Goose Island Gillian

I have quite a back log right now so I'm going to try and work through at least some of it. That means I actually drank this a while ago which was apparently December 6th according to the date on the picture. But, whatever, i'ts not like my notes go bad. Gillian is a sour saison brewed with strawberries and peppercorns (and possibly a few other things) and then aged in used wine barrels. Pretty complicated beast. One fun trivia fact is that the experimental name was Scully, which if you've ever watched the X-Files, Scully was played by Gillian Anderson. Get it? Scully -> Gillian? Okay, maybe only nerds will think that's neat but it totally is.

Spicy, peppery nose with some light fruit and a bunch of oak. Body was similar, starting off lightly peppery, almost bitter, followed by strawberry, oak, and a little white wine flavor. As I drank more, the bitterness faded like it usually does and the strawberry and wine notes really came to the front. Very tasty beer with the only real negative being the price. Not sure what the going rate for it is in Philly, but it easily could be $35 or $40 given the usual markups. Knocks it down a few pegs for me just because for that kind of money I could get other beers. Still, glad to have tried it at least once.

Goose Island Matilda Lambicus

Things are going pretty well with my weekly visit to Kite & Key. It's back on Tuesday now, too, which means I don't have to go to the gym afterwards. Way easier. This trip I was lucky enough to get one of the leftovers from their Goose Island event last Friday, Matilda Lambicus, a special version of Matilda that seems to undergo secondary fermentation with some brett yeast. Or something like that.

Unfortunately, I don't have a clear recollection of the regular Matilda to do a good comparison so we'll just have to treat this as its own beer. Fruity nose, almost melon like. Not too strong but present. Body was similar with a slight melon flavor up front, some nuttiness from the malt, and then a bit more sweet fruit in the finish. Didn't change much as it warmed up. I didn't feel like I got much from the secondary brett fermentation though maybe the melon like fruit flavor was from it. Totally a fine beer, but didn't really feel the difference like I did between Sofie and Sofie Paradisi.

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout

I didn't put a lot of effort into finding this one because a lot of bottle shops in Philly were charging entirely too much for it. When I know they have more than a 100% markup on it, I get a bit annoyed and refuse to support them. But, I was in a random restaurant with my family and saw a bottle for a slightly more reasonable price, so I decided to snatch it up. This is the awesome Bourbon County Brand Stout from Goose Island with coffee added to it in some way.

Oh man, what a nose. Sweet and fruity bourbon and vanilla with some coffee in the back. The coffee really balanced the sweet bourbon incredibly well. As I drank more, the coffee in each sip completely smoothed out every aspect from the base Bourbon County. Where the latter gets a bit fruity and sweet in the finish, this just never did. It even covered up the 14% ABV, making it possible to drink the whole bomber basically by myself. Just so good. I had it again a couple days later at Prohibition too. This is probably my new favorite beer. It really was that amazing. I mean, even my wife liked the couple sips she had. Too bad it's difficult to get and only comes out once a year.

Beers with Friends

My friends and I had been trying to get together for this bottle share for quite a few months, but one of them has a job that makes it a bit tough to schedule. However, he finally had a Monday off and so messaged us that it was time. As it happened I was walking home from Sabrina's, kind of drunk already, so of course I said totally! I was originally planning on not even drinking the Monday before Thanksgiving but oh well, sacrifices must be made right?

We started off with one of the better beers of the night, Goose Island Bourbon County Rare. This is a special version of Bourbon County, aged in barrels for two years instead of the eight months or so. It did sell for quite a bit more per bottle (about $40 vs $12 for two regular bourbon county).

Goose Island Nut Brown

After voting last night, Jo and I decided to go out for a quick dinner. When we saw the Goose Island Nut Brown on the menu, she told me I should order that since I'd been ignoring her demographic, people who like brown ales.

Nice nutty nose, quite pleasant. Hazelnut beginning with a light roast in the middle following it. Some more nuttiness in the finish and aftertaste. This won't blow your socks off, but if you like brown ales that are more nutty than burnt it was quite a good example. And that's my brown ale post for my wife and probably the last one for a while since I rarely drink them. Should fulfill my quota for now though.

Goose Island Summertime

I'd pretend going to the gym after my visit to Kite & Key means I'll automatically choose lower ABV beers, but I don't think anyone would believe me. However, I actually did that this week! I got a Goose Island Summertime, a kolsch, since I was hot and tired and figured something strong might knock me out.

