I had it all planned out. I was going to make it a point to go to New Trail Brewing in Williamsport to get their Holiday Cookie Hazy IPA to review tonight. Why you ask? Because it was family cookie baking night in the Mohr household. It just made sense. I had a 4 pack. Well, more like 2 since I had a few ahead of time, but that's besides the point. My whole plan to review that beer got flipped upside down at approximately 11AM this morning when my brother-in-law told me to call an audible. He was bringing some tasty treats instead.
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| Can't argue with that!! |
Every year, my in-laws get together at our place and the kids help decorate some cookies. Tonight was that night where we throw some sugar cookie cutouts and gingerbread men in the oven after throwing sprinkles all over the place. The kids even did gingerbread houses this year. They look pretty good!
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| Benny, the elf, makes his annual blog appearance too. |
Among the treats my brother-in-law and I enjoyed together were Golden Thing (a DIPA from Troegs), Nuts for You (a PB stout I grabbed from Tavour from Zaftig Brewing Co.) and we did sample the Holiday Cookie from New Trail. I'll review that one another day as I still have a can left from my 4 pack I snagged.
When he arrived, I couldn't help but notice the larger bottle that was all black with a noticeable lack of a label except for the neck of the bottle. I'm talking about the 2018 release of Goose Island's Bourbon County Brand Stout. This thing drops every Black Friday and usually runs about $13-15 for a 16.9 ounce bottle.
Ever since BA InBev purchased Goose Island in 2011 to start to share some of the craft beer market, folks I follow in some Facebook groups basically disowned Goose Island, saying that it was no longer craft beer. To be honest, I truly don't care who owns a brewery. If someone "sells out to the man," so to speak, because they have good beer and a large international conglomerate appreciates that and pays you for it, I can't blame them. If the beer doesn't change and now you have backing from someone who essentially has a never-ending supply of cash. That's just a no-brainer in my book.
Since my brother-in-law footed the bill for this bottle, I'll definitely have to make sure to share the wealth come Christmas Eve and take a few good selections to his place to enjoy.
Tonight's 2018 edition of BCBS clocks in at a hefty 15.2% ABV. Don't worry, I sipped it for about 90 minutes...I'm good.
A jet black pour came with a very beautiful mahogany and creamy colored head. The aroma I'm supposed to get, according to the bottle are "intense aromas of charred oak, vanilla, caramel and smoke." According to my notes, I got some charred caramel with the vanilla. There was a slightly smoky note to it, but I would have overlooked that if it weren't for the bottle notes. There was a sweet bourbon aroma with some boozy alcohol to round things out.
As for the flavor, this sucker is thick. There are flavors all over the place in each sip. The best way I can summarize the flavor was a thick, almost chewy caramel malt with chocolate and slight coffee bitterness. Some syrupy molasses and sweet bourbon round out the flavor profile. For the record, it pairs well with a gingerbread cookie!
If you're up for spending a few bucks on a beer and want to treat yourself to a very well made stout, this one is something that I believe you need to try. I had a variant from 2013 a few weeks ago that I let sit and it was still very good. The boozy heat from a 13% ABV + beer mellowed out significantly and was still very enjoyable. The bottle for the 2018 version notes that flavors will develop in the bottle for up to 5 years. I'd bet that if you have the willpower to let it sit and develop, you'll be good even after that time period comes and goes.
Rest up. We still have some work to do yet this month! Cheers!
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