Stout Testers

 I have a deep-seated and abiding love for sharing the things I enjoy, and take tremendous pleasure in seeing people take an interest in the thing I share with them, whether it is a creative artist, a movie or album, a boardgame I introduced them to, or even painting miniatures. 

One of the most rewarding examples though was introducing my brother-in-law Jerry to the joy of strong dark beers, particularly Russian Imperial and Bourbon barrel-aged stouts. A few Christmases back we got into some of them and they have become a perennial favourite since. In fact, since moving to Houston Jerry has made a point of picking the limited edition Goose Island Bourbon County stouts that are only available on Black Friday, and has been relentlessly generous in sharing them over the holidays and when I visited him and Tara in October.

Last year at Christmas, I was shocked when gave me a lovely gift box of a vertical tasting of Bourbon Countystouts from 2017, 2018 and 2019. Unlike regular beers strong stouts like these (e.g. 14.2% ABV) can be cellared like a wine for years, increasing in complexity as they mature. Jerry had heard that you were taking your chances once you got past the five-year mark, and had suggested to me that drinking these three lovely bottles might be something to be done sooner, rather than later.

I found two willing testers in Totty and the Rare Hipster, and when I told Jerry earlier in the week that we were tucking into them on Friday, the excitement in his voice was palpable. Quite extraordinary for someone going into the hospital tomorrow night for chemotherapy in preparation for a stem cell transplant!

Before the lads arrived, I printed placemats so that we could have all three vintages served at once without risk of misplacing a glass and having to guess which glass held which year. I had seen this done by the Glenlivet people when I won a chance to drink a 50-year-old single malt.

I decanted the beers into Kolsch glasses - not the best choice for a stout, honestly, but I felt that consistency between the vessels would be critical for identifying different characteristics - and both gentlemen in attendance commented on the rich aroma coming from the tall, thin glasses.

With little preamble beyond talking about the provenance of the Bourbon County brand and reading the copy from the back of the gift box, we tucked into the beers.

In our excitement and zeal we started with the oldest first, which was probably a mistake but WOW, did that 2017 bottle make an impression. Smooth, rich, dark, sweet and strong, with more caramel than chocolate notes as Pete observed, and hints of dark fruit detected by Mike.

Compared to the 2018 and 2019, I felt the mouthfeel was different; smoother and perhaps a touch less carbonation. But honestly, my palate is not sophisticated enough to articulate the differences between the three. I agree with Pete that the 2019 had more of the dark chocolate aftertaste I normally associate with these types of beers, but in truth, the differences in taste and texture were subtle while the flavour and nose were impactful and delicious. 

As the beers warmed, they became even more complex, with the strong boozy taste moving more forward and prompting us to savour each successive sip, and taking deep appreciative sniffs in between.

And of course, giving them high scores and rankings on the beer tracking app we all use, Untappd - apologies for not initially tagging you Jerry!

Perhaps best of all, we had no agenda beyond drinking the beers and enjoying each other's company - no games to set up, no shows to get back to. Languidly draining our Kolsch glasses gave us a long overdue opportunity to catch up at a busy time of year.

All too soon however, the Goose Island beers were gone, and we moved on to some others the lads had brought. I quite enjoyed the Robo Crow imperial stout from Sea Change that Mike had purchased upon release today (and which has a delightful label) and also appreciated the smooth Nitro Milk Stout from Left Hand that Pete had brought. I will have to try them again later, while not under the immediate shadow of something as amazing as the Bourbon County variety.

So much to be grateful for that Friday night - a generous brother-in-law with exemplary taste in beers, the outstanding stouts themselves and having dear friends to share them with. Thanks to all, and to Goose Island for making such amazing beverages!