Goose Island Imperial SmokED Brown Goose

On tap at Clybourn after DLD. Pours nearly black with a small thin ring of tan head. Aroma is smoke, chocolate, caramel. Flavor is chocolate, coffee, caramel, smoke. Palate is full bodied, medium cabonation, bitter finish. Great stuff.

Draft… DLD’08… This beer rocks!… Pitch black ale with a small, creamy, beige head. The aroma is of beechwood smoke. There’s some chocolate in there as well, but it’ almost totally eclipsed by that wonderful, wonderful smoke. Full-bodied and velvety with prickly carbonation. Sweet, smoky and chocolaty up front, but moderate bitterness outlasts all else. Smoky, bittersweet, chocolaty finish. Awesome brew!

I was super-pumped for this. I was pretty disappointed. I really missed the sweet roastiness of Bourbon Imp. Brown Goose which surely could have found a very comfy home in this brew. Alas it was ’just a smoked beer’. Not even a texture change. Good but not great. And I revere the Goose as great.

4-24-08 tap at Goose Island on Clybourn
Black pout with no head really. Smoked ham and apple cedar chips in the smell. Actually it is a very smokey and meaty smell. It is unique but overall it is a bit much. Flavor is smokey and meaty as well. This brew surely comes through for the style. Thick, super thick palate that is nearly syrupy. Bold smell, flavor and palate. Unique and well made.

On tap at GI Clybourn. As csbosox noted below, the beer menu said that they used 80% smoked malt (at least on this batch). Pours a clear dark brown with a skin of beige head and patchy lace. The nose is sweet and smoky with notes of smokehouse meats and fruit (plantains?); very nice. Medium-bodied and oily-slick with a dry smoky finish. The flavor follows the nose with the emphasis on the smoky, peaty malt. This is one of the best smoked brews that I’ve had the pleasure of sampling. I sure hope that GI decides to bottle it some day.