speaker
gives a lot of that rich sweet body and helps balance that rye stout and rye barrel. Yeah, there's nothing that's offensive in this beer to me at all.
00:10:08
Speaker
No, I remember that one being one of my favorites too, so. I'm sorry that I brought it. No, don't. It kind of tastes like cola. Okay. Okay. Hey, you still have do you still have a bottle left of the cola-inspired bourbon county? you Remember that?
00:10:25
Speaker
Probably. i really liked that one. Yeah, I did too. I remember a lot of people not liking that one. i thought it was fantastic. When was Was that let's say two years ago three years ago? That's a great question. Not only did it three years ago, three or four years ago. Was that like a pandemic?
00:10:41
Speaker
I think it was maybe the year after the pandemic. We'll figure it out. Anyways, let's talk about the 2025 lineup. I'm very excited. um We got a chance to see it.
00:10:52
Speaker
It's funny because I was i was really, really excited that I wanted to talk about it. Yeah. Could not talk about it. Could only talk about it with you. Oh, no. You guys didn't tell me. yeah no i like we It was very awesome of Goose reach out to us and share that information with us.
00:11:08
Speaker
It definitely got me hyped. And I will say that... There are definitely years where it's to be for everybody. That even goes for us. There's years where it's like, okay, a couple of those sound good. don't know. It depends on what's on here.
00:11:20
Speaker
This is one of the years everything sounds good to me. i mean There's been years, too, where there's ones that I did not think I was going to be sold on and that I had it. and I'm like, all right, that's decent. yeah you know I enjoy this.
00:11:33
Speaker
Yeah, the Earl Grey one from... I think that was a... I still never... I got one. I still never had. That was still one of my favorite ones. We need to... you know what? ah like I'm glad you said that because I know we've talked about that before.
00:11:44
Speaker
we need to have that soon because i i it's a tea and lemon and... I'm sure it's... I hope it does not... hope a lot of that has not fallen off. Yeah. Because I did have it fresh and I didn't think I was going like it. and I was like, nope, this this actually works and this makes sense.
00:11:59
Speaker
It was very good. I still don't... Yeah. Yeah. If my memory serves me correctly, which it usually doesn't, I don't think I've had that beer. Pretty sure you haven't. Yeah, I remember that one being controversial of like people either loved or hated it. And I just thought it blended so well. And especially for...
00:12:18
Speaker
taking the risk to do something like an Earl Grey where I'm like, yes, you put chocolate praline. I think it that's to be great. But like, you know, people hear those two words and they're going to be like, oh yeah, I'm going to like, people can wrap their head around that. It's funny because the other, the other day, I think when we talked about recording, i was, I went back and I was looking at the list and I was, Becca was sitting next to me. So I started talking about it and i was like, Hey, uh, did you know there's going be a chocolate praline bourbon county? She goes, you've got to get that for my
00:12:48
Speaker
It's like, yeah, we'll do. We'll do. um yes its but Oh, sorry. Go ahead. No, I mean a chip. oh i go ahead So i was going to say, so for this, obviously, for the lineup this year, we've got there's always the standard Bourbon County Stout.
00:13:04
Speaker
And then there is six. Which real quick before you jump into that, the standard Bourbon County is now coming in a four pack of 10 ounce bottles. Which is super interesting. They're still doing bottles?
00:13:15
Speaker
Yeah, they're doing... cans. Still not done cans. No Bourbon County's going in cans. Unless you get a growler of it. Growler? we get a growler? Yeah, I think... i just wanted to point that out, that yeah the four-pack of the 10-ounce bottles, I'm very excited about that because...
00:13:29
Speaker
Yes, while drinking the 16.9-ounce pint is great. One 10-ounce bottle sounds really good, too. Yes. Well, because the majority of the time that any of us are, like, together and having... Like, nobody's drinking the entire thing.
00:13:44
Speaker
And I know, like... And I've said this before. Like, when I've attempted to in the past, it's like I'll pour maybe half of it. And then I just put a cap on it. I'm like, it's a barrel-aged out. going to put it in the fridge. I'll have more tomorrow. Like...
00:13:57
Speaker
Yeah. And it'll it'll sit. It'll be fine. Yeah, um but yeah so there's there's five different variants this year. Obviously, there's going to be prop as well. um Do we want to go in order or do we want to talk about which ones we're excited about and then kind of get into those descriptions? Well, I think why don't we talk about what the lineup is because at this point, I think a lot of people do know what the lineup We'll just go through it. and i think we'll go through one at a time and we can talk about what sounds interesting to us as well.
00:14:24
Speaker
So as Brandon was saying, you know, the lineup this year, obviously we have the original stout. um Let's talk about the original stout. As of right now, they did not announce the ABV because it has not been packaged yet. So they're not really sure. It varies every year because they're blending different barrels into one final cohesive beer. Sometimes there's two different or three different ones that they do. Well, was going say, and sometimes there's, like depending on when they package it, there's different ABVs. That's right. That's what I thought. Yeah.
00:14:52
Speaker
um So what they're saying is, you know, tasting notes is vanilla, cherry, coke, cacao. Sorry. When I first read it. Actually, that's cocoa. That it is cocoa. Yeah.
00:15:03
Speaker
But when I first read it, I looked down and I just thought it said cherry coke. And I was like, what the fuck? So vanilla, cherry, cocoa, toasted almond, and caramelized sugar. the Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels.
00:15:14
Speaker
After crafting the very first bourbon barrel aged imperial stout, Goose Island understands the great beer begins with the best ingredients, which is why the brewery continues to source only the finest and freshest from trusted partners along the bourbon trail, baby.
00:15:27
Speaker
So it that the 2025 Bourbon County brand original stout was aged in a blend of freshly empty barrels from Buffalo Trace, Yummy, Heaven Hill, Yummy, Four Roses, Yummy, and Wild Turkey. Yummy. All for it. I enjoy.
00:15:39
Speaker
With an average aging time of 12 months, this stout delivers deeply developed flavors of fudge, vanilla, and caramelized sugar, all wrapped in a rich, decadent mouthfeel. So go back to this real quick.
00:15:51
Speaker
Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill, Four Roses, Wild Turkey. that's pretty That's pretty much on the nose for what they usually blend these the Bourbon County with. Yeah. Like, for over the at least I can say, as far as I know, for the last three or four years, I know that that's the blend that they've been doing. i have to imagine it's changed over the years, but they've finally maybe come into this what the four are.
00:16:11
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, every year, if it's... I'm sure they have direct access to them versus, like, we use a barrel broker, but... they probably just, especially making this your mainstay beer, you want to have that consistency. And you're like, okay, we know if we blend these four barrels, we're going to get what we want.
00:16:29
Speaker
was going to say, and then, so we actually reached out to Goose too. And we asked a series of questions. And one of the questions that I asked was, and I kind of knew the answer, but I just wanted to hear their like official answer. Like what's the process for choosing the barrels for this year's Bourbon County, as well as the barrels for the variants.
