Beer of the Moment: Goose Island Cooper Project

Because of its sale to Anheuser–Busch InBev nearly six years ago, Goose Island is a brewery that some consumers love to hate. But that hasn’t stopped hordes of people from lining up early on Black Friday each year for bottles of Bourbon County Brand Stout, a beer that will (maybe) celebrate 25 years this November. Thick and boozy, it’s a great blend of bourbon-soaked wood and stout. Occasionally other treatments are added to the mix.  

After A-B InBev took over the brewery, it purchased a sprawling warehouse facility (see a photo) on the outskirts of Chicago where a few thousand barrels were filled with stout and allowed to gracefully age before its annual release. The space and cooperage also allows the brewers to add some other styles and send these beers out into the world during the rest of the year.

This month, the brewery is releasing the first in the Goose Island Cooper Project, and there are two other beers in the series that will be released later this year. At 8.7%, this first release is a scotch ale that spent four months in bourbon barrels. Clear and dark copper verging on garnet in color, it has aromas of faint baked cherry and a bit of leather. The taste is toffee-forward with a generic red stone fruit and a drying vanilla finish. It’s a fine beer, if a bit cut from the one-size-fits-all cloth. Enjoyable, though unlikely to be as memorable as what came before it.

About Beer of the Moment:

All About Beer Magazine’s Beer of the Moment series aims to find that compass heading in the endless sea of new beers. Whether classic or the current cutting edge, these are fresh releases that inspire, that challenge, that stand for something. They’re why we’re All About Beer.

Think you’ve got something good that might fit the bill for Beer of the Moment? Get in touch via @allaboutbeer on Twitter or Instagram, or email us at [email protected]

 

John Holl is the editor of All About Beer Magazine. 

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