Goose Island Announces 2025 Bourbon County Stout Lineup

Black Friday might not be top-of-mind for most folks this time of year. Who’s got time to dream of post-turkey sales when we’re still sweating through the dog days of summer? Craft beer fans, however, know that summertime brings a highly coveted announcement: what this fall’s lineup of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout variants looks like.

There’s one glaring difference this year: as our writer Courtney Iseman reported last month, the flagship Bourbon County Brand Original Stout will be sold in a four-pack of 10-oz bottles, rather than the traditional, single 16.9-oz bottle the brewery has been selling for decades. It’s the first time that Bourbon County will be available in a smaller bottle, and the idea is that the smaller bottles are more in line with most people’s drinking habits, which probably don’t include drinking an entire 16.9-oz boozy barrel-aged stout in one sitting.

“This smaller format is all about accessibility,” Goose Island president Todd Ahsmann said. “Because [Bourbon County Stout] is only released once a year, moving from one bottle to four gives consumers more opportunities and moments to enjoy it — whether that be sharing one with friends, opening one on date night, bringing one camping or enjoying one at your favorite bar or restaurant.”

This year’s full lineup includes the following:

2025 Bourbon County Brand Original Stout
2025 Bourbon County Brand Cherries Jubilee Stout
2025 Bourbon County Brand Chocolate Praline Stout
2025 Bourbon County Brand Proprietor’s Stout (available in Chicago market only)
2025 Bourbon County Brand Double Barrel Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond Stout
2025 Bourbon County Brand Parker’s Heritage Reserve Stout

Dessert seems to be a recurring theme this year: The Cherries Jubilee Stout, based on the classic after-dinner cherry dish, was aged in bourbon barrels and then finished in cognac barrels with Montmorency cherries, citrus and panela. The Chocolate Praline Stout was made with a blend of cocoa nibs, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews and dates. And this year’s Proprietor’s Stout — exclusive, as always, to the Chicago area — was inspired by Goose Island brewer Colby Magratten’s grandmother’s recipe for baklava, utilizing walnuts, pistachios, cassia bark and honey to evoke the flavors of the Mediterranean pastry.

And of course, it wouldn’t be a Bourbon County release without a few collabs with some heavy-duty distilleries. The Double Barrel Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond Stout, as you might have guessed from the name, was aged in not one, but two sets of freshly emptied Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond bourbon barrels. The Reserve Stout, on the other hand, was aged for two years in casks from Parker’s Heritage Collection.

The entire Goose Island Bourbon County Stout lineup will be available for purchase beginning on Black Friday (Nov. 28). Until then, be sure to keep an eye out for our verdict on this year’s offerings.

Meet your guide

Bonnie Stiernberg

Bonnie Stiernberg is InsideHook’s Managing Editor. She was Music Editor at Paste Magazine for seven years, and she has written about music and pop culture for Rolling Stone, Glamour, Billboard, Vice and more.