Jan 25, 2011

Liquor that put a smile on my face

The one beer that never ceases to put a smile on my face.. Duvel: the definition of Belgian Golden Ale.
volumed at 8.5% alcohol content
aged like wine
fermented three times. If you like golden ale, this one's a knock-out.


Goose Island Brewery: Vintage Ales & Stouts
My personal experience with this company is.. "beer in the composition of wine"
Any of these "vintage" beers can be perfectly paired with food and are aged in their bottle for 5+ years.
You got Matilda which taste like fruity caramel and has a very strong aftertaste.
Sophie, you instantly get the vanilla flavor with excessive amount of orange peel taste. Literally taste like they put an entire orange in the bottle and aged it for years. There is also a subtle spice aftertaste.
Pere Jacques is entirely fruity. One of the less "punch-in-the-face" flavor.
Demolition taste very "organic" as in when you lay in a field of grass.. thats the taste you get along with some sweet honey and citrus kick to it.
Nightstalker, Stout, is as dark as Goose Island will get. Although very dark in color, it is not as hoppy as one will imagine. Instead one can actually taste chocolate and caramel with a roasted flavor.
Fleur. Im going to be straight up with this. Probably my least favorite because it literally taste like the smell of a mash of hibiscus flower pedals. Understand that it's called Fleur for a reason.
Christmas Ale, not so much. So far, I've never been impressed by any holiday or seasonal beer (especially blue moon, but we'll get to that later).


Goose Island Brewery: Classic Ales
312, doesn't need much explanation. If you live in Chicago, favor Ales, and you haven't tried this beer, then you have issues. If you're standing in binnys looking for some good beer but don't want to take new risks, this is always the "safe way out"
Green Line. The first time I tried this beer was at Oktoberfest. I love it. So damn hoppy.. I don't know how else to describe it.
Honker's Ale. This is probably my second favorite beer of goose island. It's light but hoppy. This is the "go-to-beer" when you're having a bbq.
India Pale Ale. To my personal experience, this is not my "cup of tea." I really like IPA but not so much of Goose Islands.
Harvest Ale.. what were they thinking. 
Mildwinter and Summertime, I'm going to put these two categories together b/c personally, this is where I think they tried too hard. Don't get me wrong, Goose Island has become one of the top exporting beer companies and their name is out there. However, I don't see these beers staying on the menu for long.


Great Lakes Brewery
Automatically wins my heart for having higher alcohol content than what I call "over-the-counter" beer (Budweiser, Coors, Miller aka college dorm party lagers). No doubt of stronger flavor. These beers are flavorful but not overwhelmingly flavored like goose islands vintage collection.
Dortmunder Gold lager. Malty and slightly hoppy. This is by far my favorite of lager of all time (so far).
Eliot Ness amber lager has a great nose to it. Very crisp and clean.
Burning River. Pale ale with a citrus kick.
Commodore Perry IPA. Simply put, fruity IPA
Edmund Fitzgerald porter. Dark beer with a hint of coffee and chocolate.
Oktoberfest. Amber lager that is very rich in hops. Very.
Christmas Ale. Another classic holiday failure. A nice fresh crisp ale that someone unfortunately went spice frenzy on it.

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