Goose Island Night Stalker

Night Stalker, as an homage to the Chicago-based television show. Night Stalker is a jet black, dry hopped Imperial Stout, extremely rich and full flavored with malt and chocolate followed by a bright dry hopped aroma. It is the same base as our Bourbon County Stout, but instead of aging in Bourbon barrels, we dry hop it like madmen.

ABV – 11.7%
IBU’s – 60
Color – 100
Aroma Hops –Mt. Hood & Simcoe
Malts – 2-Row, Munich, Chocolate, C-60, Roast Barley, Debittered Black

775 reviews

Chicago, United States

Community reviews

4.3 June 26, 2015. Bottle at home, bottled february 19, 2010, batch #0427. Received in a trade with rfaga7, thanks! Black with a small brown head, Aroma is creamy chocolate, molasses, vanilla, licorice, some dried fruits,coffee and slight oxidized port like notes. Taste is sweet with molasses, chocolate, vanilla, with coffee and dried fruits. Finish is bitter, roasted with coffee, chocolate and sweet notes of dried fruits, molasses and port. Medium to full bodied, soft carbonation.

4.0 22 oz. bottled poured into a snifter. Jet black. No light passes through. Nothing resembling a head except a slight coating of mocha bubbles that quickly fade into a ring around the edge of the glass. The smell is booze primarily. Chocolate comes a close second. Coffee and roasty flavors linger in the background. Chocolate dominates the flavor. Dark fruits in the middle flavor that quickly fade to coffee bitterness. Thick. Coats the mouth. Low carbonation. Delicious.

4.3 Bottle shared by Pavlov Badzewski. Colour...jet black with a thin tan head. Nose...boozy, with molasses, chocolate creme, notes of coffee and burnt marshmallow. Palate...quite viscous, chewy and coating, with massive dark chocolate, Tootsie rolls, unsulfured molasses, Devils food cake and Milky Way Midnight. The finish is long and quite cloying.

3.7 Bottle split for Nudgerita from Elliot’s America trip. I can see why this is rated highly. Typical sweet american stout with that underlying, coating-like vanilla-esqu feel throughout. A nice viscous mouth feel and super dirty chocolate forward stuff. Works well on all levels. Great

4.5 2011 Night Stalker on May 8, 2015 Look - Oily black. Thin tan head. No lacing. Fine bubbles. Smell - Whiskey. Vanilla. Chocolate. Taste - Whiskey. Vanilla and chocolate fade to a tootsie roll like taste. Alcohol is there. Tannin finish. Palate - Thick and creamy. Carbonation doesn’t explode. Overall - It is going to sound blasphemous but it isn’t much different than the barrel aged vanilla Dark Lord I had at DLD.

4.1 This rating goes back a while... Didn’t bother with appearance but noted that the nose had beautiful sweet licorice, brown sugar and mild coffee roast. Flavour has light dark chocolate and again licorice and hops playing in the background. The mouthfeel is rich and the aftertaste is long with hints of hazelnut, vanilla and some raisin and sweet oak. Loved it.

3.9 22 oz bomber shared at 1st Sunday. Reminiscent of BCS. Highly complex and very rich flavor. Lasting, malty-BBL aftertaste. Full . Deep dark red-brown body.

3.6 2 yr old bottle dated 12/17/12..jet black with a thin tan head..aroma of coffee,vanilla,licorice,booze..coffee and booze are right up front but not much else..may need a fresher bottle but at 11.7%..should have aged better.

3.9 Bottle thanks to Bruce. Pours a cloudy brown with medium beige head that lasts. The aroma is roast malts, coffee, chocolate, and wood. Medium mouth, sweet roasted malt, dark chocolate, cocoa, light booze finish, very nice.

