The Goose Island Bourbon County Stout Has A New Holy Grail: A Beer Aged For Two Years In Parker’s Heritage Barrels

You can almost feel it in the air.

A slight shift in the beer-o-sphere. Somewhere, a guy in cargo shorts who’s been lying to himself that hard seltzers don’t taste like carbonated wood glue just updated his “to try” spreadsheet. A group chat dedicated entirely to fantasy football, poker, bass fishing, and trading beer or bourbon just exploded with “ISO:Goose Island BCBS” messages.

The annual bat signal for beer and bourbon cultists has gone up. A new Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout family is officially coming. The announcement was made today.

But first, some backstory. How did Goose Island Bourbon County Stouts become so obsessed over and cult-like in the craft beer world?

For over 30 years, Goose Island has been the undisputed OG of bourbon barrel-aged stouts. They literally invented the category after the Great American Beer Fest told them their beer didn’t fit into any existing style at the annual October craft beer dork fest in Denver. It’s proof that the most innovative stuff, whether it’s beer or music, often defies easy categorization, like Sturgill Simpson or Tyler Childers, two of Kentucky’s finest cultural exports of the moment.

Goose Island Bourbon County Stouts have become the annual release that beer geeks and whiskey lovers circle on their calendars with their fantasy football draft. For 2025, the theme is “metamorphosis.” That’s a fancy word for “we found new ways to put delicious, boozy liquid in a bottle that’s difficult to categorize.”

Part of the fun of being a Bourbon County cultist is the annual walk down memory lane. We’ve seen some wild swings over the years in how we’ve covered it on this very website.

Who could forget the divisive Classic Cola stout from 2021? Or 2022’s Two-Year Biscotti Stout, which was basically a cookie in a bottle. Or 2023’s Angel’s Envy 2-Year Cask Finish Stout? Last year brought back the legendary Backyard Stout with its blend of berries. Every year is a new adventure, a new “what were they thinking?” that usually turns into “wow, they actually pulled it off.”

Let’s start with the patriarch, the Goose Island Bourbon County Original Stout. This year, it comes with a development. For the first time ever, the classic is being released in 10-ounce four-pack bottles. Goose Island’s president, Todd Ahsmann, says it’s about making the beer easier to enjoy for “life’s little moments.” I’m pretty sure that’s corporate-speak for “now you can responsibly enjoy one on a Tuesday night without having to call in sick the next day.” I don’t know, though. I’m just a blogger, a career plant manager at a content factory. I haven’t had a corporate job in 15 years.

The recipe, aged in a murderer’s row of barrels from bourbon en masse cult favorites like Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill, Four Roses, and Wild Turkey, remains unchanged. It’s still packed with that fudge and vanilla-tasting deliciousness.

Now, for the mad science experiments. Goose Island Brewmaster Daryl Hoedtke says the Original is “always our starting point,” and this year’s variants take that foundation and run wild.

First up is the Goose Island Bourbon County Cherries Jubilee Stout. Inspired by the classic flaming dessert, this beer is finished in cognac barrels, which makes it sound fancy enough to serve at a party where people discuss things other than whether this is finally the year Kyle Pitts breaks out. It would certainly class up my fantasy draft, which usually ends in a buffalo wing-eating contest.

Next in the dessert tray is the Goose Island Bourbon County Chocolate Praline Stout, which leans into the nutty, marzipan notes that develop in an aged stout by layering in cocoa nibs, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, and dates. It sounds like an old-school Southern candy shop in a bottle.

And for the lucky folks in Chicago in close proximity to the Goose Island brewery, there’s Proprietor’s Stout. This year, it’s inspired by baklava, a brilliant idea from brewer Colby Magratten, who was inspired by the beehives at her aunt’s place. It’s got walnuts, pistachios, cinnamon, and honey, making it a cozy, nutty hug in liquid form.

This year, the real headline for the hopsheads and whiskey geeks is the deep dive into barrel collaborations. As Senior Innovation Manager Mike Siegel puts it, “we consider the barrel to be an ingredient.” This year, that ingredient comes from a very good friend: Heaven Hill.

The Goose Island Bourbon County Double Barrel Stout is aged in two separate sets of Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond barrels. For the uninitiated, the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897 is a government-backed guarantee of quality. It means the whiskey was made by one distiller at a single distillery in one season, aged for at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse, and bottled at exactly 100 proof. It was the original way to say “this whiskey is the real deal,” so to double-barrel a stout in those barrels is a brewer’s way of showing off. The beer drinks like a brag, with lots of barrel character, with huge notes of toasted marshmallow and oak.

And finally, there’s the crown jewel: Goose Island Bourbon County’s Parker’s Heritage Reserve Stout. This beer was aged for a full two years in hyper-coveted 17th Edition Parker’s Heritage 10-year-old rye whiskey barrels. This is the kind of beer you bust out to impress your father-in-law. Heaven Hill’s Master Distiller, Conor O’Driscoll, notes that the “classic rye baking spice notes complement the chocolate and coffee notes in the beer.” Who am I to argue with a Master Distiller? Sounds way more important than a blog factory plant manager.

So there you have it.

Goose Island is once again proving that while they may have created the game, they’re not done playing it. It’s a lineup that respects its roots while getting weird in all the right ways.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go clear some space in my fridge.