Goose Island's Chef Collaboration Series

Not sure I even knew about this one til I saw Jared Rouben's mug on beernews.org.

Here's four links, each to a video about the collaboration.

Goose Island Luciana - dark smoked saison
Goose Island Fiona - hefeweizen
Goose Island Allium Roses - belgian-style dark ale
Goose Island Amara Amo - belgian dubbel

Goose Island Fulton & Wood Series #3 - Black Mission

I'll be honest and say, I wasn't too crazy for either of the first two Fulton & Wood beers, but I've been intrigued each time.

This is a combination of:
Vienna lager grain bill - dry, roasted, slightly sweet
Belgian tripel yeast
black mission figs puree

Lots of potential here for a really flavorful beer. The last two Fulton & Wood beers lacked a boldness to match the creativity behind them.

Goose Island...

I've been nothing but generous to this local brewery. Never once questioned their distribution deal. Haven't posted negatively (yet) about their 38+ million dollar sale to AB In-Bev. I've tried to never call out any brewery for their connections to venture capitalists or weird investment deals, or conglomerates, or what have you. I don't write about breweries buying each other, or merging, or taking over operations, or outsourcing. I don't plan on starting to do that now. First and foremost, this blog is about what you can get and what's worth putting past your lips. At some point though, you have to also stand for some principles. Whatever argument you wanted to make about Goose Island having principles before, actions speak louder than words. Between the sale and a recent event that have transpired in Chicago, you will no longer be seeing Goose Island reviews or announcements on this blog. There's too much legitimate craft beer out there, and frankly, I don't feel like informing you of AB In-Bev Goose's next version of Bourbon County Brand Stout anymore. The people who work at this brewery, the decent people I know still there, should leave anyway.

Goose Island - Pepe Nero

Name: Pepe Nero
Brewery: Goose Island
Style: Saison/Farmhouse
Brewed In: Chicago, IL
Origin: Belgian
ABV: 6.0%
Serving Glass: Pint (draft)
OMG Beer Rating: 7.7

A dark saison brewed with black peppercorns? What mad scientist...? In the glass, Pepe Nero looks like a cloudy brown ale, with red at the edges and a tan head. The bubbles resembled a heavier brown ale than any saison. Fascinating and somewhat unexpected aroma of bannna, toasted nuts, hint of caramel, and maybe something smoky? The first sip hits slightly spicy and herbal floating atop a very brown ale like nuts and caramel base. Very balanced, hinting at a banana berry fruitiness. Unfortunately, it ends a little cloyingly sweet, and not as dry as farmhouse saison makes you expect (and in my case, desire). Perhaps a hint of green apple trying to balance out the sweet mouthfeel and chalky milk chocolate in the aftertaste. This is heavier feeling than a saison, more syrupy.

This is an interesting beer conceptually, and even initially in terms of flavor. Its complexity overwhelms itself though, sending it into a tailspin of sweetness that drowns out the interesting spices and flavors produced by belgian yeast and darker malts (including rye). Even the naming of it as a saison/farmhouse seems off, when to me it tastes more like a belgian-brown hybrid. I admire what Goose Island tried to do here though, and want to come up with some kind of Pepe Nero-ish homebrew that ends drier and ends more balanced in terms of sweetness. Definitely for those who like their beer to end sweet. The Goose Island site mentions grilled meats and vegetables as a pairing option, and I concur. I'd go spicy too.

Goose Island's 2011 Release Schedule

Goose Island, lord of the barrel aged Bourbon County Brand Stout and all its siblings and cousins, has released their 2011 brewing schedule.

Some highlights:
All five vintage series beers (Matilda, Pere Jacques, Sofie, Fleur, and now Pepe Nero) are available all year round, with certain months marked for draft availability. Pepe Nero's a delicious black saison. Fleur 4 packs will be out in April. There aren't many sour beers made in the Chicago area, and there certainly aren't many made with kombucha (far as I know, this is the ONLY made in Chicago, with one other available on the market so far).

The Vintage Reserve series (Juliet, Lolita, Madame Rose) have no release dates yet, but announcements will be made, as the wild yeast cooperate with the brewers.

Bourbon County Brand Stout and the Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout will be out in November. The coffee stout will be made with Intelligentsia's Los Inmortales blend, which happens to be an OMG Beer! favorite coffee.

Big John, out in April, is an imperial stout brewed with cocoa nibs.
King Henry is a bourbon barrel aged barleywine, and available next December.

Other beer releases are being postulated, formulated, conceived, conspired, and perhaps even put into action.

