Goose Island BCBS vs My Clone Attempts

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout (BCBS) is a big (13-15%) Bourbon Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout released yearly on the day after Thanksgiving.  It was one of the first Bourbon Barrel aged beers (if not the first) and has spawned many more beers brewed using whiskey barrel aging.  Despite the large amount of competition these days, I have yet to find a beer that matches its bold whiskey character.  The balance it strikes between bold whiskey and supporting stout character is really a thing of beauty. 

Goose Island has been generous and has provided the recipe details for BCBS which includes OG, FG, and percentage composition of their grainbill.  It might seem like a bit of a reckless move to share this detail for such a famous beer but, as I've found after trying to brew this twice, the grainbill by itself doesn't get you very close to the real thing.  The barrel, and whatever they're doing to extract the barrel flavor, makes this beer.

My first attempt to make this beer, in 2018, used oak that I'd toasted and charred myself and the soaked in Makers mark whiskey for several months.  I used 4 sticks of about an oz each.  The beer fermented out to 1.046 which was a bit higher than target (mid 1.03s).  It was good but just didn't have the whiskey character of the original during my initial side by side comparisons.

For my second attempt, I tried, in earnest, to increase the whiskey character of the beer.  My first batch was aged with 90 proof (45% ABV) Makers Mark when the real BCBS goes into freshly drained barrels with residual barrel-proof spirit of 60-65%.  To duplicate this I aged my toasted and charred oak on Everclear which I diluted down to 60% ABV.  I used 1 big stick (maybe 3 oz) and 2 smaller (1 oz) in this beer and aged it in my hot attic to maximize extraction.  All in all, I think this was a positive step as the 60% spirit better approximates the flavor in the real BCBS.  My fermentation ended up halting on this beer at 1.055.  The un-oaked beer was absolutely delicious so I decided to let it ride.  As you'll see, it's tough to clone a beer of 1.03s with a beer in the 1.05s.

Anyway, in preparation for my third attempt I'll do another comparison tasting to a real BCBS. I'm using a 2017 version with an ABV of 14.1%.  This will give me some final things to assess when making critical decisions for the next batch.

2018 Comparison:

• Aroma:
• Malty with a bit of alcohol coming through.  Maybe get some fruity ester.  BCBS has a significantly more prominent Whiskey and Oak Character
• Appearance:
• Same color and basically same level of head as BCBS
• Flavor:
• Malty and chocolate character.  A bit of whiskey hits in the finish and offers a slight bit of competition to the malt.  The real BCBS is quite a bit less malty and the whiskey is prominent through the middle and into the finish
• Mouthfeel:
• Very close to BCBS - perhaps just slightly more full bodied.  Sweetness level is equal
• Overall:
• Way, way off in terms of whiskey oak character.  I think it's a delicious beer and that, if oaked to the correct level, may have been a pretty close match to the BCBS base beer

2019 Comparison:

• Aroma:
• Rich chocolate malt.  A bit of alcohol but it is very much in the background.  Whiskey character much less than BCBS (and less than 2018 as well)
• Appearance:
• Same color but a bit less head on the pour than BCBS
• Flavor:
• More malty and sweet than 2018.  I think it may have a bit stronger whiskey oak character coming through.  Balance compared with real BCBS is way off though - much more malty
• Mouthfeel:
• More full bodied and quite a bit sweeter than real BCBS
• Overall:
• Balance is much more towards malt than the real thing (not surprising given the 1.055 FG).  I think the whiskey character in this one is stronger than 2018 but still a long way off from the real thing