Goose Island Honkers Ale

Brewed by Goose Island Beer Company
Style: English Pale Ale
Chicago, Illinois USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

Rating #398, got two free bottles at Lagersalget @ GJK

Amber-coloured ale with an airy, but lasting head. The nose is berries, caramel, malts and flowery hops. Likewise is the flavor caramel and berries, but also an easy touch of alcohol and a light bitterness in the finish. Aftertaste is mild bitter and has some traces of coffee from the malts, too. Soft, but a bit thin. It has been a long time since I had a good pale ale, but this was a treat.

Amber colour with light off white head. Aroma is a bit malty Flavour is a little sour with light malts. The beer is well balanced with a decent palate.

Heavy malt, caramel, moderate hoppiness of flowers, earth, wind, and fire. Medium hue, amber in color. Light sweet acidic with moderate bitterness. Very tasty and drinkable the more you drink the better it taste with the hops fading to the back ground and the malt really shining through. This is one of my favourite Pale Ales.

Light, grassy, enticing aroma. Color is a dark amber, while the head is off-white. Flavor of medium hops, mild herbs, and mild citrus that accompanies a dry palate.

On tap at local restaurant. Slightly cloudy orange amber with no head, maybe it had one before it got to me. Aroma slight hops and malt. Taste light caramel, malts, not miuch else. Palate thin. Alcohol not apparent. Finish dry and hoppy. Just OK.

12 oz. bottle. Appearance-copper with medium off white head with medium duration. Aroma- bready and carmamel malt with some hops in the background. Taste- A little more hop character than an English pale ale but the balance is more toward the malt. A fair amount of bitterness at the finish. An easy drinking yet flavorful pale ale.

She poured with gusto in my glass, primping and preening coppery amber feathers while flashing a sleek white collar at me. Quite the attractive vision, if I do say so myself, and her nose is even better. Toffee and treacle sit poised above a platter of sliced red apples, caramel can apply, along with fresh cinnamon sticks. Lemon pith whispers in the back while crunchy melba offers silent support front to back. While her nose is complex in no certain way, she is sumptuously sessionable. My first quaff is sweet and dry at the same time, if such a thing is possible. Caramel and toast stand their ground while a solid undercurrent of hops blossom into grass and grapefruit esters. Red grapes and red plums sport their crisp bitter skins before releasing their succulent juicy meats inside. Delicious. Treacle and toffee are but gentle brushes across my lips before joining the melba for a crispy glazed crunch with each quaff. Quaff and repeat. Like her nose, not overly complex but just right.

There is an almost forgotten art in the construction of a truly delicious session beer, whether she is an ale or a lager variant. All beer is beautiful when, well, beautiful, and they don’t have to be ABV beasts and flavor bombs to still be enjoyable. The Honker’s Ale from Goose Island was the perfect median of both, and I’d welcome her in my fridge as a steady staple any day of the week…if she were available in Florida.

12 oz. bottle from a shaker. Pours a pretty amber color, somewhat dark. Nice white/tan head that has mixed rocky parts and foamy parts. Aroma is spicy hops as advertised. A bit of sweet malts folows. Taste is once again a balance of hop spice and smooth malts. The taste of the malts is not overly sweet. This is a well balanced beer. Mouthfeel is quite full. Good beer!