Goose Island Matilda

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

Goose Island has scored another one! This pours a light amber/orange(almost looks like an ipa) which is slightly misleading. It’s aroma is very pleasantly fruity. The flavor and mouthfeel are also fantastic. As the description states, it’s very fruity, with a classic yeasty finish. Fantastic. Cheers!

Pours brownish with a thin tan head. Nose is belgian spice, malt, flowered hops. Flavor of belgian candy, sweet, flowery hops, strong yeast, with a nice bitter hops finish. Rather syrupy mouthfeel. Om nom nom.

Bottle, from 2008. Orval this is not. Pours a clear copper with a small off-white head. On the nose some spice, fruity maltiness, a touch of noble hops. In flavor, fruity, spicy. malty, a nice bitterness. Quite smooth with a medium amount of carbonation. Eager to see how this ages with the brett, but it didn’t have the crispness of fresh Orval, nor the complexity of some of the better Belgian-styles.

4-pack bottles - poured into and drank out of a pint glass. overall great tasting beer. pours nicely. goes down smooth. great appearance. you can smell the yeast but also some fruits and spice. the funky flavor is right up my alley. very enjoyable.

2008 bottle. Very thin head. Clear orange body. Aroma - apple strudel? orange zest, slightly spiced, some horseblanket. Noticeable alcohol presence. Sweet and funky, somewhat yeasty. Sour mash note. A little bit too thin-bodied to hold its alcohol. Somewhat reminiscent of some De Dolle concoctions but to a lesser extreme. Gets boozier and yeastier as it warms up. Encouraging for the first Goose Island beer I’ve had, although a little pricey.

Copper colored cloudy with a thin off white colored head. Almost clear. Smell is very yeasty, green apples, fruits, and sweetness. Taste is yeast, fruit, and some spices. ok.

12oz bottle. Bottled 7/7/08. Drunk next to Orval (could be a mistake). Pours a nice dark pumpkin orange with pretty much no head. A head formed at first but then pretty much disappeared. A strong, malty, fruity aroma. Dried candied fruits. Whatever that dried orange fruit is in trail mixes, that’s what this smells like. Very fruity. Nice aroma though not what I was expecting. Taste is fruity, easier to drink than expected, same basic flavor as the aroma. Relatively dry but not as much as Orval or anything close to that. Overall this is pretty nice. This is a fresh bottle so I’d like to revist this one in the future 6 months or a year down the road.

(Bottle, Monk’s Café, Stockholm, 28 Aug 2008) Amber colour with frothy, beige head. Malty, fruity nose with dried fruit, apricots and spicy hops. Fruity, malty taste with notes of dried fruit (apricots), orange peel and a decent spicy bitterness in the finish. Fairly sweet, but the sweetness is balanced by the spicy hops. Tasty and very nice beer.