Once again this year, I had the happy privilege of attending the media preview for the Bourbon County Brand Stout 2025 lineup. This year’s event was at Goose Island’s new Salt Shed pub, next to the music venue of the same name.[1]
Our evening started, as it often has, with an “appetizer” pour of Goose’s original flagship, Honker’s Ale. After disappearing from retail beer coolers for a couple a years, this English bitter is once again widely available. I remarked on that to Goose Island President Todd Ahsmann. He explained that Honkers had been in regular production in small batches all this time. While it occasionally turned up at their tap rooms, it was a regular tap handle at McSorley’s Old Ale House in New York City. “It’s sold there as their ‘light ale,’ and we make another ‘dark ale’ for them.
Getting down to the BCS itself. The presentation started with pours of the Original and the two barrel-only variants. Ahsmann noted that this year’s variants were all based on the original imperial stout recipe: no barleywine or exceptions to the grain bill. And each spent two years in Heaven Hill and other bourbon barrels before undergoing additional work.
2025 Bourbon County Brand Original Stout
It’s always fun to come to a new vintage of the beer I first had at the brewpub, when the server asked if I would like to try their 1,000th batch. My impression was a deep bourbon smell, with chocolate and some molasses. Some cherry comes in as well, and some coffee, surrounded by a syrupy thickness. As Ahsman said, it’s a “liquid dessert.” 14.8% abv
2025 Bourbon County Brand Reserve Stout
This variant was given two years in a Parker’s Heritage Rye Whiskey barrel. This rye is a special release named for Heaven Hill master distiller Beam Parker. The 17th edition of this annual release was barrel-aged for 10 years before being refilled with this stout.
The aging in a longer-use barrel gives it more whiskey character, making it an amped up version of the Original. The GI people said they thought the barrels gave the beer a touch of wintergreen, though I couldn’t say I picked that up. 15.4% abv.
2025 Bourbon County Brand Double Barrel Stout
Another beer that took a rest in Heaven Hill barrels. This variant was aged in two different Bottled-in-Bond barrels. The Bottled-in-Bond label means the spirit has been produced entirely at one distillery and aged at least four years in a federally bonded barrel house. The Heaven Hill B-in-B bourbon sat for seven years.
Meaning, I guess, that it had more alcohol-soaked oak to sit in, and more time to lose mass to the “Angel’s Share.” There is noticeable oak in the nose, and a helping of vanilla. A touch of cherry again and coconut cream. I found whiskey in competition with the barrel notes, a smooth whiskey note, and a syrupy thickness that kept the extra alcohol from getting “hot.” There was discernible malt roastiness and even some hop that doesn’t turn up in most imperial stouts.
Brewmaster Daryl Hoedtke noted that the Reserve was measured at 17.8% alcohol by volume, one of the strongest of the Bourbon County line. And Ahsmann said that when Goose Island’s barrel crew gets their freshly dumped barrels, they’re hung upside down for a while, so the last dregs in the barrel can be, um “retrieved” and sampled.
After tasting through the three beers that were distinguished only by the different barrels they sat in, we got a break, and then took on the BCS with additional ingredients. Paul Cade, Goose Island’s Senior Innovation Manager, explained that the extras were added after the base BCS came out of their barrels and had a further rest in stainless. Cade said they had no trouble calling these variant “adjuncts,” since what mattered is whether they came out as intended.
2025 Bourbon County Brand Chocolate Praline Stout
To the original marzipan notes claimed for Bourbon County Stout, this variant saw an addition of cocoa nibs, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews and dates. And yes, I did get some light chocolate in the nose, more that the average imperial stout might have, plus some coconut and nuttiness. The taste did not carry as much nut with it, but there was, instead, some caramel impressions. The dates, Paul said, were added to contribute the caramel impression, and to balance the fatty acids from nuts that can interfere with the flavor. 14.6%
In answer to a question, Cade said that yes, they do have to account for nut allergies when formulating and brewing this beer. “One of the servers in our tap room had to get a day off while we were preparing the nuts.” This batch involved roasting, but not salting, 11,500 pounds of nuts.
2025 Bourbon County Brand Cherries Jubilee Stout
After its bourbon barrel rest, this batch was finished in cognac barrels with Montmorency cherry puree and concentrate, citrus and panela cane sugar. The idea is an impression of flambé cherries in cognac. 14.5%.
The nose has a light fruity blend to it. Not quite the same as the occasional cherry nose in some imperial stouts. The taste has a definite cognac taste, and more cherries plus sugar. There’s also some orange in the finish and a suggestion of the oaken cask.
2025 Bourbon County Brand Proprietor’s Stout
As always, the recipe for the Chicago-only Proprietor’s BCS was chosen from ideas submitted by Goose Island employees. This year’s suggestion was from brewer Colby Magratten, inspired by a baklava. This mix uses walnuts, pistachios, cassia bark and honey.
I get some nuttiness in the nose, which doesn’t always happen with nut-infused beers. Then perhaps some prune danish. The taste over a lovely cinnamon roll impression, with a little nuttiness on the side, plus vanilla. And then cinnamon comes punching in.
The evening did not quite wind down after the sixth guided tasting. We got a “one more thing…”
King Henry II Barrel-Aged Barley Wine
We kind of thought this pleasant surprise might pop up. This is the return of King Henry, first released in 2011 after aging in Pappy van Winkle barrels used previously for Bourbon County Stout. The 2025 version spent a year in barrels that had previously aged Bourbon County Rare.
What was I still able to write down? It’s a blackish brown as opposed to the deep black of a stout. It has more alcohol in the nose, and a fuller malt taste, with barrel character harder to trace out. A note of honey makes for a smooth barley wine taste.
Somewhere in the midst of this beer sampling, we also got to meet some Heaven Hill representatives, who were pouring tastes of their bourbon, and some simple cocktails. We were also treated to a dinner from the pub’s kitchen, topped by the huge beef rib pictured above. That was almost more than I could manage.
Entrance of Goose Island's Salt Shed Pub. They brought over the neon from the Clybourn Brewpub.
This was my first visit to the Salt Shed Pub, which has replaced the original Clybourn Ave. brewpub. They had managed to reinstall all the original’s brewing equipment there, and several of the familiar fixtures were spotted, like the original “BREWERY” neon sign. And the view of the Chicago River is a nice bonus. There may be less public space overall, but that makes it a bit more cozy. I still have not seen the Salt Shed concert venue, though my teenager has, at a Bikini Kill show.
I think I see the intent of the new pub, besides taking the opportunity to become associated with a new venue in the city, is to help match some of the amenities from the many breweries and taprooms that have opened since Goose Island started out in 1988.
[1] Family stuff kept me from attending last year’s, but that just freed me up to go to the Festival of Wood and Barrel-Aged Beer. My attempt at self-control means I can attend one or the other.
