Goose Island Big John Imperial Stout
Inspired by the epic skyline of Chicago, Goose Island’s brewers set out to craft Big John; a tall, bold slugger of a stout that stands out vividly against the little soft beers out there. Epic amounts of roasted malt and an addition of cacao nibs give Big John a massive chocolate flavor and aroma. With a body as substantial and black as the building to which it pays homage, Big John is sure to inspire a sense of awe with every sip.
3.9
452 reviews
Chicago, United States
Community reviews
Bottle split at Bruce’s farewell drinks, thanks to LKS, 15/04/15.
Black with a decent tan siwrl and edgeing.
Nose is rich roast, bitter dark chocolate, earthy, spice, charr, toffee fudge.
Taste comprises molasses, earthy cocoa rub, light coffee strains, dark fruit rinds, rich roast.
Full bodied, oily mouthfeel - a touch cloying, warming alcohol in the close.
A touch heavy handed.
Bottle shared at Bruce’s farewell drinks. Many thanks to Leighton for this one. Dark mahogany brown / black coloured pour with lasting tan head. Aroma is nice marshmallow, minty, praline, sugar. Flavour is composed of big rounded roast, coco, mint choc chip, praline, little age, sweet brown sugars, little tangy in the finish. Full and warming alcohol palate is full and velvety, moderate carbonation. Bit of age. But lasted well.
Bottle at Bruce’s leaving drinks, thanks to Leighton. It pours near black with a small tan head. The nose is rich roast, charcoal, umami, sour malts, soy sauce, chocolate and tar. The taste is slick, oily, dirt, fudge, charred wood, umami, soy sauce, warming alcohol, cocoa, chocolate gateaux and booze. Full body, moderate carbonation and slick mouth-feel. A bit viscous and cloying. Good depth, but a touch too much umami/soy sauce action going on.
POurs thick as oil with small tan head. Smells of tar, cocoa and dark fruit. Not overly complex but Great tasting straight up stout with mild dark fruit flavours, hint burnt malt and some roasty sweetness. THick like a milkshake! great feel. delicious with clean slightly sweet aftertaste
Bottle. The pour is black with a thin head. The aroma is sweet malt and chocolate. The taste is perfect for a big stout. Great blend, thick, and full.
Bottle recieved in a trade. Shared with a friend. Poured a pitch black colour pretty flat. 2011 bottle. Smell of port, red cherry, dark cacao nibs, dark cherry chocolate, raisins, Some plums, lots of port and fruity notes in the finish. Stil Some dark coffee in the finish aswell. But i don’t know if this gets better with these 4 years
Aroma is molasses, muscovado. Taste is the same as aroma. After sipping other GI sugary beers, you could find something salty, mineral-like taste and aroma in this one. Body is okay but rather thin. thanks berntholer for sharing
Pours black with low tan head. Aroma of bourbon and port barrel, dark fruit, muscovado, light coffee and molasses. Taste is sweet and boozy with port like character. Coffee bitter but balanced finish. Body is rich, creamy and boozy with soft carbonation.
Pours dark with low brown head
Aromas of muscavado, caramel, dried fruits, alcohol
Taste has brown sugar, chocolate, hints of coffee, caramel
Sample at Epic Bourbon County Tasting, thx to Bart and Thijs!
APPEARANCE: pitch black beer, small unstable beige head.
NOSE: alcohol, coffee, mocha, ’mos’.
TASTE: alcohol, fruity, mocha, bitter and dry aftertaste, bit earthy aftertaste as well, coffee long lasting taste.
This pours a dark brown/black color with a slight brown head. The aroma is sweet, boozy, and malty. The taste is sweet, smooth and robust. There are lots of roasted flavor and the cocoa nibs really come through in the taste. Sweet and slightly chalky finish.
honestly wasnt as impressed by this as i thought i was going to be. still good.
I preferred the night stalker to this one - a little better. This pours black with great head and lacing. Mocha head. Some booze and roast. Caramel. Chocolate. Aroma and palate a little thinner than night stalker. Tap at Meridian pint.
22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled on 12/7/2012. Pours dense pitch black color with a 1-2 finger dense dark tan head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a light amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, toffee, toast, molasses, dark bread, light coffee, raisin, plum, fig, light licorice, and roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/roasted malt, cocoa nib, and dark fruit notes; with good strength. Taste of big milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, toffee, toast, molasses, dark bread, light coffee, raisin, plum, fig, light licorice, and roast/toasted earthiness. Light roasted bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, toffee, toast, molasses, dark bread, light coffee, raisin, plum, fig, light licorice, and roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roasted malt, cocoa nib, and dark fruit flavors; with a solid roasted bitterness/sweetness balance. Flavor leans much more towards sweet malt notes, but never gets cloying. Light carbonation and fairly full bodied; with a very smooth, creamy, and lightly slick/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is very well hidden with minimal warming present after the finish. Overall this is an awesome imperial stout. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roasted malt, cocoa nib, and dark fruit flavors; and very smooth to sip on for the big ABV. A highly enjoyable offering.
Pours a deep, rich, hearty black with mocha colored head. Sticky legs but very little lacing. Wisps and thin collar remain when the head faded after 30 seconds or so. Aroma is a nice blend of roasty and earthy malts, and bitter sweet chocolate. Taste is much like the aroma: dark malts and chocolate; rich and quite delicious. This beer coats your mouth and is a little silty. A little bit of alcohol burn though.
