Goose Island Matilda

On tap at Old Chicago in Green Bay. What a nice surprise and treat! Beautiful cloudy gold, small head. Sweet malty in aroma. Perfect balance of malt, hops and sweetness. A beer to sip and savor. I nursed this one and it maintained its quallity from beginning until end.

I thought the Matilda would have a little better ratings, but I suppose it might not be as good out of a bottle. I had it on tap at the Goose Island Clybourn. Nice aroma, classic for a Belgian with a fruity/bubblegum type smell. This beer poured an orange-copper with a thin head. Nice flavor that was well balanced. Nice malt flavor, but I didn’t detect the "profuse amount of hops", it had a decent amount though. Mild caramel flavor, well done. Their best beer is still the Bourbon County Stout.

Bottle date 3/02/06 Gusher upon opening, none lost though as the loud release of pressure gave warning.. Managed to get half the bottle into the glass, with the rest of the glass being spongy, lively foam. Eventually the brew settled down to a body of hazy, orangy gold, and a thin, dense head of off-white. A myriad of lace tracks knitted the glassware from top to bottom. Aromatics are phenolic, citrusy and medicinal. A clove-studded orange with a band-aid on the bottom. More spicy than barnyard in this one, with faint whispers of spruce, pepper, lime zest, and spearmint gum foil. The body is light and creamy, with plenty of spritz. The clovey phenolics lead off the pallet, and quickly there is a peppery warmth that comes forward. Almost a blend of black peppercorns and paprika. Malt is subdued, and bitterness is substantial enough to add a good amount of crispness and keeps the brew from going limp. The pallet finishes with a transition from the spicy heat to an alcoholic warmth that lingers. If this is an ode to Orval, it is missing the hoppiness that gives Orval it’s signature, and the brett character is a little off. I think a little more funk and dry hopping would bring Matilda up another notch. Pretty damn tasty none the less!

2006 bottle - holy crap another gusher! Half my bottle on the kitchen floor and in the sink - note to self, when you open a bottle and what appears to be dry ice smoke comes pouring out the top, do not sit and look at it, get to the sink... It pours into my Duvel glass with a monster pillow head with cobwebs of lace, including some merang like structural manifestations in the middle of the head as it slowly dies. The aroma is quite funky, 3M band aids, and dank yeast. The flavor shows the age. It seems quite smooth and rounded with caramel malt blended with some sour funk that compliments the sweetness. There are notes of spice, very little in the way of hops, just real rounded and wet bubblegum tasting (if that makes any sense). The palate is creamy and fairly carbonated. I’d like to try this fresh to compare to what I have here. Considering that I have a 2006 bottle, I assume it has matured and developed character - sort of Orval like. Not bad at all.

2007 bought at traders joes as single bottle in make your own 6 pk, how cool is that. ok here we go pouring in to glass, amber almost orange, can smell the hops and, floral notes, taste of the malts grab your taste buds. head has subsided to a thin layer but still clining to glass with every taste smooth nice american version of belgium ale ,long live beer

12 oz. bottled 03-15-07. Humongous creamy cap on this lightly hazy, orange-copper beer. Front is estery bubblegum turning to spicy grain, caramel apple, and tea leaf. Lightly toasted nut, fresh apple, and spicy-herb hops on the finish. Near-medium body is smooth with a tingly, slightly dry finish.

Bottle into Duvel glass. Cloudy orange with a mostly lasting frothy off-white head. Biscuity malts, herbal hops, and light fruit in the aroma. Off-sweet bready/biscuity malt flavor wih a fruity/floral underpinning--pear, melon, honey and a mild white pepper spiciness and herbal hop note. Full bodied with fine carbonation. Basically mellow and quite fruity. Not overly complex, but enjoyable.

Bottle. Cloudy orange-copper body with a small, white, creamy head. Aroma of vanilla sugar, peach, apricot, and cookie dough. Sweet caramel flavour along with herbal hops, vanilla sugar, and cookies. Quite nice.