3.8 Aroma is old cheese probably due to outdated hop. Taste is sugar, bourbon, vanilla, chocolate. The hops in the beer brings in a banana split experience. Body is very smooth. Good one, despite the skunky aroma. thanks berntholer for sharing

4.0 2012 bottle. Pours a deep brownish black with thin tan brown head that leaves moderate lace. Aroma of big chocolate and roasty vanilla, dying hops. Taste follows, earthy overtones with big chocolate and roast. Wow, pretty nice, want to try it fresh.

4.5 2013 Keg. Pours black with a light brown, big, frothy head. Awesome froth totally drapes the glass. Thick, creamy and a sharp hop finish. Heavily roasted black malts, black licorice pipes, sharp earthy hops, caramel, coffee and some cocoa. Yummy.

4.1 Lots of roast and a little booze here. Milk chocolate. Some coffee. Bittersweet finish, but mostly bitter. Black pour without much head or lacing. Big. Faint hops in here. Tap at Meridian pint.

4.3 22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled on 11/19/2012. Pours dense pitch black color with a 1-2 finger dense dark tan head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Nice dense soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a good amount of streaming carbonation retaining the head. Aromas of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, molasses, caramel, toast, toffee, raisin, plum, licorice, dark bread, light smoke/char, herbal, light pine, and roasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/bready/roasted malt and light-moderate earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, molasses, caramel, toast, toffee, raisin, plum, licorice, dark bread, light smoke/char, herbal, light pine, and roasted earthiness. Light herbal/roasted bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, molasses, caramel, toffee, toast, raisin, plum, licorice, dark bread, light smoke/char, and herbal/roasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity and robustness of dark/bready/roasted malt and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; with an awesome roasted bitterness/sweetness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and fairly full bodied; with a smooth, creamy, and lightly slick/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming present after the finish. Overall this is an incredible imperial stout. All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/roasted malt and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; and very smooth to sip on for the big ABV. A highly enjoyable offering.

3.7 Draught @ Top Hops Beer Shop, New York Pours pitch black with a smooth head. Aroma of roasty malts, licorice, wood, ash, leather and coffee. Taste is sweetish, roasty and ashy with loads of wood, coffee and licorice, hints of syrup. Finish is sweet, a bit stuffy and woody with some syrup and licorice. A bit stuffy and too sweet.

4.0 Another incredible barrel aged imperial stout. Really chocolately and smooth to drink. Pours black in color with a tan head. Chad a bottle pour at home

4.2 Bottled on 2/19/10. Pitch black with only the smallest wisp of a brown slick for a head. Huge alcohol nose with lots of dried fruit. This is an incredibly rich beer with lots of buttered toast, chocolate, vanilla, tobacco, brown sugar, and still some green hop resin patina. This is a great sipping impy stout.

3.7 Bottle: 2012 vintage. Black-ish center with dark brown edges, a very small beige ring settles on top. Aroma of toffee, booze, light maple, chocolate malt, & plentiful toasted nuts. Little bit of brown sugar char & anise. Flavor is a bit sweeter with lots of baker’s cocoa & milk chocolate coated nuts up front. Very mild roasty & charred element sneaks in for a bit of balance. Semi-sweet finish with brown sugar, edging on torched. A little booze at times. Most of the hops are long gone, it seems. Pretty tasty stout, though.

4.0 2012 draft at Westover Beer Market. Black with small tan head. Loads of chocolate and roasted malts, molasses, toffee. Deep and big. Excellent.

3.9 2010. Bottle to glass. Pours a deep black color with a small creamy medium brown head. Aroma is roasted malts, black marker. Flavor has a bit more mild of a marker flavor, roasted malts, coffee, chocolate, bitter. Medium to heavy body with a lingering roasted bitter chocolate, malts, black marker. Interesting. Not at all similar to the Bourbon County it shares the base with.