00:16:48
Speaker
And their answer, which is kind of funny, it's similar to what Tony just read. At Goose Island, we hold ourselves to exceptionally high standards when it comes to barrel selection for Bourbon County brand stout. Not just for original, but for every beer in the lineup.
00:17:01
Speaker
Over the years, we've built close relationships with our distillery partners. This is how you picture what they were saying. It's probably more like, we're getting a buzzer bottle. Ha ha! After a week of tasting, or within just a week or two of being freshly emptied.
00:17:16
Speaker
They do require all barrels to be aged in bourbon for a minimum of four years, and that they are never subjected to an extended rinse. And that level of care helps preserve the rich, nuanced flavors that emerge in the final beer.
00:17:30
Speaker
And yeah, and it they talked about like when they were crafting and they were going through barrels, they found that heaven Heaven Hill, Four Roses, Wild Turkey, and Buffalo Trace delivered the right mix of age, character, and complexity. And that's that's why they keep continuing.
00:17:43
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like the reason why I but brought that up is because I remember that year that they did the... individual bottles where they had you can find the code of like hhwt yeah b and so i feel like that's when became at least known to me that those were the blends they were doing so i'm not sure if that's how it's always been but i'm happy to hear that that's what it is as we mentioned before it says now for the first time ever original is available in four packs of 10 ounce bottles Offerings.
00:18:10
Speaker
Offering more. Offering more ways to enjoy. Sorry, I had a spicy chip after drinking in Brewer County. Offering more ways to enjoy the iconic beer, which I will say, that's awesome. As we said, 10-ounce bottles, that's... Yeah.
00:18:23
Speaker
Now, Brandon, I muted my mic because... I wanted to jump in and go, when you were talking about like not drinking a full 16.9-ounce bottle, it's the only way I drink them. I drink them by myself, 16.9-ounce bottles.
00:18:38
Speaker
No, there's a couple I saved to drink, but when it comes out, like I will have one or two where i'm like I will drink it for like four hours. Yeah. Well, that is the... Four hours, okay. Yeah. Where it's like open up at 7, all a sudden it's 11 o'clock, I'm like, and I finish it off. That's a rough morning.
00:18:54
Speaker
My boss doesn't know. It's fine. And he doesn't listen to the podcast. It's coffee. It's coffee. now Yeah, like 7 o'clock at night, crack it open, like get home from work. Especially on a Friday, it's a great way to like... It's like having bourbon.
00:19:07
Speaker
Yeah. But yeah, so... the But I do like the 10-ounce bottle pour because if it's like you just want... just under a 12-ounce pour. I mean, I know it's only two ounces, but still, 10-ounce pour of Bourbon County.
00:19:21
Speaker
if You're not... You don't have to fully commit to, like, okay, I'm about to go ahead and tackle this, like... Full pint of 14 15% ABV barrel-aged stout for the evening.
00:19:35
Speaker
10 ounces is perfect. That's what we serve all of our barrel-aged beers on draft at the pub or like triple B's or when it gets high ABV. 10 ounces is that perfect where you can still have a big beer and move your way on to the next one. Yeah.
00:19:49
Speaker
You don't feel like... And I think that's my issue when you've either had 750s or even these 500 mils. You drink them by yourself and you're like, that is my beer for the night. Yeah. Sorry, Ossifer. I had one. There's there's a funny fact here from what we got from them. it says...
00:20:05
Speaker
This is for the original Bourbon County before we move on to the first variant. It says, Bourbon County Brand Stout was disqualified from the Great American Beer Fest when first submitted because at that time there was not a category for Bourbon Barrel Age Imperial Stouts. I did not know that.
00:20:21
Speaker
That's pretty funny. Yeah, which is also kind of ironic that they have not won awards for Bourbon County. And theyre they're the whole reason why FOBAB exists and Chicago is one of the centers for barrel-aged beer.
00:20:35
Speaker
in the world is because of them. Uh, and I don't remember, and this is, might be hearsay, but I'm like, I don't think they then submitted afterwards once they made, made it a category. I think, uh, Goose is just like, no, we don't care. It's not a category. Fair enough. Yeah.
00:20:53
Speaker
Yeah, so that's the original, and let's let's move on to the first variant. Who wants to... so sir Maybe a few
Special Stout Flavors
00:21:01
Speaker
more people should talk about this first variant. Yeah. The 2025 Bourbon County brand, Cherry's Jubilee Stout.
00:21:07
Speaker
Also ABV, still working on that. ah Tasting notes, burnished cocoa... Cacao? That's cocoa. No, that's cocoa. Okay, that's cocoa. How do you spell cacao? C-A-O. C-A-O, yeah. oh yeah Not C-O.
00:21:22
Speaker
And vibrant dark stone fruit with a caramelized citrus finish. Imperial cell aged in burn barrels finished in the cognac barrels with... Montmorency. Montmorency. Montmorency.
00:21:35
Speaker
Where is Montemoracy? um show I'll show you. Montemoracy. Close your eyes I'll show you. i have no idea where it's at. I'm like, Italy? ah Citrus and panella.
00:21:45
Speaker
Panella is, that's the, is that brown sugar? is that cinnamon? That's, if you're thinking the Mexican, like, brown sugar. Yeah, right. think that is. Okay.
00:21:57
Speaker
Brandon? Brandon's on it. ah As stout ages, Goose Island's brewers often observe a range of fruit expressions that emerge from the barrel and from time itself. Inspired by the flambé dessert classic Cherry's Jubilee 2025 Bourbon County brand Cherry's Jubilee stout,
00:22:15
Speaker
They really liked it. You've got Fully named. Yeah, you've got this. Captures the essence of cognac-soaked cherries and caramelized citrus. The beer began its aging journey in freshly emptied bourbon barrels, which impart rich layers of oak, warm vanilla, and subtle baking spice.
00:22:29
Speaker
It was then finished in cognac barrels, adding elegant notes of dried fruit and contributing to a rich, full mouthfeel. Following the aging process, the set was then blended with Montemore C. Cherry, citrus, and Piniella, resulting in a velvety, decadent beer with flavors of candied dark cherry, soft vanilla, and a caramelized citrus finish. So, Piniella is unrefined cane sugar. Hell yeah. I was wrong on both.
00:22:54
Speaker
And so, in in that question that I asked about choosing the variants... I was thinking of Cassia Barks. It's kind of answered in here, but they wrote, in the case of Cherry's Jubilee...
00:23:04
Speaker
The stout were aging naturally, began to show pronounced stone fruit notes. So they were obviously tasting it. Yeah, that was a little bit of what they were talking description. to amplify that, that's why they transferred it to the cognac barrels, selected specifically to deepen the dried fruit expression.
00:23:19
Speaker
And then they added the cherries. And that brought the characteristics fully to life, as they say. I am It's funny because all of the variants do interest me.
