Goose Island, Bourbon County Brand Stout 2012

Recently, it's been quite rare for me to write about a beer I've only just drunk. (Typically, I'm having to work my way through a backlog of unphotographed beers sitting in a Sainsbury's bag under my sink.) However, with this beer I felt reasonably compelled to get my thoughts up online relatively quickly, the main reason being, I think, that I need some feedback to sort of contextualise my feelings about this beer, their basically being the polar opposite of views of the the majority.

Basically: ratebeer/untappd/beer advocate etc etc all rate this beer as more or less flawless. I disliked it. In fact I think I disliked it more than I've disliked any other beer I've ever had.

Now, regardless of what you think about the various beer rating websites, they do offer some sort of (relatively) helpful gauge when you go to seek out new beer. (My way is: I fancy an impy stout, I take a coffee break to browse beers of europe then I copy and paste the beer titles into google and skim read the various reviews, see which ones paint the best picture.) I suppose this is a vary internet-centric way of doing things, but at least I'm doing my best to try new beers right? Whatever. The Goose Island stout receives 100s across the board. Barrel aged in oak bourbon barrels (for 4 years I think? No, that can't be right....) and 15% abv. The Americans seems to absolutely love this, reviews range from the moderately impressed to the fanatical.

For me: very, very oily, the liquid glistens under the tungsten lights in our house when poured. Very, very black and treacly in colour with a head the exact colour of a caramac. Medium carbonation. Nose off the bottle is heavy, heavy liquorice. The taste, for me, is an aberration: very, very sweet. Beyond sweet. Really very actually quite ugly. Very smooth, but otherwise it seemed so unrefined to my palette: a vicious vanilla bombardment and liquorice strafing. 0% hops, 0% bitterness (and therefore, to my mind, 0% balance), 0% tar/smoke/charcoal. The merest hint of dark fruit, no coffee, no burnt/roasted malts. I know that when they warm up, impy stouts get sweet. I refrigerate mine, start them off cold so that the last third of the drink warms up and the sweetness comes in last (the Magic Rock version gets this right for me - their bitterness is well intact). This was über sweet from the outset and only got sweeter.

I'm slightly (but only slightly) ashamed to say that this was offered up to the drain goblins. It took me well over an hour of wrestling with my conscience (and with the drink itself) before I could justify pouring the best part of a £7/bottle away.

So, in light of how this beer is more generally received (i.e 100s across the board): am I being fair? I've recently been informed (reliably so I believe) that you can't really expect a beer at 15% abv not to be sweet. (This apparently is true for impy IPAs too.) I can get that, but nevertheless, this drink was simply unpleasant for me. I suppose if you like stouts, if you like liquorice, vanilla, if you like desert wines (or sweet wines in general) then this could be for you. Maybe if the bottle was shared out amongst a few people, served in a large shot glass to be sipped like a digestif with a pudding/desert, it could be good? As a beer to drink by oneself in an evening, no. Absolutely not. I just couldn't recommend it at all. Sorry.

Please, please: if I've offended you, if you've got a salient point, if you're sure I've got this wrong (or perhaps if you think my bottle was past its best) - tell me!