The Beer Scribe, Andy Crouch, talks about Goose Island

Andy Crouch, the Beer Scribe, posted to his blog this blurb from a recent BeerAdvocate magazine issue, on the legacy of Goose Island, Chicago's first craft brewery. Can't say enough how much I agree with him that the brewery makes some very fine beer and deserves a lot of credit for Chicago's now thriving craft beer scene.

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, Rare and Vanilla, coming soon

Both the Rare and Vanilla versions of Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout are being bottled in the next few weeks, according to beernews.org, and some Chicagoland events will spotlight these two delicious offerings, as well as their sibling County Stout varieties.

Thursday, at Goose Island's Clybourn brewpub, a 1/6 bbl keg of Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout will be available for BeerAdvocate Members and homebrewers. Appetizers will be available as well.

On Saturday, at the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild 8th Annual Festival of Wood and Barrel-aged Beer, Goose Island will have quite a number of Bourbon County Stout varieties and other beers available. Tomorrow there will be a big post on the Festival, but here's the Goose Island list:

Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout (Bosque Lya Blend)
Bourbon County Brand Ancho Stout
Bourbon County Brand Stout 2009
King Henry
Derby
Sweet Home
Dominique
Lolita
Madame Rose
Scully
Amara
Royal Tannin Bomb
Sour Grapes

Finally, in celebration of Black Friday, that painful, bloated day after Thanksgiving, Goose Island's Clybourn brewpub wil be tapping a few barrels of the Bourbon County Brand Rare Stout. This is one of the few times the beer will be available on tap, minus some special promotional events and festivals in the future.

Goose Island Clybourn's Belgian Festival

August 28th, @ Goose Island Clybourn.
25 dollars, 20 beer tickets.
Goose Island's Jared Rouben posted on Chicago Brewhouse blog that he'll be bringing 5 beers, plus some one-offs just for the event.
Also appearing will be Half Acre (with their new saison(s), posts about that soon), Rock Bottom, Revolution Brewing Company, and Three Floyds. More breweries promised in Jared's post.

RSVP by calling 312-915-0071.

Summer Homebrew #2 - Goose Island Red Felt Clone - Black Geese IPA

Goose Island released Red Felt as part of a series of Brewpub beers. When I learned there would be no more bottlings of Red Felt, I decided to attempt it myself, since the good people at Goose Island posted the ingredients online. I overused the chocolate malt and turned this reddish beer a red-hued black, pushing the color into the porter range. With all the hops used, a light body, and a bitter finish, this seems safe in the new Black IPA category. Besides the slightly darker than intended color, this beer turned out great. Great spicy and citrus hop profile floating above a bitter dark chocolate. Ends with an almost orange bitterness on the tongue, with a hint of the chocolate lingering as well.

BLACK GEESE IPA - A Goose Island Red Felt clone

General
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category: American Ale
Subcategory: American Amber Ale (BLACK IPA?)
Recipe Type: Partial Mash
Batch Size: 5 gal.
Volume Boiled: 3.5 gal.
Mash Efficiency: 72 %
Total Grain/Extract: 10.38 lbs.
Total Hops: 6.0 oz.
Calories (12 fl. oz.): 247.8

Ingredients (all ingredients ordered from Austin Homebrew Supply)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.5 lbs. 2-Row Brewers Malt
1 lbs. Cara-Pils® Malt
0.5 lbs. American Caramel 20°L
0.5 lbs. American Caramel 60°L
0.375 lbs. Chocolate Malt
6.5 lbs. Briess Extra Light (Malt Extract)
0.5 oz. Columbus (Pellets, 14.2 %AA) boiled 60 minutes.
0.5 oz. Columbus (Pellets, 14.2 %AA) boiled 30 minutes.
1 oz. Crystal (Pellets, 4.3 %AA) boiled 10 minutes.
1 oz. Cascade (Pellets, 5.9 %AA) boiled 10 minutes.
1 oz. Columbus (flame-out)
1 oz. Crystal (flame-out)
1 oz. Cascade (flame-out)
Yeast: WYeast 1332 Northwest Ale

Vital Statistics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original Gravity: 1.062 (SG ≈ 1.055)
Terminal Gravity: 1.014 (FG ≈ 1.011)
Color: 18.93 SRM
Bitterness: ≈55.1 IBU
Alcohol (%volume): ≈5.5-6.0 range

Goose Island - Beer and Food Pairing Explanations from Jared Rouben

Goose Island head brewer Jared Rouben explains his and Chef Andrew's food and beer pairings.

