Goose Island Matilda

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

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.

Orange in colour, very large off white coloured head, excellent retention, great lacing. The aroma is of orange citrus, floral hops, light funk, spicy pepper, wild yeast. The flavour has some great spice, brett, lots of orange zest, very light sourness, herbal and quite floral. Very full mouthfeel, medium body, high carbonation. Finishes long and spicy, quite creamy. This is excellent. Almost as good as Orval, very, very close.

355ml bottle obtained in a trade with <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?U target=blank>kkearn, thanks Keith.
Received on August 1, 2007 and opened on September 22, 2007.
Vintage 2006.

Pours with a massive amount of head- rapidly rising, and very hard to pour the full bottle without stopping. Head is creamy, and slowly dissipating. A nice amber orange color. nice, fruity, spicy aroma to it. A nice, balanced taste that really explodes in the aftertaste. They say it’s a tribute to Orval, and I can really see the similarities between the two. I like this beer a lot, but I think the other seasonal Goose Island’s are a little bit better.

Pours with an explosive foam. Head is light orange and takes a while to dissipate. Aroma is busy. Floral notes, tart hops, spice, and some stale milk. First taste tells me that this is one of those beers that have a lot going on. Lots of malt grabbed me at first but hop notes and then dark fruit popped up. That was all in the first sip. Next sip was bubblegum followed by cigar. How does it do that? This is a wonderful beer and is a delight to sample.