I'm in Chicago visiting relatives so I stopped by the '09 Goose Island Bourbon County Stout release party at Sheffield's tonight. I only got a chance to try the '06 and '09 but the '09 definitely seemed hotter with more chocolate and chicory and less vanilla, both were very enjoyable. The barrel aging adds some fairly strong flavors but you can still taste the malt roastiness and you know there's a great imperial stout underneath. I saw someone with a BN shirt but didn't get a chance to say hi. I had an interesting conversation with John for a few minutes about the nuances of barrel aging. Our BJCP study group just got started up last week in Cleveland and I'm going to see if I can find some '09 BCS around for our wood-aged beer tasting.
Were they selling them at Sheffield's? I stopped by West Lakeview Liquors today and they didn't have any. I was hoping to pick some up before I head back to Ohio on Monday.
They could probably use another year or two but it's worth tasting them to see, if they taste good now, drink them. I had a three year old Samael the other day that was awful.