Chicago Beer News - Goose Island's 22nd Anniversary

Goose Island's 22nd Anniversary Party begins tonight at the Clybourn Brewpub, with founder John Hall serving beers for an hour, before heading over to the Whole Foods Military-Industrial Complex (they've annexed an entire planet's produce in that behemoth).

Stop in tonight at Goose Island, try the new 22nd Anniversary Pale Ale (brewed with Citra hops for a bright citrus flavor, and finished with Simcoe hops for that American pine forest aroma), or perhaps you need some Imperial Stout? Night Stalker's is available in bottles, and there's sure to be a bourbon county variety on type.

Say hello to me as well, I'll be there from about 6:30 to 9:30, drinking and writing. Look for the beard, tattoos, and laptop (that really could be a dozen people, you'll have to be daring too).

Chicago Beer News - Goose Island Fleur

Goose Island's Fleur joins the yearly Belgian Style Ales series. Brewed with kombucha tea and hibiscus flowers, this rose pale ale is a sweet, tart, and refreshingly fruity beer perfect for summer. Check back here or at the Goose Island website for a release date, but should be available in the summer.

Chicago Beer News - Goose Island Fulton and Wood Draft Series

4 Goose Island draft beers between now and November, named for the cross streets of the brewery, Fulton and Wood (in the very same neighborhood as OMG Beer! Headquarters).

White City - out in May; an Imperial Belgian Wit, brewed with coriander, green coriander, fennel seed, rosemary, bitter orange peel, and orange zest. Must remember to keep a bottle of the West Town Brewing Shiva's Wit for a taste battle (see upcoming post on homebrews).

Minx - out in July; a belgian imperial ipa, think fruity and a high alcohol content, yet very summer friendly.

Unnamed - they're going to surprise us all with this.

King Henry - out in November; American/British hybrid barleywine coming in at 11% ABV.

The as of yet, unreviewed Pepe Nero, a Black Belgian-style Saison/Farmhouse ale, came out last month. OMG Beer! sampled it recently, and loved it. Fruity, with just a hint of the flavors implied by the darkness, while very much a dry, slightly fruity saison.

Chicago Beer News - Goose Island Demolition returns

Last released in 2007, Goose Island Demolition, a belgian style golden ale, made a brief return this year, and in February, will be back on the streets for good, as an all-year offering in 650 ml bottles. The beer has gotten a slight facelift, with a slightly higher alcohol content (7.2% over 6.7%) and the use of chinook and saaz hops, instead of styrian goldings and saaz. This should deliver a beer with a bit more of a bitter kick, while the saaz hops grassy, slightly citrus notes round out a hearty maltiness. Demolition received a silver medal in the belgian and french style ale category at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival.

Chicago Beer News - Goose Island gets Stout crazy

Lots of Goose Island news. Chicago's largest and oldest of the still active breweries and brewpubs (city-wise at least), Goose Island's hatched some big 2010 plans, regarding their Bourbon County Stout.

First, it would appear Goose Island's planning an expansion of the Bourbon County Stout, releasing four versions this year, as well as a 5th stout based on the same recipe, without the bourbon aging.

Bourbon County Stout, original recipe: started appearing in November and will be shipping through April in 22 oz bombers and 4 packs of 12 oz bottles.
Bourbon County Coffee Stout: brewed in 2008, aged for 15 months, infused with Intelligentsia Black Cat Espresso; released in March in 22 oz bottles
Bourbon County Vanilla Stout: vanilla spin on the original recipe; released in October in 22 oz bottles
Bourbon County Rare: aged for 24 months in 23 year old Pappy Van Winkle Barrels; released in November in 22 oz bottles
Nightstalker Imperial: Bourbon County base, but instead of bourbon barrel aging, the beer is dry hopped ; released in March in 22 oz bottles

The rest of the 2010 brewing/availability calendar is on the Goose Island website.

Goose Island's Red Felt

Perhaps if Obama had gone for craft beer, while sharing beer with Sgt. Crowley and Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr, he would have gone for a hometown brew. Goose Island's Red Felt American Red Ale, brewed as part of the Clybourn Heritage series (celebrating the brewery's Clybourn St. pub?), brims with American beer flavor. Three varieties of American hops (Cascade, Columbus, and Crystal) add a citrus and pine forest twist to caramel and toasted bread flavors. There's even a hint of chocolate in the aroma and aftertaste, adding an extra dimension of creaminess to a hefty bitter and malty brew. Probably OMG Beer's favorite Goose Island brew at the moment. There's nothing lacking here. Big malts, big hops, very drinkable and smooth for as big as the flavors get, and at 6% ABV, a bomber or two between friends is a delicious way to start an evening. Or fill the middle of it. Or end it. Or all three.