4.0 Transfer from BA review on 7-8-13- Served on tap in a 10 oz chalice glass Appearance –The beer is served a pitch black color with a tiny cream colored head. The head almost instantaneously disappears leaving a thick looking brew with some light foam islands. Upon swirling the beer in the glass its thickness can be seen with fingers of beer sticking to the side of the glass. Smell – The aroma is a mix of chocolate and darker fruits with some other aromas of caramel and coffee. Overall it is sweet and roasted with hints of alcohol linger in the background to create an overall warming smell. Taste – The taste begins with a big roasted malt flavor with lots of chocolate and sweet flavors of caramel. Some darker fruit flavors of raisin, plum and prune quickly join these flavors and produce a quite sweet flavor overall. Notes of vanilla and some coffee follow the fruit with a little bit of hop hitting the tongue as well. These flavors are joined by a bit more roast and a decently strong alcohol taste to leave a warming and sweet flavor on the tongue. Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is quite thick and chewy with a carbonation level that is on the lower side. The characteristic of the brew are quite appropriate for the style nicely complimenting the roasted and sweet flavor of the brew. Overall – A tasty and thick imperial with lots of sweetness. One that is worth a try if you are feeling like something fairly sweet, roasty and boozy.

3.3 Bottle. Dark brown pour with a kaki head. Chocolate bouquet. Bitter chocolate, hops?, bitter roasted malts, I guess? Not sure what all is going on here. Is it infected? Is it over hoppy. Average body and mouthfeel..

4.3 Black pour with thin quickly dissipating dark tan head. Cherries, bitter chocolate, roast barley on the nose. Cherry note that rolls into a bitter chocolate, back to cherry into roast back to chocolate cherry, back to sticky chocolate with almost an espresso note finish. Full body, sticky lips, excellent!

4.0 Bottle code 030610 5126 consumed 07/11/2010 Black body with minimal deep amber highlights beneath a minimal tan head, very minimal lacing Medium to heavy malty sweet, earthy, roasty, piney, citrusy, chocolate, red and dark fruit, sweet grass, soft carbonation and a short spike of alcohol finishing out

3.8 Bottle from first trade with kmyers8807 (have another to drink very soon), cheers buddy, backlog! Black with a light brown head. Aroma: fruity, roasted, licorice, hard lemon candies. Taste: licorice, some salmiak, soft roast, dark and creamy chocolate, tropical fruits like pineapple and peach, Indian palate cleanser. Full-bodied. Not really as tasty as I had expected.

4.0 Black with a large beige head that mostly dissipated quickly. Aroma is raisins, coffee, toffee, molasses, wood, vanilla, dark chocolate. Full bodied, thick syrupy mouthfeel, sweet on the palate with some balancing roast. Taste is molasses, chocolate, coffee, vanilla, toasted marshmallows. Delicious.

4.1 Bottle share. Pours almost black, bubbly tan cap reduces to thick rope. Aroma of vanilla, molasses, raisin, chocolate, mud. Taste is quite sweet followed by a long bitterness. Creamy and lasting dry finish.

3.8 Deep dark thick black pour, minimal light brown head. Sweetalry caramel toffee boozy aroma. Much of the same in the flavor, caramely, boozy, very nice as it warms.

4.1 Bottled. Thin, finishing head. Loads of raisins, dates, syrupy bread, licorice, greasy chocolate, wood, vanilla, fermented berries. Heavy flavor, loads of dryfruits, cocoa, sherry notes, some alcohol. Creamy vanilla aftertaste with balancing wooden/herbal bitterness and lingering dark chocolate. Heavy, sweet and syrupy texture. Excellent beer.

4.0 Rated on 8-03-2011 (Bottle) This beer pours a small light brown head that mostly diminishes, opaque body, very little carbonation, and spotty amounts of lacing. The aroma is chocolate, malt, roasty, and hops. The taste is moderately bitter, chocolate, roasty and hops. The mouthfeel is heavy and has an alcohol warming sensation. This beer is full bodied. Overall, this is a very good imperial stout and definitely worth trying. This beer has a very good flavor and is a beer I would drink again.