00:23:31
Speaker
This one in particular, i feel like... Could be one that is divisive for people. 100%. Cherries have been tough in barrel-aged stouts.
00:23:42
Speaker
No matter who you are, they're tough in stouts. there It goes one of two ways. You get a nice tart cherry, or you get cherry cough medicine. Yeah, I think fruit in general is really hard in real-age beer.
00:23:54
Speaker
but Wasn't there a cherry bourbon county before that we were like, this is what is bordering on cough medicine? and Yeah, I did not ah care for that one. I think over the years it mellowed out.
00:24:06
Speaker
I think maybe Clark had one, and it did not it wasn't offensive. But I remember having it on prop day and I was like, i couldn't I couldn't get into it. But there was plenty of people, though, who enjoyed it. I mean, it it goes with you know people's perception of taste. it's not It's not just one way or the other.
00:24:23
Speaker
I think it's some of the perception of taste. I think it can also be some of the acid, some of the fruit. it It is just so hard to balance. And i think it's one of the reasons is a lot of people stay away from fruit, but just be in in the seltz in particular, because especially if even you have in your mind, like Cherry's Jubilee, because of how fruit changes, like you might taste that the first time you taste it.
00:24:47
Speaker
And then you carve it up and you bottle it and it let you sit it for a couple of months and all sudden tastes completely different. I think with it being added to cognac barrels, that is what has me very interested in it. I think that that might be something that helps round this out to where we're not, were like you said, if there's some type of change, the cognac might help preserve what they're what they tasted in the beginning.
00:25:13
Speaker
what What they saw. Yeah. I'm i'm really excited about the cognac too because if you go, for me, i would go a little bit lighter on that cherry and rely heavily on that cognac to give that body and sweetness. And so that like, even if the cherry might be too, too little, you're getting that extra boost of fruitiness and quality from there, from the cognac to add to it. And that way you're not leaning so heavy into the fruit.
00:25:36
Speaker
I would say that this is definitely one of the ones I'm very excited about. When I saw Cherry right away, like i was like, oh, no. And then I saw Cherry's Jubilee. I was like, oh, okay.
00:25:51
Speaker
Now, what I think we should do is we've done in the past, we normally do a Bourbon County episode where we have all the variants or have talked about the variants. I think because there it seems to be a lot of like...
00:26:03
Speaker
leaning more until we get to the other ones, there's a little bit more baked goods and, like there, you know, there's a lot of pastry stuff, but there have times before where there wasn't. There was, like, chocolate-covered orange, you know, the ah midnight orange or whatever.
00:26:15
Speaker
These variants this year seem very particular where I think we we could have the particular thing that they're talking about and try it and then maybe go in and have that beer later on You know what I mean? Like not have it side by side. i don't want to have a Cherry's Jubilee and then drink the Cherry's Jubilee Bourbon County Stout and be like, well, you don't really have anything tasted. Well, you don't want to do a hat on the hat?
00:26:36
Speaker
Yeah, okay, let's do it. you heard it here folks here first folks that's what we're doing when we try these bourbon counties uh how are you guys feeling about this one are you guys excited about it or what or what i mean i'm definitely interested in it um because i'm i'm always curious to see how the cherry is going to come through um definitely one i'm looking forward to getting the chance hopefully we'll get a chance to try them and yeah i mean based on the description it sounds like it's going to be good so i'm not buts hoping Let's hope that like pulls through and it continues to stay that way after packaging and everything. so
00:27:11
Speaker
Matthew, what about you? How are you feeling about this one? Yeah, it's definitely one of the ones I want to try the most. i think because it's the one that has, i think, the highest... opportunity be really good or you know fall on its face um but it's definitely the top three here uh the double barrel heaven hill one is i think the one dude what we haven't got there yet what shut the hell up editor's note dude we didn't even boilers you didn't say it all yet i got excited i know brandon why you talk about the next variant that's coming up
00:27:47
Speaker
Yep, so the next one is the 2025 Bourbon County brand Chocolate Praline Stout. That's going to be in 16.9-ounce bottles. Tasting notes are of rich fudge with toasted marzipan and chewy toffee. Right there, i'm go to cut you off.
00:28:03
Speaker
That sounds like perfection. Yeah. like marzipan? Toasted marzipan? That sounds good. Marzipan? No, thank you. yeah ah Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels with cocoa nibs, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, and dates. Okay, there we go. Even better.
00:28:18
Speaker
There was a one that they had before that had not the same kind of nut combination, but I think one of the descriptions what may ah may have been toasted marzipan back then. and You might be right. Yeah, I'm not sure which one is, but yeah.
00:28:34
Speaker
I mean, hazelnuts and almonds and cashews are all great. throw dates in there, too. Like, Jesus. The dates is interesting because, you the obviously, for me, goes more towards that, like, barley wine.
00:28:47
Speaker
Yeah, I see that, but I feel like dates... I see that. Shut up. No, I see that, but I feel like dates is a common... i don't know, like, a rich, like, decadent...
00:29:01
Speaker
barrel-aged stout flavor you can get like that yeah it comes across like dates i think can be used for a lot of barrel-aged stouts oh yeah like there is like that slightly fruitiness that you can get from barrel-aged stouts that aren't just like here it is it's just a whole bunch of sweetness and like slamming into your face yeah i think for me it's usually when people want to explain like the red berry notes that just get like overripe and like that extra layer of sweetness and to me that's where To me, it works well with a lot of a lot of those barley ones just because those naturally have those qualities where, for me, especially with the stouts, I want a little bit more towards that fudgy and caramel and coffee. Me too. And not quite that over-sweet fruit.
00:29:43
Speaker
I like the idea of having that the back end of like that. yeah By the way, look sunburned. Oh, I am sunburned. Brandon, go ahead and continue to talk about this one. So yeah, ah the there's two kind of parts to this description. I'm going to skip over the first one because it just talks about how they're putting it in barrels. But first aged in freshly emptied bourbon barrels, this doubt draws inspiration from the underlying decadence of chocolate, caramel, and roasted nuts found in original.
00:30:10
Speaker
Layered with a blend of cocoa nibs, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, and dates, this full-bodied stout showcases the classic flavors of a chocolate praline while embracing the subtle nuances imparted by the bourbon barrel.
00:30:21
Speaker
I'm super excited about this one. This is right at my alley of like quote-unquote pastry stout, without obviously not being a pastry, but it's candy. And a chocolate-covered praline sounds fantastic.
00:30:36
Speaker
and knowing what Goose Island has done in the past with you know things that... it's It's in their wheelhouse. You know what I mean? like It's not something like a Cherry's Jubilee where it's like, okay, let's see what you guys can do with this. that that that you know that I don't think this one is going to be off-putting at all to anybody. I think this might be an overall one that people can agree on We can taste a lot of the notes of what they're saying. Obviously, certain people will taste certain things, but i think overall this one will be a...
