I don’t think there’s a beer drinker alive who would claim to appreciate all eight of Goose Island’s Bourbon County beers in 2018.

But that’s not a knock on the beers; it speaks to the broad approach and wide range of flavors in this year’s crop of boozy, iconic brews aged in whiskey barrels.

The eight Bourbon County beers — the most ever released in a single year — range from deftly nuanced to bold bolts of flavor. I tend to favor the former, but plenty of people will embrace the latter.

At a media preview Tuesday night at Goose Island’s Clybourn Avenue pub (the very place where Bourbon County Stout was created in 1995), this year’s Bourbon County lineup proved to be exceedingly diverse. Here are thoughts, broken into three tiers.

Goose Island The 2018 incarnation of Bourbon County Brand Stout is one of the best of recent years. The 2018 incarnation of Bourbon County Brand Stout is one of the best of recent years. (Goose Island)

1. Yup, that’s some tasty beer

Bourbon County Brand Wheatwine (15.4 percent alcohol)

Bourbon County Wheatwine is new to the lineup this year, and a hugely welcome addition.

Mike Siegel, Goose Island’s research and development manager, called Wheatwine "the most stripped down Bourbon County” yet and “a continued exploration of what the Bourbon County family can be."

In this case, that means the lightest Bourbon County beer to date — in color, body and overall character, thanks to a healthy dose of wheat in the grain bill.

Wheatwine is a deft and lovely beer, rife with notes of caramel, toffee, butterscotch and vanilla. It winds up with a light boozy burn that fades into a tidy finish. Quite a trick for a beer clocking in at 15.4 percent alcohol.

Bourbon County Brand Stout (14.7 or 15.2 percent depending on the bottle)

The classic, first released in 1995, continues to anchor the lineup. Though the beer has never slipped in terms of quality, the vintages have varied, and recent years have veered sweeter, toward an increasing milk chocolate character and showing less oak and booze.

The 2018 incarnation is one of the best of recent years, displaying muscular layers of tobacco, dark fruit, bitter chocolate and a massive amount of fudge character sandwiched between notes of oak and bourbon.

Never bet against this beer.

Reserve Bourbon County Brand Stout (15.2 percent)

This beer, aged in 12-year-old Elijah Craig Barrel Proof bourbon barrels, is huge. Just massive.

While the “serious beer drinker” in me suspects I should prefer it to the original Bourbon County Stout, I’m not sure I do. At such high octanes, these beers can quickly approach impenetrability. Reserve runs right up against that ceiling; it’s remarkably thick, dense and chewy on the palate — Imperial Bourbon County Brand Stout, if you will — with endless layers of roast, char and a boozy mingling of chocolate and vanilla.

Last year’s Reserve, aged in 11-year-old Knob Creek barrels, was executed in perfect harmony. This year’s just sits a bit heavy on the palate for my liking. Still, for a sipper beside the fire, you could do far worse.

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Coffee Barleywine Ale is a combination of two former stalwarts Bourbon County Coffee and Bourbon County Barleywine. Bourbon County Brand Coffee Barleywine Ale is a combination of two former stalwarts Bourbon County Coffee and Bourbon County Barleywine. (Goose Island)

2. Yup, that’s some tasty beer — with a twist

Bourbon County Brand Coffee Barleywine (15.1 percent)

Two Bourbon County stalwarts are out this year — Bourbon County Coffee and Bourbon County Barleywine — and in their place is this new effort that is a combination of the pair. It’s the result of an accident: A marketing employee mistakenly infused a keg of barleywine with coffee beans at a 2012 beer festival. The result was tasty — so tasty that here it is, six years later, made with Intelligentsia coffee beans from Guatemala.

Coffee Barleywine is an interesting, ambitious experiment. It should be applauded for the innovation alone. But it’s also an admirable beer, melding the coffee’s fruity notes with the barleywine’s toffee and ripe fruit character.

Goose Island brewmaster Jared Jankoski said Coffee Barleywine was “the most scrutinized of the variants.” The attention to detail paid off.

Bourbon County Brand Midnight Orange Stout (15.2 percent)

It’s rare to come across a Bourbon County beer without precedent, but here’s one: Midnight Orange — which some people have said sounds more like a cologne than a beer — is the first major release featuring citrus. For that reason, I was particularly eager to try it.

After a quizzical first taste, I quickly came down on the side of liking this beer. There’s a simple reason that it works: Neither the Spanish orange peel nor the cacao nibs become overwhelming. At its core, Midnight Orange remains identifiable as Bourbon County Stout — albeit tinged with chocolate and orange.

If that sounds tasty, you’ll like it. If it doesn’t, you won’t. It’s that simple. What’s inarguable is that for what it is, Midnight Orange is quite well-executed.

Goose Island Proprietor's Bourbon County Brand Stout smells like a top-tier chocolate bar, and it tastes like one too. Proprietor's Bourbon County Brand Stout smells like a top-tier chocolate bar, and it tastes like one too. (Goose Island)

3. Not my thing — but it may be yours

Proprietor's Bourbon County Brand Stout (alcohol level unavailable)

Prop, as it is called, is not tinged with chocolate — it’s smothered in it.

This year’s Proprietor’s, which remains a Chicago-only release, according to the brewery, is blended with dark chocolate and two types of cocoa nibs.

The good: The chocolate employed, from Theo Chocolate in Seattle, is clearly a premium ingredient. Proprietor’s smells like a top-tier melted chocolate bar: dry, rich and exquisite. It tastes like one too. And therein lies the problem: I’d love to eat this beer as a chocolate bar. But I don't want to drink it as a beer — at least beyond a couple of ounces with dessert. Or perhaps as a dessert.

I’d have no idea what to do with 500 milliliters, but as beer tastes skew sweeter, plenty of people will love this.

Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout (14.9 percent)

The most anticipated beer in the 2018 Bourbon County crop by the nerdiest of beer nerds, and I was quite curious too. The brewery’s last two takes on vanilla in Bourbon County, in 2010 and 2014, were both memorable. This one, however, doesn’t quite work for me.

There’s little subtlety at work — just a punch in the face of vanilla, chocolate and especially marshmallow. There’s a surprising touch of earthy-vegetal character, which may be a result of employing actual shredded vanilla beans in the flavoring. While plenty of people will also love this beer, for me, it mostly lent a fresh appreciation for the comparative restraint of Midnight Orange.

Bourbon County Brand Bramble Rye Stout (12.7 percent)

This was the last beer we tasted Tuesday evening. Taste buds were most definitely becoming fatigued.