Goose Island Matilda

Golden amber, clean rust color. Full, fizzy off white head. Noticeable sediment. Lots of fruit in the nose. Apricot, peach, banana and bit of orange. Hints of bubblegum and yeast. Medium bodied brew with alot of character. Well carobonated and balanced. A very good beer.

Tap at the GABF Nice sour aroma! Funky and earthy. Taste is grainy and slightly sour citrus and weak hops. Boring.

2006 12 ounce via road trip purchase from my friend Liz. Gusher for a 12oz sitting still for a few weeks. Pours orange with a 1 finger flimsy bright white head. The nose is full of ginger but more like ginger bread than anything else, pretty appealing nose too. That gingerbread quality translates nicely to a light robust flavor. The taste is lightly sweet and spicy. Really is a lot like drinking a ginger bread cookie. nice job goose island.

2006 Batch, recently picked up from a trip to a store up north. This is my 2nd bottle from the 4-pack, sampled about a week apart. I am amazed at the quality of this brew, Goose Island is one of my personal favorites and they created a gem with this one. The label remarks that this is somewhat of a tribute to a certain Belgian Beer and after the first one I realized how similar this is to Orval. Abundant earthy aroma, musty with some zesty citrus scents and lively sour malt. Smells fantastic, rich and aromatic. Grand pour producing a cloudy golden orange body with a huge fluffy white head. Thick lacing coats the glass, and there is some noticeable sediment at the bottom of my red wine glass. The head settles over time. Funky and lightly sour on the palate. A feel good bitterness rounds out the medium malt body. Flavor is still fresh and lively. Fermented musty fruits with nice flowery hops. A touch grassy and very yeasty. Earthy with a pleasant sourness. Good and malty, well balanced. Fantastic beer by Goose Island, I want to find more!

Clear dark gold pour with a thick, frothy, offwhite head. Interesting aroma of brettanomyces with mild hops and fruits. Good flavor of brettanomyces with mild hops and fruits. The body is medium with a creamy texture and moderate carbonation. This looks like a competent attempt at recreating the awesomeness that is Orval.

Enjoyed many times during the summer of 2007 in bottles and on tap at the Clybourn brewpub. I like this beer. After I tried a couple of new GI beers at the brewpub and wasn’t as invested in rating anymore, I always returned to this one. Hazy effervescent Tang color in the glass with a huge peach-white rocky and fluffy head. This is one of those beers (and I love these beers, they always get a bump in my ratings) that you can smell all over the place. It’s like the esters are bursting out of the bottle and glass to fill the room: orange spiciness, salt and pepper, lavender, cardamom, and ginger. Softly sweet at first and fizzy in the mouth. Then, after the carbonation dies down, it gets somewhat watery and orangey. The refreshing middle gives way to a dry dry dry and cobwebby spicy ginger finish. I haven’t commented on layering in a beer like this since my first sip of Celebrator. As it warms, its similarity to truly Belgian beers creeps out (I wrote in my notes that it’s like a glorious blend of Orval and Duvel). My biggest criticism of it is that it is just a tad watery. Amazing though how it can be both so flavorful and yet so dry in the finish (I’d like to get my hands on this brewing yeast if I ever actually start homebrewing). Leaves a dense oily lacing on the glass.

Watch out for the explosion. This beast spewed beer all over my kitchen! Carbonation aside.... It is a very nice brew. Spicey and fruity aroma and taste.

Shared by Kinz at the Great Chelada Incident 2007. Bottle 2006. Clear copper body with a small fizzy off-white head. Sweet candi sugar, spice and light fruit aroma. Sugar and fruit flavor with some light tart hints.