I've Been Waiting 8 Months for Tonight's Dessert

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Aug. 13, 2011

Eight or nine months ago I was lucky enough to get a fantastic gift from my former bar's Goose Island rep - a half a case of Bourbon County Brand Stout - one of my all time favorite beers and currently ranked as the 64th best beer in the world on Beer Advocate. I gave a few away, put one in as an extra on a beer trade and drank all but one of them, which I was saving for a special occasion.

Shortly after receiving that gift, my wonderful girlfriend surprised me with a bottle of Bourbon County Rare - it is currently rated the 6th best beer in the world.  Then just a few weeks later, my buddy Chris, a former Goose Island employee brought me a bottle of  Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout - a very rare beer, which I have only had the pleasure of tasting twice - once the night Chris gave me the bottle (he brought another one for us to share that night) and once at the brewery.  It supposedly will never be made again.

So with three of Goose Island's finest works of art from the pre-InBev days, I figured the first night that we are finally settled into our new home in Colorado would be a special enough occasion to indulge in that bottle of Bourbon County Stout along with the bottles of Rare, Vanilla and the Night Stalker that I've have had for the past few months as well.

Of course, I will review each beer and post some results on the site for you.  Although, I have already reviewed the regular Bourbon County Stout when I put it up against Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout.

Just as an FYI, since I'm sure some of you will ask and it might be tough to see in the picture, all of these beers are 2010 releases and all were bottled last fall, so they're almost a year old.  I am very excited!

Can Anyone Beat this Selection of American Craft Beers at the Moment?

Posted by: Stonecipher

March 30, 2011

A string of excellent luck, hard work and perseverance over the past month and a half have suddenly led me to have all of this:

This is certainly the best lineup I have ever had at one time.  I fought hard for the KBS, I searched high and low for the Pliny, I traveled over 2,000 miles to bring the Consecration, Oak Aged Yeti and G'Knight home and I schmoozed the right people here in Chicago to get all the Bourbon County stuff.  Funny that it all happened to show up at roughly the same time.

EDIT: For the record, I forgot to include The Abyss in the picture.

I'm curious to hear what everyone else has, if anyone thinks they can best this current collection.

I do have a lot more beer at the moment, multiples of many of these and plenty more from all the breweries represented, but I thought these were the best examples of the most impressive beers out there at the moment.  In case anyone is wondering, here is the list from left to right:

FRONT ROW:
Russian River - Pliny the Elder
Founders - Kentucky Breakfast Stout
Founders - Double Trouble
Lagunitas - Hop Stoopid
Avery - Maharaja
Great Divide - Oak Aged Yeti
Great Divide - Old Ruffian
Russian River - Consecration
Oskar Blues - G'Knight
Goose Island - Bourbon County Brand Stout

BACK ROW:
Goose Island - Rare Bourbon County Stout
Goose Island - Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout