We Tasted and Ranked Every 2023 Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

Black Friday is almost upon us, and for craft beer fans, that means it’s time to head out and try to procure as many bottles as possible of this year’s highly coveted Goose Island Bourbon County Stout. Released the same time every year, the imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels has become something of a post-Thanksgiving tradition — and for those of us fortunate enough to taste the entire lineup, so has sampling and ranking each variant.

This year, there are six total Bourbon County offerings — one fewer than in years past. But it’s about quality over quantity, and as always, these are some incredibly rich, complex brews that absolutely live up to the hype. Last year was a milestone year — the 30th anniversary of Bourbon County Stout — and the Goose Island team was determined to keep the positive momentum going into 2023.

“I wanted to ensure that coming off the 30th anniversary, we had quite a bit to celebrate,” senior innovation manager Mike Siegel said during a recent tasting. “It was a really big year for us, and I wanted to go into our 31st year kind of building off of the foundation that we’ve built as architects of the style and really kind of have this intentionality of, you know, these beers are going to be released all at once, ensuring that there’s this throughline, this storyline.”

The result is a truly excellent lineup of beers. We gathered 10 InsideHook staffers to taste this year’s offerings and rank them. Check out the results to find out which 2023 variants are most worth seeking outthis holiday season.