Goose Island Beer Company
Commercial Brewery
in Chicago,
Illinois,
United States 🇺🇸
Owned by
Anheuser-Busch InBev USA
Associated with 3 Venues
Established in 1988
in 2011, Goose Island Beer Company was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Since then, we’ve continued to brew beer that we’re proud of and now we get to share these beers with our friends both nationwide and internationally.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
22 oz. "Bottled 10/16/09, rated Christmas Eve, 2009."Keeps for five years?" Maybe so, but I want to try it now. Pours brown and hazy, with a puff of light tan foam. Smell has nice complexity from a mix of malts, mostly reminiscent of their Nut Brown Ale. Some bittering hops also come up in the nose. Taste does have, yes, some temperate, brown roast malts. Just a mere suggestion of smoke or peat, so maybe some Scotch ale malt in the mix. Hops seem to tend toward the English side, with earthy and grassy bitterness, and a little bit of pepper. Other people who’ve tried it say there’s some citrusy American hops present, but I’m not sure about that. Despite being "normal strength" beer, it’s quite warming and enjoyable. I would suggest enjoying this now, and putting just one or two away for next Christmas. 12 oz. bottle, 2004 edition, rated 9/1/04.Rating 7-5-7-4-16, total 3.9. A nice nose of currants and raisins when poured. The usual thin head, but that’s not important. Deep, dark red, with a scotch-like malt profile, some smokiness of cigar tobacco and old chair leather. Slight touch of holiday spiciness, but not overdone like other holiday beers, in fact it may come entirely from the yeast and hops. A very fine beer.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bottled. I tried this two nights after rating Goose’s "Generic retail" Stockyard Oatmeal Stout. This is a little bit tastier, but still has a pretty bitter coffee roast to it. Pours a slightly lighter tan head, but it’s more foamy and persistent. Still missing the creamy oatmeal balance, and its a little less sweet than the Stockyard. Still, very drinkable, I found myself swigging down the last half of it.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
This is the first bottled "premium" beer from Goose Island I’ve seen in my area. Pere Jacques poured ruddy orange-brown. Medium light tan head persisted until the beer was gone and clumped in a manner suggestive of the presence of wheat malts. Rich aroma of banana, apple peel (slight), earthy fruits and a twinge of wet socks. Flavor began with sweet, lightly caramely candi (brown?) sugar, toast, and bready yeast flavors. As the beer warmed a sweet, fruity (cherry) aspect developed as did peeks of banana. Ethanol permeated the toasty finish. Not the most complex Belgian Strong Ale but classy, rich, and interesting nonetheless.
Sigmund (14545) reviewed IPA from Goose Island Beer Company 21 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5
(355 ml bottle). This was my first American IPA, now available in Norway! Deep golden colour, good head. Lovely hoppy citrussy aroma. I got more pleasure sniffing this beer than I got from drinking it. Flavour is all hops (where are the malts?), dominant initial grapefruity bitterness like I expected (not unpleasant), quite drinkable, but the one-dimensional, medicinal and wormwoodlike bitterness that remains in the aftertaste is not to my liking.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Well, it looks like this one escaped my critical pen...until now. Pours deep clear red, with a thin off-white head. Woody, tangy aroma. Flavor is nutty, woody, and cracker/grassy. Brown sugar becomes more apparent as the beer warms and the beer also develops a toasty nature. Somewhat like their Christmas Ale. Relatively dry and nicely balanced. Medium-bodied. Serviceable.
jgb9348 (11734) reviewed Imperial IPA from Goose Island Beer Company 21 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Hazy amber colour with orange highlights and a soapy off-white head. Aroma of pure whole-leaf hops with some soap and cleanser mixed in. Full-bodied; Bitter flavour up front with hops noticeable and not much else. Aftertaste full-flavoured and bittered-nice all around. Overall, a nice beer to try-many thanks to Mike (BBB63) for it in a trade! A decent IIPA, even though I don't care for them much! I sampled this twelve ounce bottle on 12-March-2004.
Clarkvv (16327) reviewed Oatmeal Stout from Goose Island Beer Company 21 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
2004 Draft @ Wrigleyville Brewpub. Good brownish-purple color with orange and tan hues. Decen mocha-beige head, mildly hazed. Aroma is light of sweet mocha late, some roasted bitterness. Body is only medium, but flavor is consistent and good. Lots of roast, not too sweet, with hints of chocolate, prunes, some vinousness even. Lightly bitter on the end, pleasingly so and very smoothly textured. Almost a session stout.
Clarkvv (16327) reviewed Imperial IPA from Goose Island Beer Company 21 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9
2003 or 2004 bottle (not sure). Awesome ruby-amber hazy/glucose like appearance. Simply lovely looking and smelling. Plenty of ripe red fruits, some light citrus, plenty of spicey hops (chinooks for sure). Good off-white head. Flavor is full and spicy. Lightly chewy fruit esters, some nice subtle malting and plenty of bittersweet hops. Reminds me of Hop Wallop, but has more body and tastes fresher. A good amount of acidity on the finish, as expected and just pure hops flavor goodness. Thanks Ed (eddieg) for the trade.
Clarkvv (16327) reviewed Pere Jacques from Goose Island Beer Company 21 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5
Beautiful deep bright cherry red with some dark ambers, golds and oranges. Bottle conditioned, VERY Hazy, but not muddy looking. Small head, light tan, good amount of lacing. Aroma is divine. Fruity (bananas, nowhere as strong as some others noticed), lightly hopped and quite caramelly. Begins medium sweet, lightly carbonated, smooth and lush. Belgian candied sugars, light floral hops (interesting take for this style) and some moderately sweet caramel flavors. Light orange curacao flavors on the finish mix with a touch of dry woodiness (from the hops) and some good clean yeastiness that lingers on a bit. Consistency is way too thin for the style, but the flavor is simply amazing. I actually found this to be relatively under-malted for a belgian strong, with a firm bitter hops presence and a good balanced yeast flavor. Alcohol immensely well concealed.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Pre-release bottle given away at the tasting below, Feb. 04, Tasted 4/19/05. Okay, the big banana taste has really settled down now. It’s still pretty prominent, but I had to get pretty far down in the glass to be reminded of it. Instead there a big pile o’malt here. Toasty and caramelly, with a fruity bubble-gummy aspect. Sticky, and with a fine alcoholic mouthfeel. Much better than my first impression.
Original rating, 2/8/04 from sampler at the brewery.
Jacques, Jacques, Bo Baques, Banana, Fanna, Foe, Faques, Fee, Fie, Moe, Maques--Jacques In other words, banana. Hits you in the nose as soon as your pour. Overwhelms everything else. Pours dark yellow under a thin head. Likeable, but a bit overdone.
Brewery Stats
| Score | 7.09 |
| Beers | 308 |
| Ticks | 7788 |
Top Reviewers (Not including batches)
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Drake | 92 |
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McDermottDrink | 92 |
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mcberko | 89 |
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CLW | 88 |
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tiong | 71 |
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djd07 | 70 |
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superspak | 66 |
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Clarkvv | 65 |
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deyholla | 62 |
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Chalumeaux | 59 |