Goose Island Beer Company

Commercial Brewery in Chicago, Illinois, United States 🇺🇸
Owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev USA
Associated with 4 Venues

Established in 1988

Contact
1800 W Fulton St, Chicago, IL, 60612, United States
Subsidiaries
Goose Island Beer Company owns 4 breweries:
Description
Goose Island Beer Company began as a single brewpub opened in 1988 by John Hall. By 1995, John’s beer had become so popular that he decided to open a larger brewery, along with a bottling plant to keep up with demand. 1999 brought even more growth, along with an additional brewpub, and today, what was once one man’s pint-filled dream has become the Goose Island empire you know and love.

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.

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7.5/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 8
Moderate to heavy aroma of Cascade hops — grapefruit and pine. Also notes of floral hops. Flavor of citrus, bitter grapefruit with a bit of sweet orange and toasted malts. Slight sour aftertaste to go along with the bitter bite. Crisp as an IPA should be. Nicely done.
Tried on 09 Oct 2005 at 17:39

6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6
I haven’t had Wolaver’s Pale yet so I am not sure how this stacks up in the organic Pale genre. It’s alright as an APA though. Dark golden color with a thin off-white head and minimal lacing. Hoppy and woody aroma. Medium body and dry with spicy hops malt and fruit flavor. The finish is mildly bitter floral hops. Straightforward and exceedingly average overall.
Tried on 07 Oct 2005 at 12:58

6.2/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6
A bit more like an unremarkable british bitter than an unremarkable pale ale, but it’s a mighty fine session ale - medium bready malt backbone and just a dash of spicy hops - good for gulping down with a burger at the pub.
Tried on 01 Oct 2005 at 19:06

7.6/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Cloudy orange hue with moderate, but sticky lace - musty, tart, earthy aroma, with hints of lemon rind and pepper - herbal, spicy, saison-like - touches of banana, orange peel - pastry-like malt - spicy, peppery finish, with gentle hops - quite nice - if you told me this was made in belgium, I would believe you.
Tried on 18 Sep 2005 at 21:39

6.5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7
(Bottle 35,5 cl) Cloudy light amber colour with a small, creamy head. Very lovely hoppy aroma. Distinct fruity notes, citrus - perhaps grapefruit? Malty with notes of caramel. Marked bitter finish. Very nice and typical American IPA. 160905
Tried from Bottle on 16 Sep 2005 at 12:36

7.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Bottle. Tested on Best before-date. A golden/copper beer with a nice white head. Gorgeous grapefruity aroma with hints of pine resin. The taste is balanced, but a little thin to my preference, with a long light bitter aftertaste. Nice mouthfeel. Rating: 8-4-7-3-15-3.7(050913)

Bottle. Since my first sample of this beer, September 2005, I’ve had it on several occasions, but as it seems it will disappear from the Norwegian market, I had to give it one more try. It’s a refreshing and fruity beer with a nice hop profile, and it’s far from extreme, making it rather drinkable. It pours a nice, orange-golden body with a rather small off-white head leaving some fine curtains of foam on the glass. It’s aroma is dominated by citrusy hops, with pine and resin as well. The maltyness is quite subdued, but sweetness and a bready note is detectable in the background. Flavorwise it’s much the same, the fruity hops with it’s pine and resin do most of the job, but the bready, sweet maltyness is doing its part as well. Quite full-bodied it is, and a bit sticky on the palate. In the finish, the malty flavors is even more subdued, leaving more room for bitterness, and of course there’s a lot of fruits, pine and resin too. It’s still a yummy beer, I sure hope it don’t disappear from the already starved Norwegian market. (080214)
Tried from Bottle on 13 Sep 2005 at 13:24

