Goose Island’s King Henry

For those of you who follow Russ, Greg or my own personal social media accounts, you saw that we had a pretty awesome tasting two Saturday’s ago. There were a few beers that we considered duds, but Goose Island’s King Henry was one of the highlights. By the numbers, our third highest rated overall beer, though tied for second with the Bramble Rye Bourbon County Stout (which Russ reviewed) once you eliminated the rating from a non-beer geek, whose samples were served in a 2oz shot glass, in contrast to our wine glasses.

From Goose Island’s website…

Aged in Pappy Van Winkle 23 bourbon barrels, previously used to age Rare Bourbon County Brand Stout, King Henry is a burgundy hued English-style barleywine with aromas of vanilla, oak, and dark fruit. Caramel and toffee flavors blend together with bold notes of bourbon delivered in a smooth body followed by a malty finish. No matter the occasion, King Henry promises a regal drinking experience.

King Henry has unfortunately been retired from production. Former head brewer Greg Hall continued the tradition of naming beers after his family with King Henry named after his son. This follows Sofie, named after his daughter, and Pere Jacques, which is translates to Father John, after his father.

King Henry

Appearance
King Henry poured jet black, without a lot of head. What was there was a dark caramel color; it only emerged in one of the one glasses, but for the rest was just a ring around the top with a few dots on top. It was completely opaque.

Aroma
The nose of King Henry was somewhat unremarkable; I don’t really get much of the bourbon. There are sweet notes, with a slight soy-sauce smelling undertone. There’s a slight touch of vanilla as well. When it warms up, the smell of alcohol takes over.

Taste
The bourbon is definitely present in the taste. This beer hides its 13.5% ABV really well, and isn’t overly sweet. There are undertones of chocolate and dark caramels, with some bittersweet chocolate and vanilla notes to tie everything together. Everything is really well balanced. As it warms up the alcohol content becomes much more apparent, to the point that there’s an edge to it. It's particularly interesting because in some respects I feel like every sip tastes different.

Mouthfeel/Drinkability
King Henry has very low carbonation, and the texture is very syrupy (my initial comparison was melted jello). It has a medium amount body in that it isn’t overly heavy. This paired with the texture and low carb is kind of strange, but it isn’t off putting.

Value
I paid $14.99 for this, which was retail in Chicago. I think that's really reasonable considering the beer and the great lengths people are willing to go to in order to get ahold of a bottle.

Overall
I'm breaking our arbitrary rules and giving this beer a 4.25. I really enjoyed this beer, but I can’t say that it knocked me off my feet like people make out King Henry out to be. For me, 1/3 of the bomber was definitely enough. It’s a very assertive beer, and much more would be really overwhelming. As I said, it wasn't my favorite beer of the night, but it had stiff competition and was still damn good.