Goose Island Brewpub 6/26/08

Oak Aged Saison- Another attempt at breaking into 'sweet beers' this summer that went pretty well. The oak aging goes a long way to add some bitterness to this beer that most saisons lack. I liked this beer quite a bit but after awhile the sweetness of it began to break through the wall of bitter and my interest waned. I can taste some citrus and some peach in this beer which I was okay with even though I normally cannot stand how peaches taste. I also really, really, really hate the texture of peaches but that has absolutely nothing to do with this beer.

Goose Island's Oak Aged Saison is about as fruity and sweet as I can take. I was ready to move on to something with more of a kick to it but I still went away feeling this was a victory in my quest to appreciate the Belgium style of beer.

I rolled a critical, if you will. $6 Draft 6.5% ABV.


Hopscotch Ale- My very helpfull waitress originally recommended the Rotweizen Red Wheat Beer but they ended up being out of it so I tried a few samples and settled on the Hopscotch Ale. Excuse the picture, it was dark as hell at our booth.

This brew is like an American Pale Ale with the hops turned down a notch. After the sickly sweet saison I had just had this beer might as well have been a hop bomp the first few sips but after I was halfway through with it I came to realize it is fairly mild.

This brew is standard but somehow dodges becoming mediocre because of that. I couldn't put my finger on why I was enjoying this beer as much as I was but I blame Goose Islands tinkering. I could see this becoming one of their (already crowded) mass produced beers as it is fairly simple but still damn good. $5 draft 5.0% ABV.

The countdown for the Clybourn location has begun. If you are in the Chicago area and you don't check this place out before it closes at the end of the year, you are doing yourself a disservice.