00:31:05
Speaker
a home run. Yeah. I think for me, this is one where if you just hit a couple notes, if you hit nuttiness, if you hit fudginess, and you hit a little bit of that cherry on the back end, you're good. Yeah. I think if you just get the nuttiness and the fudginess, you're good. Yeah. You don't even need that that you don't even need the the dark fruit in there at all. So to me, this this is should be the layup one yeah where I'm like, everyone should be excited for praline and chocolate. and it's a Not only is it praline, it's a chocolate-covered praline, which I think that's what comes in for You know, it being a barrel aged stout from what Goose Island does for Bourbon County. You get that fudginess. There's a brownie type taste to it.
00:31:43
Speaker
I think this one's going to be, you know, a home run. Like said, easy layup. Brandon, what are we looking at time? About 30 minutes. Cool. You know what? Why don't we take a break to hear an ad from one of our sponsors that we just love so much.
00:32:03
Speaker
And we're back. Welcome back, everybody. We're doing... Still got chips my mouth. Sorry. Welcome back, everybody. We're doing the 2025 Bourbon County Stout.
00:32:14
Speaker
Jesus. Bourbon County Brand Family Stout. Really? Yeah, it's not easy to say that whole thing. That's a lot. It's all... ah Doing 2025 Bourbon County. we We're talking about all the the variants that are coming out this year. We're very excited about it.
00:32:28
Speaker
We got through three so far. A couple more coming up. And... I'm going tackle this one, guys, because very excited about this one. This is the 2025 Bourbon County brand proprietor stout.
00:32:41
Speaker
Tasting notes are caramelized honeycomb, baking spice, and roasted candy nuts. It's an imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels with walnuts, pistachios, cassia bark, and honey. You guys already know what kind this is, right?
00:32:52
Speaker
I know Brandon, you do. Cinnamon, walnut, pistachio, honey. Inspired by beehives on her Hans Road Island homestead, Goose Island brewer, Colby McGrathen, thank you, was immediately drawn to the flavors of crisp and nutty homemade baklava. Which, by the way,
00:33:09
Speaker
If you've never had baklava in your life, you're missing what are you doing? Baklava is one of those desserts that's like, if I order Mediterranean food and they offer baklava, I always get just a piece of it or whatever. it's um My favorite is they have the little thing right up front that you get to see all of them. They just have trays of it. well i didn't I didn't know originally that there was different types. I didn't know pistachio, walnut, yeah cashew. like There's different types of baklava.
00:33:36
Speaker
anyways uh homie bakwa an idea she knew would be perfect for 2025 bourbon county brand provider stout first agent bourbon barrels then finished with walnuts pistachio cassio barb which is cinnamon by the way and honey each ingredient was carefully chosen to complement the aged imperial stout toasted nuts highlight its warm nutty character cinnamon enhances the spice of the bourbon barrel and rich honey deepens the stout, caramelized body.
00:33:58
Speaker
This stout boasts a desire... Sorry, we knocked out that first Burman County already. This stout boasts a dessert-inspired expression with layers of comforting warmth, deeply roasted nuts, and a subtly... What if I said subtly?
00:34:15
Speaker
Subtly finished sweep sweet... Sweet finished craft with love for and available only in the Goose Island... The city Goose Island calls home. Thank you. Chicago. i go I'm going home. I'm out of
00:34:30
Speaker
Price is wrong, bitch. Sorry, we have Happy Gilmore out in the background. I am incredibly excited for this one because feel like the last couple props have been sort of Split down the middle of yeah people liking them.
00:34:49
Speaker
yeah Last year, I liked it. the It was the the Mexican candy, the tamarind and lime and chili. personally liked That was pretty good. I remember a lot of quote-unquote Chicago beer influencers thinking it wasn't good, not naming any names.
00:35:05
Speaker
um I thought it was fantastic. I really liked it, but i know a lot of people didn't like it. also had the strawberry shortcake one, the ice cream bar. I thought that was very good. They had the... Oh, God, the Italian ice cream one that I also thought was very good. It's just this, I feel like, might bring everybody back together. This is the uniting prop just based on the tasting characteristics alone.
00:35:29
Speaker
I mean, bakova is just basically a... layered, flaky pastry that's nutty. I want bakalow. I do too. Yeah. Buttery, rich, sweet. Yeah. It's a guilty pleasure. It gets stuck in your teeth.
00:35:42
Speaker
It's really good, and I'm really excited to try this one. and I have no doubt my mind that Goose won't knock this out of the park. Yeah, I mean, the only thing that people I heard a lot...
00:35:53
Speaker
that is divisive is cinnamon. There are some people that just absolutely hate it. They're more. But I think they're in the minority. And so I think when you just have nuts and cinnamon and sweetness, like it's going to be... Should be an easy layup on that one. I feel like cinnamon in a stout, unless it's...
00:36:15
Speaker
You know, a cinnamon bomb, which I've never had. It just makes sense. it's like a warming spice. Like, I don't know. But I get it. Some people are so sensitive to cinnamon. Coming this fall. Cinnamon Prost.
00:36:26
Speaker
What? There it is, folks. The old Irving Drop. um Brandon, are you feeling about this one? This is the other one that I'm most excited about.
00:36:39
Speaker
Because I think when I was going through list, that was the first thing that popped out to me. Because always... i like Literally, I was like, where's prop? All right, what's prop? And then I saw baklava. I'm like, that that could be really, really good.
00:36:51
Speaker
And it could be really, really bad, depending. But just the way that, you know, based on the tasting notes, yeah again, um like if all of that holds true, I'm excited, man. love... i love And this goes for the other beers, too. I love toasted nuts and things like that when those flavors come through beers, and especially in Barrel-Aid Stouts. So I think that'll be a nice complement to Bourbon County. And, yeah, that one and the Praline are, like, I'm very frontrunners right now, I think.
00:37:22
Speaker
I think if – I think all year you and I have talked about brewing, and we've not done it still. We definitely have different ideas and stuff. But there's something of like, you know, we've talked about obviously going back to doing the Into the Void, the the cinnamon yeah roll stout.
00:37:40
Speaker
Whatever I do, i kind of want, like at least in the winter, I want to have like some type of like winter stout that has warming spices and everything. And have some type like toasted like pistachio or a toasted walnut or something that,
00:37:52
Speaker
To add in there to really, like, when you toast nuts, like, even with baking or cooking, like, it adds so much more flavor. It's so good. Even, like, an ice cream. You you make a homemade ice cream, you throw some toasted nuts in there.
00:38:03
Speaker
I just want to keep saying toasted nuts. No, we don't. People make their own homemade ice cream. You make your own homemade ice cream. Yeah, me and Brandon do. And you had never shared. He makes a really good Bourbon County cream, actually. What?
00:38:15
Speaker
He also makes a very good Biscoff ice cream, which a Biscoff Krampus would be a really good idea. Maybe like a malting hour Biscoff Krampus would be fantastic. Share some ice cream first.
