Goose Island Bourbon County Stout 2024 Lineup, Ranked and Reviewed

November has arrived, and for barrel-aged beer enthusiasts, Thanksgiving takes a back seat to Black Friday — and not because of the deals.

Goose Island Bourbon County season is here, folks. Goose Island, the Chicago brewery renowned for its incredibly popular Bourbon County barrel-aged stout lineup that launches the day after Thanksgiving each year, unveiled 2024’s lineup in August.

Less than a month ahead of the release date, we had a chance to sample the lineup, and we’re here to report back with our thoughts.

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout Lineup 2024 Ranked and Reviewed

Listen: All of the Bourbon County variants are excellent stouts, as is the case every year. We’re only noting that because it should be made clear that we’re ranking these from very good to stellar.

6. 2024 Bourbon County Brand Original Stout

(Photo: Goose Island)

Original is the lone mainstay among a lineup of shifting variants. This year’s edition contains 14.7% ABV, a slight bump from last year’s (last year’s Original actually came in two varieties, one at 14.1% ABV and the other at 14.6%). 2024 Original was aged for an average of 16 months in a blend of bourbon barrels from four of Kentucky’s biggest and best distilleries: Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill, Four Roses and Wild Turkey.

On the nose, dry, roasty cacao notes abound, joined by fig, caramel and fudge. OThe palate is pleasantly oaky with a moderate mouthfeel and delivers notes of semisweet chocolate, orange peel, cherry, caramel, raisin, fudge and espresso. The finish is oaky with barrel char, bittersweet chocolate and a faint pop of citrus.

Overall, this is a really nice edition of Bourbon County Original and my favorite in recent memory. It’s a decadent, chocolatey delight.

5. 2024 Bourbon County Brand Proprietor’s Barleywine

(Photo: Goose Island)

Each year since 2013, the Bourbon County lineup has included one “Proprietor’s” bottling, which is only available in the Chicago market, Goose Island’s home turf. This year’s is the first Proprietor’s Barleywine to date. It’s also the wackiest Prop release I can recall.

The source of inspiration for this one was Goose Island brewer Colby Magratten’s affinity for Mexican spoon candy. Attempting to bring forth those flavors, Goose Island infused this beer with tamarind, lime zest, whole Guajillo chile peppers and piloncillo, an unrefined cane sugar typically found in Latin America.

The result is a truly wild 14.7%-ABV barleywine.

The nose on this barleywine is fairly muted, with notes of coffee, cocoa and hints of lime and apple.

As quiet as the nose is, the palate is anything but, immediately blasting you with citrus and fruit. Dark chocolate, coffee, cocoa powder and oak are met with prominent watermelon, lime zest, and serious pepper. There’s actually some real spiciness that continues to build, which is a lot of fun.

That spice carries on during a super long finish. The watermelon flavor continues, joined by faint barrel char, cocoa and coffee.

The distinct watermelon profile likely comes from the tamarind. According to Goose Island Sr. Innovation Manager Mike Siegel, Goose Island used two types of tamarind in the making of this beer, one with an earthy profile and the other with a “watermelon-fruity” character.

All in all, this is a lovely beer, but it may not be for everyone, which makes it tricky to rank; I considered placing it as high as No. 3 on this list, but in the end, drinkability is a factor, and the fruitiness and spicy character make it less sessionable than some of the entries that wound up placing higher than it. It’s probably the most complex of the lineup, though, and I very much enjoyed it.

4. 2024 Bourbon County Brand Bardstown Cask Finish Stout

(Photo: Goose Island)

This year, Goose Island worked with Bardstown Bourbon Company, one of Kentucky’s very best relatively new whiskey producers. Goose Island aged this stout in straight rye whiskey barrels from Bardstown Bourbon Co. and then transferred the beer to “hybrid” oak and cherry wood barrels that were used to finish Bardstown Bourbon Co.’s Origin Series Rye Whiskey.

These hybrid barrels are called “zebra” barrels and were crafted by Bardstown Bourbon Co. by West Virginia Great Barrel Company. Toasted cherry wood staves and American oak staves are alternated in the formation of the barrel.

The nose on this stout is sweet and relatively light and fluffy, with notes of slivered almonds, chocolate croissant, French toast, deep cherry, vanilla, chocolate malt balls, speculoos, a touch of cinnamon and a hint of leather.

On the palate, Cask Finish has a moderate, creamy mouthfeel. The palate doesn’t retain that light character from the nose, but the French toast character does return, joined by caramel, cocoa, big-time cherry, cinnamon, char, oak and tannin. This is lovely stuff, and also the oakiest of this year’s lineup. A hefty dose of oak delivers a fair amount of bitterness, so anyone not a fan of that may struggle with this variant.

The finish lingers with ash, dark chocolate, smoked oak, cinnamon and plenty of char.

Bottled at 16% ABV, 2024’s Cask Finish Stout ultimately fails to reach the heights of its predecessor, 2023’s Cask Finish release, which was matured in Angel’s Envy barrels and took the top spot on our 2023 Bourbon County rankings. This is largely due to a lack of balance; the oak is harsh and somewhat overpowering, which will likely make this a contentious beer among enthusiasts. I enjoy it a good deal, but not as much as some of the other entries in this year’s lineup.

