Michigan Trip Beer Review #1

I took a short trip over MLK weekend to Michigan to see family and I made sure to drink some good Michigan beer there. The Texas beer scene is nothing compared to Michigan (Ithaca for that matter). I managed to find a store a quarter mile from our hotel in East Lansing and picked up a mixed pack of great stuff. Here's a review of the first one I drank:

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

This is a beer I've been wanting to try since I started drinking good beer. Early in my beer drinking career I was fortunate to try barrel aged beers, and I liked them very much, already having an affinity for bourbon. So I was incredibly surprised and excited to finally find this one. The next day I even saw they had bombers of it! (too bad I had elected not to check a bag, or I definitely would have taken a bottle home).

And I'm happy to say that it meet my high expectations. It poured totally black and silky and deliciously velvet looking. I had to drink out of highball glass (the only thing available in the hotel) instead of a snifter (both traditional and recommended) so the aroma did suffer a tad, but was still great. A strong and complex smell with bourbon, oaky, vanilly. Booze notes of unrefined vodka and corn whiskey. Then bursts of chocolate- creamy and milky- rounding out a very complex smell.

The taste was sweeter and more boozy, but just as delicious and complex. It actually reminded me of Baileys in terms of the creamy sweet alcohol to it.

This beer really made the trip for me, and rates in my top 10 (not sure where yet...). If you have the chance (like you live in Chicago...) you should go out and find this beer.