00:38:28
Speaker
If that's all it takes, then we'll do it. Done deal, man. Anyway. Yeah, this is definitely one that I'm excited about. What about you, Matthew? how are you feeling about baklava-inspired stout? Which I think is, I will say, baklava also, when you bite into it, this sounds weird.
00:38:47
Speaker
It's juicy because of the layers of, like, it was like the honey squeezing out. Like, yeah, and it's like, you're not, like, how that experience, i already know, like, I have a very...
00:38:59
Speaker
deep embedded experience memory of what it's like to eat baklava is very personal. I wonder what it's going to be like. It's just there, you know, like I'm very interested to see like, there's been lonely nights in bed with baklava. I'm just interested to see like how Goose is going to capture this. Like it's, I feel like baklava seems like, yeah, that's a great idea.
00:39:21
Speaker
But it's a big undertaking. Yeah. I mean, to me it's kind of like when people do tiramisu. Because baklava isn't necessarily one flavor that everyone knows. And you're like oh, baklava tastes like this. It is the combination of flavors layers that aren't necessarily in your face. So it's kind of nuanced. yeah So to have that in a stout and still get the nuance of baklava while being light, but having all of that sweetness and flavor.
00:39:47
Speaker
Having that honey with the pistachio with the cinnamon but not having any one part overtake it is a big asking. But like all of those parts I love. I love pistachio. I love honey. I love cinnamon. So yeah, I'm very excited for this one.
00:40:03
Speaker
All right, moving down. um Brandon, I'm going to go ahead throw that. Oh, it's Matthew, sorry. Matthew, you you this one. Sorry, but I'm throwing cash.
00:40:15
Speaker
do Real quick, actually before that, Brandon, you brought out a bottle for Matthew and I to try. I did. We were talking about it. We have now officially figured out what year it was, 2021. We were drinking the Bourbon County brand Classic Cola Stout.
00:40:30
Speaker
And this was, uh, what's wrong here? Stout aged in bourbon barrels with brown sugar, citrus, coriander, spices, and natural vanilla flavor.
00:40:42
Speaker
What do you get from this, Matthew? Okay, it's that little bit of citrus undertone that I think brings it up. I think some of the notes are a little bit muted from the age. Yes.
00:40:54
Speaker
um Doesn't necessarily taste like cola to me. Not anymore. But i still quite like it. Here's the weird thing. I get cinnamon.
00:41:05
Speaker
Are you easily influenced?
00:41:09
Speaker
There's no cinnamon in this. No, but did we just talk about cinnamon too much that you're like, cinnamon, cinnamon, cinnamon. No, before we started talking about it, I took a sip of this. And I go, there's like a cinnamon in this.
00:41:21
Speaker
I wonder if... and i kind and I kind of get what you're saying. And vanilla doesn't have cinnamon. i mean, the vanilla, we we've had no cinnamon. But I'm wondering if there's something about the citrus that's like older with some of the spices that Maybe.
00:41:36
Speaker
That might just like brighten up the spices. Yeah. I'm not mad at this. It definitely does not taste like the original. Yes, Brandon. So, I couldn't find, obviously, a goose description, but on Beer Advocate, it says what...
00:41:50
Speaker
um So this says, combining the refreshing nature of classic Coca-Cola and picking up the flavor profile from a whiskey cola, we added lime, orange juice, and zest, plus coriander, cassia bark, na casio brown sugar, and vanilla to bring out the complex characters of the class See, they didn't put that on there.
00:42:07
Speaker
They don't have that on the actual bottle. The cassia bark is what's making it pop little bit. Yeah. the cinnamon kind of... Maybe that's what i thought was the zest. But you're right about like the the citrus. There is that like little bit of It's very small, but it kind of tastes like a citrusy... horse Let me say tastes like a cinnamony stout with a hint of citrus.
00:42:27
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not upset about that. No, I will say this. That's very good. like I'm not mad about it. It does not taste like the original that did have that taste of cola in it and like four years ago. It was very good. But, yeah, Brandon, I'm excited for you to try this one day again.
00:42:47
Speaker
Yeah, I think and think you pour this over ice, throw a little bit of sweet vermouth, a little bit of Sprite. for Wisconsin Old Fashioned. Hey, those are really good.
00:42:59
Speaker
How's the brandy? You love those. Brandy, she's a fine girl. What a good wife she would be. Oh, yeah. They did take me to the bitters club. those Yeah. that i mean We had a lot of fun on that trip.
00:43:10
Speaker
lot of fun. I think everyone should just have a bottle of Angostore bitters. Yeah. And then just do a shot of it every now and then. Yeah. Probably got one upstairs. I got one home. Nice.
00:43:22
Speaker
I always want Pace Shodes. I typically just have Pace Shodes at home and not Angostura. um I might have to change that. Be better. Matthew, what's the next in the lineup?
Anticipation for Future Stouts
00:43:32
Speaker
The next in the lineup is the 2025 Bourbon County brand Double Barrel Stout. Just going to shout out real quick. i was going to that. Also, Shalanda, I doubt you listen to these podcasts anymore, but you bet your bottom down I'm getting this Double Barrel.
00:43:48
Speaker
I'm her phone as Double Barrel Tony. It's a story. Tasting notes. Toasted marshmallow, warm vanilla, with a pronounced oak finish.
00:44:00
Speaker
Style. Imperial style, double barrel aged in Heaven Hill, bottled and bond bourbon barrels. Jesus Christ, that sounds fucking awesome. That's why I'm excited by this one. To me, this also is kind of like, you get to have that naked stout.
00:44:16
Speaker
yeah You're not doing the adjuncts, you're not doing the sweetness, you're not doing the baklava, and I love playing those. This is how good of a stout and how good of a barrel do you have? And if it's good barrels and a good stout, it's just going to be Those are the, like, I could do a 500 mil of those just sitting with it. Because the complexity of the barrel can be so rich and unique, and...
00:44:43
Speaker
Heaven Hill is always a fun one. so What do you guys think? Excited by this one? but i want you This is probably my top. I want you to read the rest of it first. Oh, yeah. i Shared dedication to their respective crafts is what unites Heaven Hill and Goose Island in the creation of 2025 Bourbon County brand Double Barrel Sap.
00:45:03
Speaker
As the creators of the world's first bourbon barrel-aged stout, the Brewers at Goose Island has spent over 30 years redefining what beer can be through an evolution of Bourbon County brand stout. Over time, the series has grown into ah diverse family of beers, is' expressing a distinct character and perspective. Yeah, we could have skipped that part. We already to know that. Touché! My bad.
00:45:25
Speaker
As the Bourbon County ages, it develops a myriad of characteristics, which means tens of thousands,
00:45:33
Speaker
you know, word of the day. Complex, layered, and deeply expressive. Drawing on decades of experience, Goose Island's brewers have learned how to elevate those qualities by fine-tuning every variable from ingredient selection to barrel choice to time spent aging.
00:45:46
Speaker
Every decision reveals a new facet of the original style. This is the part I wanted. Alright. 2025. Bourbon County brand Double Barrel Stout is a master class in that approach.
