Bourbon Country Stout & Hop Stoopid

My cousin swung by with this beer last night and we tried it out. In one word, viscous. This stout is 13%abv, brewed, fermented, then aged in bourbon barrels. Nose in the glass, my first thought was definitely bourbon. Really strong alcohol scent. First sip, heavy, almost burning sensation. The aged flavor of this beer was okay but presented itself to me as if they had dumped a little liquid smoke in the wort.

Final thought, interesting idea but overdone. If the final abv was a bit lower I think it could have been more enjoyable.

Followed that up with a glass of water, then Lagunitas Hop Stoopid Ale. Holy ****! That beer was fantastic. Clocking in at 8%abv, with a posted OG1.085, 102 IBU, this beer blew my inner hops lover out of the seat. Great aroma, my wide was laughing at me for sniffing my beer the entire time I drank it. The bottle ended way to soon, I'm going back for more today.

Good sampling night! Cheers!

I love Hop Stoopid. My neighborhood grocery store carries 22's of it just for me.

Hop stoopid is one of my favorites. I live in Winnipeg where only IPA wecan get is a half pints(micro brew) and it is fantastic! But I picked up a hop stoopid in Denver and I wanna move to Denver just for that!

Hop Stoopid is a great beer and really inexpensive. Whole foods near me carries 22oz bombers for $3.99.

I've had a few bourbon county stouts and I can say they are much enhanced by being served in a snifter. I actually use a brandy snifter to drink it in and when compared with a regular snifter the nose is much more enhanced and contributes a lot to the beer. It also improves a little as it warms. One of my favorites and reserved for special occasions.

Out of curiosity, who's BCBS was it? Was it Goose Island's? I've had the one they brew before. Holy carp! One sip has enough flavor to fill a six pack of regular beer. I saw that it was 13%ABV so I was thinking I should be careful. It took me almost 2 hours to drink it! I have 2 bottles left from 2008 that I have been allowing to sit because I want to see how it develops. the first time I poured it, I thought it looked like motor oil. What an incredible creation!

I had the Hops Stoopid just the other night. I was actually a little surprised that it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. I really liked it, but to me it tasted a little... one dimensional (if that makes sense). Still a great beer, I was just a little sad.

I agree with Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout needing to be sipped in a snifter. I like it at room temp or maybe a little cooler. But not chilled.

For the record, it is Bourbon County which Goose Island makes not Bourbon Country.

It was Goose Island. I'm willing to give it another go from the correct glass and a little warmer temp. We cracked it about 10 min out of the fridge using pint glasses (all I had available to me at the time)

And yes, Bourbon County, not Country.

Already got my Hop Stoopids for tonight.. Fight night, oh yeah!

Bourbon County Stout is terrible. I think its good to a very select few. A lot of beer geeks tell me how great it is. I might be wrong but I am pretty sure they are posers. I gave it a fair shake and still ended dumping about 6 ounces of it, I never ever do that.

JNye said:

Bourbon County Stout is terrible. I think its good to a very select few. A lot of beer geeks tell me how great it is. I might be wrong but I am pretty sure they are posers. I gave it a fair shake and still ended dumping about 6 ounces of it, I never ever do that.

Click to expand...

In what way was it terrible? I am very picky about Stouts and GI Bourbon County is awesome IMO. Don't bother trying Founders KBS or Brooklyn Black Ops if you haven't. They are also awesome.

Brooklyn Black Ops, sounds interesting. Is that another bourbon aged? The GI BC was just really overwhelming, a "try too hard" kind of situation IMO, but then again it's a big beer and it's about pushing limits so I can totally respect the detection they were going.

P.S. I'm from STL so it pains me to say this but.. I think Devon is about to get a beating from Bradley

I mean if it's the 2010 version it's probably going to be a little hot. It's a big beer aged in bourbon barrels. Black Ops fresh was the same way (yes it's also aged in bourbon barrels). They only get better with age. Personally I don't mind the hotness. It's just warm to me, and a lot of times I think it works well in big beers. I guess I'm just used to drinking bourbon straight.

ODaniel said:

I mean if it's the 2010 version it's probably going to be a little hot. It's a big beer aged in bourbon barrels. Black Ops fresh was the same way (yes it's also aged in bourbon barrels). They only get better with age. Personally I don't mind the hotness. It's just warm to me, and a lot of times I think it works well in big beers. I guess I'm just used to drinking bourbon straight.

Click to expand...

It was brewed in September 10 so it was definitely premature.. I saved the bottle, I'll post the actual date later once I get home

mine was 2009, derank it right before christmas. I like Founders KBS. I think Odaniel said it right. GI just took it to the extreme. Its overly sweet, it tasted like it was unfermented to me. It was hot, but on a beer that big I don't mind, I expect that. I don't have a problem with people liking it, but literally i have heard alot of praise for this beer, it just kinda annoys me sometimes that people will say its great if its huge and aged in barrels.

9/24/2010 So it was VERY young. I'm guessing some of the qualities I found harsh would settle down if we would have waited to say early summer. I'll probably grab another bottle if I cross it and give it 6+ months and see if it makes a difference. Usually big beers don't bother me, I'm prepared for what I'm getting into; BC caught me with my guard down.

Always got a second chance for beer though

I also was not a fan of the Goose Islands Bourbon stout. I really felt the bourbon overpowered anything else. Mine i tried was a 2009 or 08.

I'm having issues finding Hop Stoopid right now in my area! My local liquor mart called their distributor and supposedly Stoopid is on a 30 day back order with no confirmation of order fulfillment abroad.

That sucks.. Anyone want to confirm this in another location or is this guy pulling my leg?

St. Louis, MO