Goose Island IPA
Goose Island Beer Co.
Chicago, IL
Available: IL, AR, MN, MI, MO, OH, IA, IN, WI, NY, KY, KS, ND, SD, NE, CO, WV, CA, GA, LA, ME, NV, NM, SC
Goose Island Brewing Co. was founded in 1988 by John Hall and his son, Greg, who is now the brewmaster.
Alcohol (vol.): 5.9
Alcohol (wt): 4.6
Color: bourbon
Bitterness: 58
Original gravity: 1062
Pine needles, grapefruit, mandarin orange, honeyed malt and white pepper on the nose of this golden straw-colored beer. Similar follow through on the palate, along with subtle underlying toasted malt notes. Clean, dry finish. Very drinkable for an IPA. (I’ve had a couple of craft beers labeled as pale ales with this intensity.) Its flavors are tight, crisp and well-balanced.
A deep golden ale, this IPA announces its arrival with a rich, perfumey aroma of mixed fruit (melon, mandarin orange, pink grapefruit) and light floral and dried leaf notes. The flavor begins softly with a bit of a honey accent before developing the more obvious bitter notes you’d expect in an IPA, along with malty fruit and lightly warming alcohol. This is no hop bomb, though, just a tastefully-structured, fruity-hoppy ale well-suited to meals from fish and chips to a burger and fries.
John Hansell is an equal-opportunity drinker. He writes about beer, wine and spirits. He is the creator, publisher & editor of Malt Advocate, a magazine for the whisky enthusiast.
Stephen Beaumont boarded his first plane at the age of 15 and hasn’t looked back since, obsessing about travel to the point that he gets nervous if he doesn’t have a ticket or two stacked on the corner of his desk. When he’s not running around in search of new taste experiences, he makes his home in Toronto, where a new cultural experience is only as far away as the next neighborhood.