Bottle @ the Epic Bourbon County Tasting. Pours a pitch black beer with a very small tanned head on top. Aroma has loads of coffee, malts and dark chocolate. Flavor has loads of chocolate returning, some sweet cacao influences are in there. Chocolate is very sweet and very present. Aftertaste is sweet and again loads of chocolate and roasted malts. Sliky mouthfeel, good stuff!
Drank at the magnificent BCBS tasting in Bodegraven 10/1/2015. The beer is like the normal BCBS but without bourbon. Taste is not that rich.
Sample at the Bourbon County tasting, De Molen. Poured a dark mahogany with a bubbly round tan head. The aroma is rich roasty, yeast, some fruit. The flavour is moderate bitter sweet with a dry yeasty fruit liqourice bitter palate. Full bodied with flat carbonation.
Near pitch black on the pour and it appears so in the glass. The head is thin with poor retention, settling quickly into a brown thick ring and a light coating. Cocoa comes through strong, rather sweet, with a hint of earthy notes, it reminds me of earthy coffee. Milk chocolate aromas come through the strongest though. Lots of chocolate here, slightly bittersweet, backed by dark fruits. Thick and chewy, a bit soft.
Alcohol and chocolate make up this one. Great big amazing beer. This one is unique and tasty. Enjoy. Dark
3.75 years aged, bottle originally from one of my favourite stores in NE USA. A tad thin, but also rich from ageing. Long time on the lips of chocolate and licorice.sediment Is coconut.
650 ml bottle. Pours black with a dark beige head. Aroma is roast, cocoa, coffee and wood. Flavor is chocolate, coffee, burnt caramel, cranberry, orange zest. Finish is fruity, tart, bitter. Coffeeish, with some hazelnut. Some lingering tartness. Medium to full body, soft mouthfeel, weak to average carbonation.
Bottle brought back from Wisconsin 2013.
A: Perfectly black with a thick foam cappuccino head. Legs.
N: Cocoa, licorice, molasses, char, burnt toast, anise, some vanilla, milk chocolate, lactose, and espresso.
T: Very sweet, with a bit of bitterness round the edges.
M: Thick body, creamy, light carbonation, and an alcohol that’s stuffed in the back and told to stay quiet.
O: A really nice base beer that’s better than a good number of Bourbon County Stouts. Definitely better than Choklat.
Bottle. Moderate to heavy toasted, molasses and dark chocolate for the malt, moderate herbs and a hint of resin for the hops, light to moderate earth for the yeast, with chocolate milk and whiskey barrel in the background. Head is small, wispy, medium brown with slippery lacing and good legs and is almost fully diminishing. Color is very dark brown. Flavor starts moderately to heavily sweet and lightly acidic, then finishes moderately to heavily sweet and lightly to moderately bitter. Palate is full, syrupy, with a soft carbonation and is chewy and sticky in the finish. Nice and big, chewable and warming Imperial Stout.
Its freaking cold out so what the heck, grab a big ass stout from the cellar. This is a bottle from 2011. I thought that this was discontinued by GI for some reason (or maybe that was Nightstalker). Either way, this is a big black pour with a nice dark tan head. Nose is roasted malt, chocolate and bitter coffee. Taste is really nice, perhaps a tad oxidized (hence the term ’rot box’?). I like this. I can’t help but compare it to BCBS. The malt and chocolate is here but also is some sweetness in the finish that I don’t find in Bourbon County. Its good, but I’m going to add some bourbon to it now to make it better!
22 oz. bottle, with a bottle date of 12/07/2012. Very dark brown and black color. Aroma is tons of chocolate, sugar, deep roast.
Flavor has a just as much chocolate and deep roast as the aroma. Good molasses, espresso bean and oak as secondary flavors. The body is what I really love about this stout, full and bold. The carbonation is soft with a velvet like smoothness. No sign of alcohol and no notes of oxidation anyplace. Damn fine.
batch from 3/11. pours dark as night pitch black w/eventual thick brown head. aroma is a little roast, chocolate, and lots of dark fruit, licorice. flavor is sweeter than expected, with a bit of alcohol, little hops and the cocoa only really comes out close to room temp. the feel..."this is what an imperial stout should drink like". you can almost chew it...reminds me of Zhukov. when the cocoa comes out the aroma and flavor get even better. still not what i expected but a really nice sipper."
Time to catch up on the RBAG 2014 backlog! From notes, bottle shared at RBAG 2014: Thick near-black pour, low brown head. Very sweet dark malt profile with dark fruits and moderate sweet bourbon character. Not cloying but very rich. More chocolate and dark fruity toffee than roast. Warming finish. Heavy and sweet, but very enjoyable.
23.08.2014, 0,65l bottle shared with friends @ home:
Small light brown mediumlasting head. Aroma is slightly rich and sweet, dark malts, caramel, dark sugar, coffee, cocoa, alcohol, oak, grass, licorice, vanilla. Taste is sweet sour-ish roasted, dark malts, sugar, roasted grain, coffee, grass, vanilla, sweet licorice, "knekk", cocoa. Medium to longlasting bitterness, dry mouthfeel. Nice.
Bottle. Dark brown pour with a light brown head. Enticing chocolate and caramel aromas. Dark roasted malts, bitter chocolate, caramel notes. Good body and mouthfeel. A slight bitter taste, most likely from the malts.