00:45:58
Speaker
In collaboration with Heaven Hill Distillery, Goose Island, age this release in not one, but two sets of freshly empty ship Heaven Hill Bottled and and Bond Bourbon barrels. Well, that makes sense because it's double barrel.
00:46:11
Speaker
They were hiding it in plain sight. By centering the nuanced complexity of the whiskey, the resulting beer is a true celebration of bourbon, collaboration, and the most essential element of every Bourbon County release, the barrel itself.
00:46:26
Speaker
I am super excited about this. Heaven Hill is delicious. A double barrel from Bourbon County is... or Goose Island is always good. I've... not... I think the only one that people maybe weren't crazy about was the double barrel toasted.
00:46:41
Speaker
That was couple years ago. That was the blue one. Yeah. It was the year after the the big. brett I liked that one, too. I did, too. we But for some reason, like, Mariano's threw on sale for, like, 30 bucks.
00:46:54
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, i love um I love the base, like, just Bourbon County itself. and i Yeah. You know, Heaven Hill Bottled and Bond is like one of my favorites. I think it's got one.
00:47:06
Speaker
We'll have to save that for when we taste it. Anyway, so I do, like, I love bottle Heaven Hill's Bottled and Bond, and i like I'm super excited to see this kind of collaboration, well, not collaboration, but this double-barreled essence of this.
00:47:19
Speaker
Because, you know, again, without the adjuncts, you're getting all of those flavors. You're getting that vanilla. You're getting that that toasted marshmallow. And I feel like that's just going to be, like, just a super, super And those are all the flavors that I really enjoy from a barely-aged beer.
00:47:33
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I mean, as soon as I saw, like, the vanilla. As soon as I the marshmallow. Yeah. For me, it was a marshmallow. was like, yes. Marshmallow and vanilla? Sign me up. So there's an additional little information here. says, on March 3rd, 1897, the Bottle and Bond Act was signed into law establishing a government-backed guarantee of quality of American whiskey. An American whiskey by enforcing strict standards for origin, distilling, aging, and labeling.
00:47:59
Speaker
With its rigorous criteria, and the act became a trusted marker of excellent she excellence and a clear statement of craftsmanship from participating distilleries.
00:48:10
Speaker
guys want me to try and read the rest? No, I think the the TLDR is that it's bourbon. Too long to read. Today, containing the historic tradition, Heaven Hill Bottle of Bond Kentucky sh Straight Bourbon Whiskey stands a class above. Aged a full three years beyond and required ah and the required four...
00:48:25
Speaker
This fully mature seven-year bourbon exemplifies how time and patience can unlock remarkable depth, richness, and balance. I did skip a paragraph. That was the most important part. Exactly. Basically, it's similar to Reposado and Inejo. They go past what the age statement has to be. Bottle and bonded stuff is fantastic. oh It really does like...
00:48:47
Speaker
hit a different ways yes bourbon is just bottle and bottle in the united states that's why i was like tldr if you're called bourbon all of this is is that fact which is why are you like in the united states we do have quite a oh there's a bird that flew in here
00:49:08
Speaker
hey screwed him up yes and so that's one of those things that the united states does really good really well with is making sure that we have at base level of what our whiskeys and ryes and bourbons have to be uh versus other parts of the the world especially rum and tequila where did you guys see the uh all the lawsuits with tequila come out recently yes i caught part of it tiktok what's it all about Basically that the Mexican government that controls the state liquor board was certifying things like Casa Amigo as fully 100% agave, and it is only Don Julio.
00:49:53
Speaker
1942, the $200 bottle of tequila, 33% agave. Jeez. Which means they're using like rum distillate and cheap things, and tequila might change very drastically soon. I would i would hope so. I'll tell you this.
00:50:07
Speaker
The tequila... Clark and Sheffield tequila from Binney's. Fantastic. It's really good. The silver Clark Blanco tequila from Binney's, the Clark and Sheffield. Really good. That's how I was making the Palermo's pizza. Paloma's pizza.
00:50:28
Speaker
polomas palermo's pizza pelovas
00:50:34
Speaker
I've never had Palermo's Pizza. Eh, you're fine. Do they make Hapapvice? Paloma is, that's what I was using, and it's it's really good. It is really good. It's kind of getting used to whatever Benny's puts out, I'm not going to lie. They're all very good.
00:50:48
Speaker
yeah I mean, we did for we did a Benny's beer for them. We did Summer Krampus in 2021. Yeah. Yeah, it was one of your best Krampus ever. Loved that beer. They gave us all the barrels that they had selected of like, Maker's Mark and some Wild Turkey and...
00:51:04
Speaker
They picked some really good barrels. Bring it back, losers.
00:51:09
Speaker
Some results are over. Yeah, hold next year. Maybe it could be like a Malting Hour, Benny's collab. I can put you in touch with them. Yeah, that'd be great. Thank you. Actually, you just talked to them.
00:51:21
Speaker
Yeah, um I think we're all very excited about this. The double barrel has always been pretty solid, and I don't think this one will be... any different. Brandon, why don't you bring us into the think is the very last one. 2025 Brethren County Brand Reserve Stout.
00:51:37
Speaker
Again, same bottle size, 16.9 ounces. Tasting notes, layers of dried fruit and marzipan with nuanced rice spice. That's very interesting to me because I feel like this one could be divisive as well.
00:51:52
Speaker
Ampriot Stout aged two years in Parker's Heritage Collection, 10-year, 17th edition rye whiskey barrels. Jesus. Parker Bean began his distilling career at Heaven Hill in 1960, working alongside his father before becoming a sixth-generation master distiller in 1975. For five decades decades, he built a legacy of uncompromising quality and quiet innovation, values now embodied in Parker's Heritage Collection, named in his honor.
00:52:15
Speaker
Released annually, the collection has become a benchmark of excellence within the whiskey industry.
00:52:26
Speaker
stupid i Anyway, so the the meat the meat of this 2025 Burman County Brand Reserve Stout is a testament to the depth that comes from extended aging in an exceptional single lot of barrels.
00:52:38
Speaker
For this special release, Goose Island rested its Imperial Stout for a full two years in casks from one of the most prospective names in American whiskey, Parker's Heritage Collections. ah The longer aging period goes beyond the brewer's traditional process, drawing out concentrated layers of cocoa, dried fruit, spice, and toasted oak.
00:52:56
Speaker
The result is a rich, contemplative expression of Bourbon County, one that rewards patience and reflects a legacy built slowly, barrel by barrel. So the additional notes I just read over and I do think is important. It says, the 17th edition, a 10-year-old Kentucky straight rye bottled at full cast strength.
00:53:17
Speaker
Brings unmistakable character and quality to this collaboration. These barrels, which first aged this prized whiskey before being filled with Goose Island stout, impart vibrant rye spice layered oak complexity.