Kind of a sweet and bready nose. Sweet and slightly fruity up front then a bready and malty finish. No bitterness or anything, just an enjoyable lightweight beer. Very nice considering I was still slightly hungover from the bottle share the day before!

Philly Beer Week Day 4: Goose Island

After our pretty crazy Sunday, it was refreshing to only have one event on Monday. This time we planned to head to City Tap House to check out some beers from Goose Island brewery. Goose Island entered Philly rather recently and, at least in beer nerd circles, is well know for a ridiculously great stout named Bourbon County Brand stout, a bourbon barrel stout that clocks in at 14.5%. I knew they were serving it at this event which is partly why I chose to go to that one instead of others.

When I arrived at 5 for the 6pm event, the place was actually still pretty empty. What a nice change of pace from the Monk's event. I got a seat at the bar ordered a glass of the Yards Bourbon Porter to pass the time until the Goose Island stuff was available.

Savage Sixtel Sunday at Kite & Key

This past weekend Kite & Key held another of their Savage Sixtel Sunday events. (See here and here for previous events.) I missed last time because it was on the day of the Superbowl so I was happy to be able to make this one. Even disregarding the generally interesting tap list, there are usually lots of people to talk to at them which is the real reason I enjoy it. With PhillyTapFinder on vacation in Belgium or Paris (he's somewhere over there right now), I didn't actually know what was on draft other than Pliny the Younger and Hopslam, so I was excited to find out.

When I arrived the bar was pretty full though probably not as full as other bars have been when they tap Younger. Surprise tappings will do that I guess. I said hello to one of the owners, Jim, who I last met during a previous Sixtel Sunday and then made my way to the bar to order a beer. Unfortunately, Younger had kicked a few minutes before I arrived so I started with a Bells Hopslam instead, a double IPA brewed with honey.

I've talked about Hopslam quite a few times (here, here, and here) so I'll just say it's definitely starting to fade but is still quite decent. If you have bottles or kegs, drink them sooner rather than later.

Goose Island Pere Jacques

I'm almost ready to write about our trip to Russian River but didn't quite have enough time this morning. I know you all can't wait but you'll just have to. Sorry! Instead, you get a simple write up about Goose Island Pere Jacques, a dubbel. Goose Island is a recent addition to the Philly market actually and we should start seeing more of it. I'm excited to see if we'll get some Bourbon County, their awesome bourbon stout.

Light sweet nose with tons of fruit and a little clove. Started bready and fruity with more clove. As it warmed, the fruit came out more clearly with some caramel. It was a sweet and malty beer, but that's generally expected in a dubbel and as long as the flavors are clean like in this, it works out. I tend to like my dubbels with a little more caramel flavor but this was still pretty good.

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout 2008

I was sent this 2008 bottle of Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout by a friend of mine. Figured the weekend after Thanksgiving seemed like as good a time as any to open it.

Very still, black as night. Nice bourbon nose, hints of graham cracker, some vanilla. No alcohol heat which was just awesome. Thick as motor oil. Delicious, delicious motor oil. The flavors were so smooth, almost decadent. Chocolate, vanilla, bourbon. Some alcohol burn in the finish but at 13%, not terribly surprising. Hints of dark fruit appeared as I drank more but chocolate and bourbon were the major players.

Man, this was totally awesome and completely lived up to the hype. Absolutely delicious. The new version is coming out soon and I'm hoping to get my hands on some. We'll see. Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and drank some good beers. I know I did.

Goose Island Pepe Nero

I've passed on my chance for Jo buy me a bottle of Pepe Nero for a long time now, so it was really nice to get one in a box my buddy recently sent me. This meant I got to try it but didn't have to actually spend money on it. Of course, that requires us to pretend that I didn't spend money on the box I sent him but I think we can get past that.

Pepe Nero is a farmhouse style beer brewed with peppercorns. Mild Belgian nose with a slight hint of pepper. The flavors were really difficult for me to capture. Light Belgian notes, basically mild banana, hints of caramel, and finished a bit peppery. It had an interesting aftertaste, mostly filled with pepper notes as well. The farmhouse style has a lot of leeway similar to some other styles so Pepe Nero fits, but the peppercorns change the expected flavors a lot. After having this one from Goose Island and enjoying it, it does make me want to try their other every day stuff, like Sofie, but we'll see.