Goose Island Imperial Brown Goose

Brewed by Goose Island Beer Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Chicago, Illinois USA

Beautiful deep brown in color with a creamy, tall tan head as it sits in the tulip glass. Smells wondrously robust: Milky Way candy bars, pecans, caramel, toffee, chocolate, anise and pepper. Superbly creamy, complex and rich. We’ve seen comparable flavor rushes from this brewery before, and it reaffirms that Goose Island really knows how to churn out big beers. This amplified Goose is a malt monster, putting on a clinic for only $6 a lesson. Other flavors manifest along the way, with rich nutty characteristics such as caramelized pecans, rich milk chocolate and toasted walnuts stirring around the palate in symphonic bliss. Hops give it even more oomph. Slight hint of the 9% ABV, but it’s more of an afterthought. Spicy pecan pie with chocolate rippled icing bring it home and linger for a while. Rich, rich, rich. This beer is utterly fantastic.

From the bottle at Boston EBF 2007. Almost clear dark copper body with a long lasting very large beige head leaving great lacings. Body is full and silky at the same time. Very malty beer. Cake malts, brown sugar, toasted brown bread and a whole lot of “brown stuff”. Bourbon barrel is very present. Strong woody flavour adds to what appears to be a subtle but complex mix of herbs. Mouthfeel is pleasantly dry. Alcohol wasn’t well hidden, to the contrary, it felt stronger than it was. Like some kind of woody Barley Wine. I couldn’t get enough of it and had four samplings at the EBF. The brewery brought the last bottles they had in stock. (some 2005 and 2006). Knowing I was having such a great beer for the first and last time I felt overwhelmed by both joy and sadness. Like watching my mother-in-law back off a cliff in my new car.

I ordered this by the name only, expecting to receive a brown ale similar to Hex Nut... I didn’t even pay attention to the "Imperial" in the name. This was a killer, heavy beer, close to a sweet or imperial stout (Aaaaaaarrrgghhh! I have to drive, dammit!!!!) Beautiful presentation... a deep, black-body impressively filling out the curves of the tulip glass, with a filmy, mocha head. Big alcohol presence in the nose with dry, burnt malts & dark chocolate. Big & sweet in flavor with chocolate and burnt coffee in the finish. Syrupy, flat and utterly delicious.

<font size=-4>On tap at <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Island Beer Company (Clybourn), Chicago, IL<font size=-1>

Draft at clyborn. Dark opaque black with small brown head. Aroma of dough, vanilla, lots of toasted malt, very nice as it warms up, lots bourbon comes out. Flavor is lots of roasted, dark malts with vanilla, dough, caramel, chocolate, very nice not overly hot bourbon flavors. Med to full creamy body. This is a pretty exceptional brew, very tasty. I could drink lots of this, but then I would get really messed up. Much better than the beers from the tour.

5 oz sample at the Clybourn location. Very clear, slightly ruby-tinged dark walnut, no head at all...cherry/hazelnut nose, somewhat reminiscent of fruitcake...which is what you get in the body, deep and sweetly nutty, overflowing with cherry-blackberry syrup, anise and caramel maltiness...seems a bit thin but appropriately so, it’s more like dark fruit juice than anything...a touch of stinging hops wake you up out of your wonderment at the end and a slight hint of alcohol warms you as you wander out into the night....

Tap at Clybourn. Deep brown, thick lightly tanned creamy head. As this warmed, really nice tones of toasty chocolate, brown sugar, dark fruit, and light citrus emanate from the tulip glass. The flavor was outstanding, well balanced, and matched the aroma. It came off very toasty, some roastiness, chocolaty, maybe raisin as the dark fruit of choice, brown sugar, and light citrus in the end. Medium to full bodied, pillow soft carbonation, toasty finish. You Chi-town guys need to get down to GI before this is gone. Absolutely loved it!

On tap at the brewpub. This is a fairly unique beer, almost like a Belgian dubble in my view. Dark brown, strong and assertive. Alcohol content is definitely noticeable. Malt dominates, but there are enough hops to balance. A very interesting and tasty brew.

Tap at Clybourne: A deep reddish brown hue with a small frothy head which produced very good lacing on a MBA glass. The aroma has notes of plum and currant, mocha, hazelnut, vanilla, grassy hops, light pepper, and earthy yeast esters. The taste starts with a nice fruity character with an equal balance of a malty backbone. Finished with a smooth and sublime bitter note and a touch of chocolate. Even a bit woody even though this is not the bourbon-barreled version. Challenged the palate for sure, I dig it for sure. The feel is a bit oily with some bite on the back of the palate, the only notice of the ABV I could detect, well hidden all told. This is a wonderful brew and something Will Turner can be proud of. Sublime complexity shows as it warmed up and in the end is one of the best GI beers to date. Enjoy it while it lasts which isn’t much longer. (now I know why Willies Small Beer is so good for a second running of this beer as well)