Beer Review: D-Day

Reviewing the D-Day from Goose Island Brewing Company. This is a barrel-aged variation of Goose Island's Liquid Inspiration Stout brewed with Calvados-soaked pears.
Score: 96

Tap pour served in a snifter glass and enjoyed on 05/24/12 at the Clybourn Pub during Chicago craft beer week.

Appearance: Pours a black coffee color with a thin layer of creamy mocha head that settles to a ring around the glass. Decent lacing, but below average retention. 4/5

Smell: Roasty chocolate, pears and percolating dark roast coffee. Smooth, subtle and rich bourbon and a hint of vanilla. Some fig flavor too, and a touch of brown sugar. The combination of flavors in the aroma is truly majestic. Everything is in perfect balance with each other! 4.75/5

Taste: Complex, smooth and chocolatey. Upfront, there is a delicious roasted coffee and roasted dark chocolate flavor followed by milk chocolate covered pears and a little of sweet brandy and molassey-bourbon. The flavors here are really rich and velvety on the tongue. Finishes with a bittersweet chocolate and raisin flavor. Pure complex stout harmony; like the nose, all the flavors here are superbly balanced. At only 7.5% ABV, this is a shockingly flavorful "light" barrel-aged beer. 4.75/5

Mouthfeel: Full-medium bodied with a level of carbonation that is on the lighter side of medium. Frankly, I felt this beer was ever so slightly over-carbonated, but not so much as to create a real problem or throw off my enjoyment of the beer too much. Silky smooth mouthfeel with a touch of stickiness. Roasty and bittersweet. 4/5

Overall: Like their candy cane-infusion bourbon barrel-aged Russian imperial stout, this is yet another Goose Island small batch brewpub and festivals-only masterpiece that needs to be bottled. I would easily purchase a case of this beer if it were made available. If Goose Island re-brews this one again (and I sincerely hope that they do) and turns down the carbonation level just a little bit, I have a sneaking suspicion this one would score on par with KBS.

Recommendation: If you ever see this tapped again, run -- don't walk -- to the brewpub and order a couple of glasses.

Pairings: Cinnamon apple sauce.

Cost: $9 for a 10 oz snifter.