00:53:28
Speaker
A fitting tribute to Parker Beam's enduring legacy. This one, and some people have, I mean, we we did that with the Pipeworks rye.
00:53:40
Speaker
It might not be for everybody, but I just think the craftsmanship of this is worth trying it. You know what i mean? like this is This is one of those beers, when I talk to people about barrel-aged beers, and the work and thought that goes into it, and also the risk-reward type situation when you're, I mean, at this point, you know...
00:54:04
Speaker
We don't really see recalls anymore of barrel-aged beers. it's it's it's there's Yes, there's room for error, but there's so much money going into making this beer number one.
00:54:17
Speaker
Then you take that risk of, now we're going to transfer it out of this safe container and put it in something else and hope for the best. yeah Yes, it's more controlled. There's more...
00:54:28
Speaker
you know science information behind it of how to do it correctly, there's still that risk. One thing can happen. Something like this particular beer, to me, is very exciting because of that thought that goes behind it, what is expected, and the risk that's there of taking, of making something like this and barely aging it the way they are.
00:54:51
Speaker
Yeah. To me, the thing that's going to get a lot of whiskey people excited, that if not all your people know, is that like Parker's Heritage is just as hard, harder to get than like Pappy Van Winkle.
00:55:05
Speaker
And so these barrels... most people do not have any access to This wasn't last year's, right? Last year was, who was, what was the hard one that they had? Kings something? Do you remember the double barrel or the the rare?
00:55:18
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Damn it. It was one of the ones I was talking with Afro Beer Chick about it. She's like, yeah. she didn't She told me how much she spent for it. I'm not going to say how much. For the bottle of... Yeah. yeah It was very, very high. And it's a very sought-after, small quantity amount made.
00:55:37
Speaker
Yep. And she said it was definitely worth it. and which i Which, you know, I get it. you know, people... You spend a lot of time drinking different bourbons and everything. there It's going to hit you in a different way.
00:55:48
Speaker
Yeah. So in in terms of ryes, I will say this is a lower content rye. So it shouldn't be quite as spicy. Aging in two years. That's the part where maybe... i know why they want to age it in two years because of the barrels and how rare they are and getting people excited.
00:56:04
Speaker
um I've obviously never gotten a chance to work with these barrels and taste how they taste. so Yeah. Yeah. I'm excited to see how they taste because Parker's Heritage is one of my favorite whiskeys that I've had.
00:56:19
Speaker
Don't have access to it very often, but it is quite tasty. The bourbon you were referring to from last year was King of Kentucky. King of Kentucky, yes. Which I still have my, I know you do as well.
00:56:31
Speaker
We both have our rare from last year. It was my favorite of the variants last year. I think that's what I talked about. If not my favorite, the second favorite. But I am saving that bottle. That's one of those bottles that I don't think is... If it changes, it's not going to be... What? Happy Gilmore. I forgot about this awesome part.
00:56:54
Speaker
i yeah No. I remember it being very good at knowing, like or in my head... Thinking like this, if it changes, it's not going to fall off too much, but if it changes in a better way, it's going to be very good.
00:57:10
Speaker
It's definitely one that has been. kept in a cool climate has not been in a warm, yeah a warm situation at all. So very excited about going back to that. But fun fact, if you get back to this, I think I finally had this 2021 hit me with the cola.
00:57:25
Speaker
My last sip. You got the cola now? Yeah, just changed. Let go in here right now. It got a little bit warmer and the spices. Casio Mark. It tastes yours. I have a fancier glass.
00:57:38
Speaker
True, true.
00:57:41
Speaker
Tastes like Matthew. What? It tastes like camping all over again. No, I get the same thing. But also, you know, yeah and I'm not upset about the way that I got this at all from the 2021 cola.
00:57:57
Speaker
I remember liking it very much. It was also one that I think people either liked or or didn't like. But I will say this. Bourbon County still, even, you people who were like,
00:58:10
Speaker
upset about the AB and BIV merge and, oh, it's changed, there's this, and, like, even people who have told me, like, ah, it's not the same anymore. yeah And yet, there they are, side by side with me at prop day.
00:58:24
Speaker
yeah Yep. Still drinking and still going to these things. You know, it's it's everybody's opinion. You know, i'd said it's what you like. And one thing I will say, there have been times where I haven't liked some of the variants. There are times where I've Absolutely love variants.
00:58:41
Speaker
At the end of the day, i look forward to every year of Bourbon County being released because I'm interested in what is being released and what they're trying. Because they do continue to try and push the boundaries while also you know coming back around and being like, well, we know you guys like something like this. like i feel like this year I like this feel like this is classic fan kind of year. little bit.
00:59:04
Speaker
But the Cherry's Jubilee might be one of the ones where it's like,
00:59:08
Speaker
We're reaching out to get a little bit crazy. yeah yeah Not crazy, but do bit. Which you need a little bit of those. Yeah, to. I mean, the the collaboration with you guys that they did with the the Cordial, feel like that's a good a like good representation of what you can do with fruit in an Imperial Barrel-Aged Stout.
00:59:26
Speaker
Yeah, there's they definitely went for way more complexity in that. One of my favorite things about that collab that we did is that it is meant to be combined. It was our barley wine and their stout blended together, which you just don't see very often. Huh?
00:59:45
Speaker
You mean like this when I'm holding up that Brandon has actually literally just sitting here out in the bar? And when I look at it, I'm like, wish I would have done that. Instead, I drank the Goose Island one and i still have the older everyone still sitting in my fridge. So I'm waiting for the fall to drink that one.
00:59:59
Speaker
I will say ours is more traditionally big, sweet, like, think Revolution yeah barley wines. So it drinks really beautifully by itself. we're For me personally, i think what they went for was they went for a stout that would blend with our sweetness. So their stout is a bit drier.
01:00:18
Speaker
But it's also very good. Yes. But just in terms of like today's drinkers, they tend to want all that big sweetness. And so that blend is just really beautiful. Yeah. I can take a break from the sweetness every now and then because it's nice to get the sweetness when you want the sweetness, much like the sickness. Disturb.
01:00:37
Speaker
But... I get down with the sickness. You down the sickness? get with the sweetness. Motherfucker. I get in down with the sweetness. But like overall, it's it's very... No!
01:00:49
Speaker
I think that's a good representation. Brandon, what are we about to have here that you just grabbed? Because I'm going to do the same thing right now. My wife had made s'mores cupcakes. Or not cupcakes. Brownies.
01:01:02
Speaker
I'm going to take a picture. This is... Yeah. That is a spirit on its own. Now we have a bunch of s'mores beers still put to the side that we're going to do for the camping trip.
01:01:18
Speaker
But since it got cut a little short, we have decided that we're to off and and do those probably, you know, as we get closer to like the fall and we'll have those beers. But there's a bunch in there, I'm looking forward to this. So this is nice to come around and have this. i'm going to take a big bite right now.
