On Oct. 21, Goose Island hosted a tasting of the highly anticipated 2025 Bourbon County Stout collection. Fall is peak stout season, and few beers are more cold-weather-friendly than the Chicago Brewery’s culty annual lineup that celebrates the relationship between bourbon and whiskey.
News of the collection made headlines in July, and Goose Island announced it was releasing 10-ounce expressions of its flagship bourbon barrel stout. In years past, Goose Island’s Bourbon County Lineup has opened the doors for collaboration with some legendary bourbon brands, including
Four Roses and Wild Turkey. For this year’s collaboration, the brand chose none other than the iconic Heaven Hill distillery.
How Goose Island is Fighting the Craft Beer ‘Slump’
It’s an interesting time for craft beer and the broader alcohol industry. News of closures, bankruptcy filings, strikes, and layoffs dominate the trades. Like many industries, the beverage industry is facing a crisis that feels existential. The week of the tasting, on Oct. 20, Molson Coors announced that it was cutting approximately 9% of its workforce as part of a corporate restructuring plan. Such news could have cast a shadow over the tasting, but Goose Island President Todd Ahsmann had a different perspective.
“The headlines are out there saying that beer is in a little bit of a slump, so I think beer needs some good news these days,” said Ahsmann. “And for me… beer is fun, beer brings people together. But we need to bring the romance back to beer, and I can’t think of a better lineup and a better beer to really put some romance behind it.”
Ahsmann had a point about bringing the romance back to beer. The brand leaves no stone unturned in the production process for its Bourbon County lineup. The Chicago brewery ages these beers in the selected bourbon casks in a non-temperature-controlled warehouse. They experience climate fluctuations that influence the final character of the liquid, much like the narrative-driven and critically acclaimed craft whiskeys from brands like Milam & Greene.
A True Passion Project Bringing ‘Craft’ to Craft Beer
A lot of passion goes into these beers, and Goose Island implements innovative finishing processes for some expressions. For this year’s lineup the brewing team used ingredients like pistachios, honey, and cassia bark. The mind behind some of these distinctive recipes is none other than Paul Cade, Goose Island’s Innovation Manager. According to Ahsmann, Cade is the “mad scientist,” who comes up with Goose Island’s expressions, particularly within the more experimental adjunct variant releases. Goose Island’s Head of Innovation, Mike Siegel, helps source these distinctive ingredients. Sometimes, team will go so far as to taste 30 different types of pistachios before using them in the recipes of certain releases.
These aren’t just your average, 4% ABV beers that you pop open after a long day and drink without thinking. They’re characterful and nothing short of delicious, but they do have quite strong ABVs that range up to 17%, which means they can sneak up on you if you’re not careful. But what Goose Island is accomplishing here is very similar to what boutique winemakers are doing within the natural wine sphere. The beers are a beautiful, narrative-driven product that are meant to be enjoyed and talked about. Goose Island’s approach may be the answer to craft beer getting out of its slump.
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout Lineup 2025
2025 Bourbon County Stout
What makes this year’s Bourbon County Stout unique is that it is the base beer for the lineup. For this stout, Goose Island worked with a British strain of yeast, which really takes to big and bold stouts. The first thing we noticed about this beer was its thick, gorgeous, and luscious texture. There’s a beautiful interplay of baked chocolate cake with deep, dark espresso. Fruits like dried cranberries make an appearance, and there is just a light touch of that whiskey bourbon character. It’s a decadent, chocolatey dream you’ll want to dip into all year long. As far as pairings are concerned, we recommend pairing it with a juicy burger, with blue cheese and caramelized onions.
2025 Double Barrel Stout
For this year’s Double Barrel, Goose Island chose to double-barrel-age the base beer in Heaven Hill Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon Barrels. The purpose of this release is to show that “a barrel is an ingredient,” according to the brand. This year’s Double Barrel Stout is a true celebration of whiskey and all of its complexities. We picked up on a bit more confectioner’s sugar here, coupled with some salted caramel drizzled throughout. As far as pairings are concerned, think rich, hearty, soul-warming meals. This would be a decadent pairing with homemade beef bourguignon.
2025 Bourbon County Brand Reserve Stout
This is a 2-year reserve stout that spent time aging in Heaven Hill’s Parker’s Heritage Collection 17th Edition. According to Goose Island, this is the first time the brewing brand has worked with Parker’s Heritage barrels, and it’s been a longtime dream to work with barrels that have aged Heaven Hill’s widely-coveted whiskey. For that particular edition of Parker’s Heritage, the distillery made a rye whiskey, and that rye whiskey component adds a wintergreen and spice to the beer, which we’ll admit, we haven’t experienced much during our beer adventures. This beer is all mint chocolate, herbs, black fruit like figs, and deep, dark espresso. As far as pairings are concerned, consider amplifying the herbaceous qualities — a delicious steak with chimichurri sauce and mashed potatoes.
2025 Chocolate Praline Stout
Goose Island shared that this particular beer is meant to highlight some of the chocolatey and nutty characteristics that already exist within Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout. This release features a very heavy chocolate character and was made with 11,500 pounds of nuts. Three different nuts were used for this release: almonds, cashews, and filberts — or hazelnuts. There’s no shortage of nuttiness with this release, and it has that distinctive, pecan-like flavor one would associate with pralines. As far as pairings are concerned, we recommend a slice of pecan pie with a dollop of creamy ice cream.
2025 Bourbon County Brand Cherries Jubilee Stout
For Goose Island’s Cherries Jubilee Stout, the brand took its inspiration by this old-school flambéed dessert. Like the other beers, Goose Island took its Bourbon County Stout and finished it in cognac barrels, to give it just a slight citrusy kick. There’s a connection between this release and the flagship involving those delicious red fruit qualities, and it’s quite a pretty release. This luscious beer, like its counterparts, takes a confectionery approach. Rich and chewy, it was like a liquid version of a black forest cake with a nice tart finish. For this release, Goose Island finished the beer in cognac barrels with Montmorency cherries. If you’re thinking about having duck this holiday season, we recommend pairing it with this celebratory beer, you won’t be disappointed.
2025 Bourbon County Brand Proprietor’s Stout
Baklava lovers will fall hard for this distinctive release. Goose Island refers to this beer, in addition to its siblings, Cherries Jubilee and Chocolate Praline, as the “adjunct variants.” These beers are a bit more experimental, and this release is undeniably different. Goose Island’s Bourbon Barrel Stout underwent a finishing process with walnuts and pistachios. Cassia bark and honey were also added to the final beer, making the release a liquid version of baklava — and somehow? It really works. A rich and layered symphony of pistachios, cinnamon, and honey, this release is wild, but we’re definitely here for it. For pairings, we recommend leaning into the concept of like going with like as far as this beer is concerned. Consider pairing this beer with some beef shawarma, kefta or a lamb burger.
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