Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Angel's Envy 2 Year Reserve Stout 500ML

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Angel's Envy 2 Year Reserve Stout 500ML is a 15.5% ABV imperial stout aged for two years across Angel's Envy bourbon and Ruby Port wine barrels. This release marks Goose Island's first-ever cask-finish entry in the Bourbon County lineup, applying the same finishing philosophy that defines Angel's Envy bourbon to a bold, barrel-aged stout.

Quick Facts: ABV: 15.5%  |  Origin: Chicago, Illinois, USA  |  2-Year Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout  |  Brewery: Goose Island Beer Co.

Production & Heritage

Goose Island Beer Co., founded in 1988 in Chicago and now part of Anheuser-Busch InBev, has produced its Bourbon County Brand Stout annually since 1992, establishing one of the most recognized barrel-aged stout programs in American craft brewing. For this Angel's Envy 2 Year Reserve expression, the base imperial stout spent its first year maturing in freshly emptied barrels that previously held Angel's Envy Kentucky Straight Bourbon. After that initial aging, the beer was transferred into a second set of Ruby Port wine barrels — mirroring the port cask finishing technique that Angel's Envy uses for its flagship bourbon — where it rested for an additional year. This two-stage cask finishing approach had never been used in the Bourbon County lineup before, making this release a genuine first for the program.

Tasting Notes

Aroma: Rich roasted malt and dark chocolate dominate the initial nose, giving way to layers of caramel, vanilla, and boozy port wine warmth. Dried dark fruit — raisin, fig, and plum — emerge alongside subtle oak and a gentle spiciness.

Taste: The entry is thick with bittersweet chocolate, espresso-like coffee, and sweet caramel malts. At mid-palate, dark cherry and fig sweetness expands alongside toffee and butterscotch, carried by a pronounced bourbon warmth. Port barrel influence peaks with waves of plum and raisin, while traces of cinnamon, nutmeg, and gentle smokiness add complexity through to the top of each sip.

Finish: Long and warming at 15.5%, with lingering bittersweet chocolate, dried fruit, and a port wine-tinged sweetness that slowly fades. Oak tannins provide structure, and a final whisper of vanilla and spice closes the experience cleanly.

How to Drink Angel's Envy Reserve Stout

Serve at cellar temperature, around 50–55°F, in a snifter or tulip glass to concentrate the complex aromatics. This stout is best enjoyed on its own, sipped slowly to appreciate the layered barrel character. For a dessert-style cocktail, it works in a Stout Float paired with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, where its port-wine sweetness and chocolate depth become the foundation. A Black Velvet variation — blending a small pour with dry sparkling wine — creates an unexpectedly elegant contrast against the stout's richness. It can also serve as the base in a Beer Cocktail Flip shaken with an egg yolk and a touch of simple syrup, where the 15.5% ABV provides enough backbone to carry the drink.

Best For

• Bourbon County collectors adding a first-edition cask-finish variant to their cellar
• Sharing after dinner as a dessert course alongside chocolate or aged cheese
• Gifting a barrel-aged beer enthusiast something genuinely novel
• Side-by-side tastings with other Bourbon County variants to explore barrel influence

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Angel's Envy Reserve Stout taste like? It delivers a rich combination of bittersweet chocolate, dark coffee, and caramel malt sweetness, layered with dark fruit notes of fig, raisin, and plum from the Ruby Port barrel finishing. Bourbon warmth, vanilla, toffee, and gentle baking spices round out a deeply complex imperial stout.

How does Angel's Envy Reserve Stout compare to Goose Island Backyard Stout? Both appeared in the 2023 Bourbon County lineup, but the Angel's Envy Reserve spent a full two years across two distinct barrel types, while Backyard Stout used a different barrel program. Notably, some reviewers observed that Backyard Stout actually tasted more wine-forward than the port-casked Angel's Envy finish, which leans heavier into bourbon character and dark fruit.

Is Angel's Envy Reserve Stout good for sipping neat? Absolutely — at 15.5% ABV with two years of barrel aging, it has the depth and complexity to stand entirely on its own, best poured into a snifter at cellar temperature and savored slowly.

Where is Angel's Envy Reserve Stout made? It is brewed by Goose Island Beer Co. in Chicago, Illinois, using freshly emptied Angel's Envy bourbon barrels sourced from the Louisville, Kentucky-based distillery, followed by finishing in Ruby Port wine casks.

What foods pair well with Angel's Envy Reserve Stout? Flourless chocolate cake complements the stout's cocoa and dark fruit character. Aged Gouda or Stilton blue cheese plays off the port wine sweetness. Smoked beef brisket matches the subtle smokiness and bourbon warmth. Fig and walnut crostini echo the dried fruit notes, and crème brûlée mirrors the caramel and vanilla tones.

What sizes does Angel's Envy Reserve Stout come in? This release is available in a 500ML bottle, which is the standard format for Goose Island's Bourbon County Brand Stout variants.

Is Angel's Envy Reserve Stout worth the price? It positions as a premium limited-release barrel-aged stout within the Bourbon County lineup, justified by its unique two-year, two-barrel aging process and its status as the program's first-ever cask-finish expression — a meaningful distinction for collectors and serious stout drinkers.

Why Angel's Envy Reserve Stout?

This is the first time Goose Island applied a cask-finishing philosophy to its Bourbon County program, directly borrowing the barrel sequencing technique that defines Angel's Envy bourbon. The two-year timeline across two distinct barrel types — bourbon followed by Ruby Port — creates a layered stout that neither barrel alone could produce, weaving bourbon warmth and dark fruit sweetness into an already formidable imperial stout base. Within a Bourbon County lineup that has explored countless barrel variants over three decades, this expression represents a genuine structural innovation rather than a simple flavor twist. For drinkers who follow the annual Bourbon County releases closely, the Angel's Envy 2 Year Reserve stands as a landmark addition to the series.