01:01:33
Speaker
Yeah, one of my favorite favorite times of that trip was actually just being kind of reined we were all playing some billiards and They had a nice little section where it's, I think Washington Island, like, Nate went to Rock Island and they have no electricity, no nothing. Washington Island is a little fun tourist town where you get out there, but you can still have things like playing billiards and going to a bookstore.
01:02:01
Speaker
I did. Coffee shop. The little lake with the museum and everything. That was awesome. The museum was really beautiful. Who was the pioneer or someone that was there?
01:02:13
Speaker
You know, that lady who wrote a whole bunch of... Jordan Jorgison. don't know. Yeah. okay The woman who saw us on the ferry going in. You were in the car in front of us.
01:02:25
Speaker
ah but And she didn't say... I wasn't sure you'd be alive. mean, I did... like I had something in my pocket and hit against the door it was like... I was like, sorry! This brownie is delicious.
01:02:38
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it is graham cracker brownie. there anything in the brownie in marshmallow? It's just chewy, fudgy brownie. Oh my God, this is so good. Yep. I have so many s'mores things at home right now.
01:02:49
Speaker
Also, Matthew, your mom's pita chips are delicious. Yeah. Not pita. They're tortilla. What are they? So my mom, Wisconsin Delectables, she makes a gourmet chip that flash fries a tortilla chip. Oh!
01:03:09
Speaker
And so that's why you get this like flaky, rich, big quality to it. Virginia and i use them pita chips and we're eating hummus with them. Well, that's one of the things that she does, too, is like you can actually crumple them up and put them over.
01:03:22
Speaker
Not pita. Tortilla. yeah Still fantastic. Yeah. No, out of this world, like, very good. The chocolate chip cookies did not last long. think there's one left.
01:03:32
Speaker
Probably have that one at home. Oh, yeah. Yeah, she was trying a new recipe on those as well. good. Yeah, and ah Brandon, Virginia and I agreed with what you said about those cookies. Oh, the salt. Yeah, a little bit of sea salt on that. They're so hidden those Those tortilla chips, I should say, are very good.
01:03:48
Speaker
Also, Brandon and I thought you said potato chips originally. Yeah. We're like, wait, these aren't potato chips. No, they're just chips. You may have just said chips. Yeah.
01:03:59
Speaker
yeah i mean What are you eating here? Potato chips? Those are not potato chips. They're potato. They're potato crisps. But they're chips. But they're not. Because they're not potato crisps. They're not chippies.
01:04:13
Speaker
I want like nine more of these brownies right now. um I think overall, what do you, what is, Matthew, we'll start with you and then Brandon. Matthew, what's your overall impression of this year's Bourbon County release?
01:04:29
Speaker
I think they're, to what you said, I think they're going for things that they know are going to be bangers. Most everything on here, even the ones that sound risky, there are huge groups that let people like pistachio, people that love cherry.
01:04:41
Speaker
um And nothing is going too wild. And I think they pretty much want to make sure that beer industry has been down a little bit this past year. I think they want to make sure that they're...
01:04:53
Speaker
big barrel age releases hitting everything that they want this year i think they're going to do that brandon they want it to sell um yeah well and that's funny because that's one of the questions i asked them i was like you know in the past couple of years has been more sitting on the shelves like well past the the date of or the like the release. The best Christmas.
01:05:14
Speaker
You know, and it's, you know, it was a standard resp response of like we're always evolving and kind of, you know, pushing boundaries. um But I do feel like kind of in agreement, like there're they're coming out with flavors that are going to hit pet Like, people are going to either really like it or really hate it.
01:05:31
Speaker
um But I think there's going to be more people in the camps of liking things than not liking things. So, like, they didn't go crazy with, you know, tea or anything like that this time. But they took some took some challenges with some of the, you know, like, a baklava thing is going be hard to pull off. You know, Cherry's Jubilee is hard. And again, Cherry in general, we talked about that. It's hard to get into a beer. So...
01:05:56
Speaker
I'm excited to see how these all all these all turn out. and then Then, and only then, will I have my official ranking. I think the cherries... yeah I agree with you.
01:06:06
Speaker
I agree with both of you. like I feel like the cherries Jubilee is going to be the one that is the hardest to sell, so to speak. That might be the one where...
01:06:17
Speaker
People are like, oh, I don't know. But everything else I feel like is, there's going hints of this, hints of that, that people are will be able to dial into. and That's a little bit more of the traditional type of bourbon counter you've come to expect when they do like some type of cinnamon thing or a vanilla thing or a chocolate thing or a honey, you know I mean? Like baked things that are just kind of common.
01:06:42
Speaker
And you got the double barrel. So the double barrel reserve, the last reserve stout, what was it, the 2019 reserve? Remember the last prop day we did? yep Where the guy was walking around with the five-gallon keg, giving out the reserve. He's like, it's reserve.
01:06:58
Speaker
And no one knew what reserve it fucking was. yeah Like, there's like 19, 21, or whatever. Like, which one is it? And they've told us it was different ones each time. like, yep yeah okay, well, it's reserve.
01:07:09
Speaker
This reserve sounds specific, and I feel like it will be unmistakable what reserve this is. I agree. So I'm very excited about this year's lineup. Looking forward to it. I'm going to go ahead and, of course, as always, hopefully there's you can either win prop tickets or just buy prop tickets. I do plan on going.
01:07:28
Speaker
um It's just always a good time, so I'm looking forward to that. Also, Brandon, kudos to you for asking hard questions. Like, I know that you guys get to have and try these and speak honestly, but like, yeah, that is, I think, a big question to ask someone. of Like, hey, these these s things have been sitting on the shelf longer. What are you doing about it?
01:07:46
Speaker
So good on you guys for asking that. No, it's good on Brandon. said I was going give him questions, and I didn't.
Closing Remarks & Future Content
01:07:51
Speaker
That was all on Brandon. Good job, Brandon. Thanks, man. Give credit when credit's due, baby. Yeah, like said, overall I think we're all pretty much looking forward to this year's release and I hope everybody else is too. um Matthew, got anything else you want to say?
01:08:06
Speaker
No, just having fun. Excited to see what keeps coming down this year. Brandon, love everybody. Tim, Matt. See everybody next week.
01:08:16
Speaker
We will have something next week. And the week after that, at least. So we got that going for us. Cheers. bye the
01:08:25
Speaker
This has been The Malting Hour. Be sure to follow us on all social media by searching The Malting Hour and at themaltinghour.com. You can also follow us individually on social media. Brandon can be found on Instagram as bmdub81, on Twitter bdub81, and on Untappd as bdubdrinksbeer.
01:08:43
Speaker
Tony can be found on Instagram and Untappd under Ace of Elps Chicago, on Twitter the Ace of Elps Chicago. Clark can be found as Clarkowski on all three. Dan can be found on Instagram as hip underscore underscore hops and to hip hops on YouTube. Be sure to subscribe, like, and rate the show on your preferred podcast listening platform. Until next time, cheers from all of us at the Malting Hour.