3. 2024 Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Rye Stout

(Photo: Goose Island)

Made with Madagascar vanilla beans and aged in rye whiskey barrels, Goose Island’s Vanilla Rye Stout is sure to excite big Bourbon County fans, some of whom have been waiting for something like this since 2018’s Vanilla Stout (which was aged in bourbon barrels).

“We think that sweeter profile for the beer going into the barrel lends itself really well for vanilla,” Siegel said. “We use 100 percent Madagascar vanilla bean. This year, we sourced it pre-chopped into pieces just to expose the inside — the caviar, if you will; the really good stuff.”

According to Siegel, Goose Island always opts to use whole beans rather than an extract for its vanilla products.

“When you use the whole bean … there’s something about vanilla that’s just, the aroma is absolutely intoxicating — not the alcohol, the aroma,” Siegel said.

The base for the beer is Goose Island’s rye stout, which leans on the sweeter side thanks to its 31% rye content, which is a mix of malted rye, caramel rye and chocolate rye.

The lowest-ABV beer in this year’s lineup at 14%, the Vanilla Rye Stout is sweet and extremely light on the nose. Aromas of marshmallow fluff, French vanilla, almond, fluffy sugar cookies and crème brûlée arise. The viscosity is excellent — thick and milkshake-esque. The palate offers flavors of almond, crème brûlée and plenty of vanilla. Oak and tannin interplay beautifully with the light, sweet notes. The palate starts off sweet, then takes you on a dark and tannic journey, only to finish with more sweetness.

On the finish, marshmallow fluff and sugar cookies return, joined by initial notes of chocolate and coffee grounds, which are quickly followed by oak and French vanilla.

Overall, this is a total sweetness bomb. It’s not extremely complex, but it is extremely tasty.

2. 2024 Bourbon County Brand Macaroon Stout

(Photo: Goose Island)

This beauty of a stout was purportedly the brainchild of Goose Island employee Paul Spiller, who wanted to capture memories of late nights in the kitchen with his mother, baking macaroons.

The 2024 Bourbon County Brand Macaroon Stout starts with the same base as the Original Stout — a 16-month aged bourbon barrel stout. After that aging process, Goose Island added Ghanaian cocoa nibs, candied ginger, ginger juice and 14,500 pounds of toasted coconut chips.

This stout doesn’t jump out of the glass, but a subtle nose delivers notes of prominent coconut, cocoa, coffee and fresh-baked cookies.

On the palate, this stout has a thick, creamy texture and notes of sweet coconut, cocoa, coffee and light oak. It’s extremely reminiscent of a chocolate-coated pastry. My mind goes to a dark chocolate-coated biscotti, but I can see macaroon, too.

The finish has coffee, chocolate and — ah, there’s the ginger! Huge gingerbread note on the finish that’s extremely pleasant.

This is probably the easiest-drinking member of the lineup due to its low dose of oak and tannin. There’s little bitter pushback; it’s straightforward and sweet but not too sweet. The coconut is present but not overwhelming, and the ginger is noticeable but mild.

This is a great stout that’s easy to sip and lovely all the way through. This is the surprise of the lineup for me. It takes unorthodox ingredients (coconut, ginger) and creates something delicious and incredibly easy to enjoy.

1. 2024 Bourbon County Brand Rare Stout

(Photo: Goose Island)

Goose Island introduced its first “Rare” stout in 2010, and then released it again in 2015. This is just the third “Rare” release to date. This imperial rye stout (same base beer as the Vanilla Rye Stout) was aged for a full year in barrels that were used to age Brown-Forman’s King of Kentucky Bourbon, an annual release from Brown-Forman (which you may know from brands like Old Forester, Jack Daniel’s and Woodford Reserve). King of Kentucky is a highly sought-after bourbon (click here to check out our review of 2024’s King of Kentucky Bourbon), which makes this stout release a pretty cool one.

Anyhow, after that full year of aging, the stout was then transferred to another set of King of Kentucky bourbon barrels, where it matured for another full year.

According to Siegel, the King of Kentucky casks were used to age bourbon for between 15 and 18 years.

“Something I told the team: Just because we get some rare barrels and some rare bourbon, [it] doesn’t mean automatically that the beer is gonna turn out to be worthy of the name,” Goose Island President Todd Ahsmann said. “So, this one did turn out ridiculously delicious in my opinion, and worthy of that name, Rare.”

On the nose, this rye stout presents wafts of vanilla, cinnamon, malt, milk chocolate, orange peel, caramel, nougat and cherry.

On the palate, 2024 Bourbon County Brand Rare Stout has an incredible, chewy viscosity. Big oak and tannin notes are joined by lovely, velvety chocolate, French vanilla, cappuccino, Luxardo cherry and spiced apple bake.

The sip concludes with chocolate mousse, more cherry, oak and tannin, and biscotti.

This is a spectacular, viscous stout. Rich flavors and oaky goodness join forces to deliver a decadent expression.

The most potent of the lineup at 18% ABV, this beer will be extremely limited and available only on-premise Black Friday at Goose Island locations in Chicago. Happy hunting!