8/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 8 Flavor 9 Texture 8 Overall 8
2005 bottle acquired in an awesome trade with Htsprint1. Thanks so much Noah! Shared with Eyedrinkale and Egajdzis on 8/27/2005.
Pours a thick, viscous deep black, opaque, heavy looking substance, with a small, thick tan head, that is not long retained, little bit of legs on the glass. Sediment on the bottom of the bottle. Aroma of coconuts, sweet molasses and rich toffee. Oaky and just very strong. Touches of charred wood smoke is very dry in the nose and gives some balance to the sweet coconut, chocolate fudge, vanilla and light alcohol. Being very underwhelmed by most Imperial Stouts I have tried lately, especially the barrel-aged ones, I’ve got to say, I was incredibly impressed and refreshed by this one. Granted this isnt a terribly refreshing beer, but it was just nice to see a unique imperial stout that dosent bludgeon you with hops or alcohol. Even the roast is fairly restrained here, relatively speaking. What you do get a lot of, is coconut, sweet vanilla beans and chocolate fudge, though a bit drier than all that sounds. Rich, thick mouthfeel is borderline syrupy, and significantly malty sweet, but for me, it works. Very viscous and oily, with a very low carbonation. It goes down easy, on my palate, though. The bourbon is somehow flavorul, moreso than it is drying or sharp. Sweet chocolate-vanilla sticks with you, as some late hops grows as it warms. Bourbony flavors are always present but don’t really bother me, even at the end of the glass. Very full body. Love to get more of this stuff.
Rerate Or rather, resample, I’m not changing my marks because this beer is maturing very nicely. At about a year old now, the bourbon is still under control, even moreso now, with a creamy/chocolatey texture without gobs of harsh roast or hops. Smokiness and ashiness are controlled and used to balance, not overwhelm. Awesome.
Tried from Bottle on 02 Sep 2005 at 09:47

8.4/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 9 Flavor 9 Texture 8 Overall 8.5
Beautiful aroma is best part of the pour. Really murky brown color with floaties and a fair head that dissipates and leaves a little bit of lacing. Aromas is complex and bold... sweet with mild fruit (raisins seem like a good description, maybe plum or prune, too) over a little bit of a grain that is really subtle. Flavor is blessed with a great mix of the fruit/sweet remnants of the aroma that is followed up by a sweetness that recalls toffee. All of this has a mild alcoholic bite to it that provides a little warmth and compliments flavors nicely. Smoothly and masterfully blended.
Tried on 01 Sep 2005 at 21:25

7.1/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
2005 bottle huge thanks to Csbosox for this and all the other finely-selected beers sent my way. Shared with EDA on 8/20/2005.
Golden-amber, slight copper-brass dark tinge to it. Really pleasing, awesome color and shine to the body, which is lightly hazy with touches of sediment at the bottom. Head is foamy and large initially and retains well while providing good lacing. Perfumey smell has lemon shortcake or lemon sugar cookies, a touch of sweaty hops and a very plant-like, leafy greeness (guess that’s goldings). Dry biscuity malt notes, but somewhat sweeter than that, perhaps belgian aromatic or belgian biscuit malt. Flavor is very dry and floral, with a surprising lack of sweet maltiness, very well-attenuated. Light nectarines, peaches and a touch of breadiness on the end, from the yeast. Grainy, unfiltered-like texture is pleasing and really lets you take hold of the flavor. White pepper dryness and some bitter hops end the beer, with a touch more lemons and white flour biscuits. It certainly dosent suffer from too much yeast being pumped in to it, and it’s definitely not too sweet or syrupy. I really like what they did with it. A very dried-out, subtle beer. The 7.8 abv is a really ideal amount, in my opinion. Enough to add a touch of warmth and flavor complexity, but it never really butts in. Dry and dusty on the end, with a prevailing honey and biscuits. Hops just add more flavor, never obtrusive. I could see how wonderfully drinkable this would be fresh on draught. A terribly unique beer, and for uniqueness it scores in the high fours, for me, but on an overall score, it could use a bit more sweetness and yeast apparency, with, perhaps, a touch more fine-bubbled carbonation. Great stuff though, thanks Chris!
Tried from Bottle on 31 Aug 2005 at 17:22

8.4/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 10 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8.5
Orangey and hazy, with a foamy large bubbled head. Aroma has a good dose of brett, spicy, wet leather, banana, wet hay. Rounded and sweet up front with a touch of yeasty bite, a mild earthiness, spicy finish with a medium bitterness.
Tried on 21 Aug 2005 at 14:12