Goose Island Matilda

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

2006 Vintage...

9/29/2006: Color is hazy orange. Moderate carbonation and an ivory decent head. Aroma is fruity with some yeast as well. Flavor starts malty, then becomes fruity, and finishes a little dry and spicy. There is also a little hoppiness in there as well, but somewhat subdued. Mouthfeel is medium and coats the mouth well. I really like Goose Island beers (one of my favorite micros) and while this tribute to Orval came up a bit short, I still think that it is still a solid American-mdae Belgian.

Sampled from a 12 oz bottle at River’s Bend Wine and Spirits. Thanks Matt! Rating: 7 4 8 3 15 = 3.7.
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2007 Vintage...

7/07/2007: Goose Island Matilda is a hazy/cloudy honey color with a thick, foamy beige head. The head lasts a long time and leaves some thing lacing. The aroma and flavor a malty and fruity (peach, citrus, and light apricot) with some delicate spice. There is some bitterness and spice in the finish as well. The body is medium-full and it is smooth on the palate. This is an excellent beer after a long, hot day in the sun! Just what I needed to revitalize myself!

Draught at Emmit’s Irish Pub in Chicago, Illinois. Updated rating: 7 4 7 3 15 = 3.6.

12 oz bottle at Stockholm Beer Festival 2008. Hazy amber color. Tart, fruity and spicy aroma with mango, apricot and clove. Sweet flavo with fair amount of tropical fruits, clove, pepper and low bitterness. Fairly tasty, a bit too sweet for me.

Hazed orange/amber hue, ample creamy fuzz above... Aroma is sour at first...fresh, vibrant, full of that special Belgian feel, sweet and unique,...like nothing other...except for the others... Tasting it: Mmmm! Smooth, tasty...lush fruit, smacks of sour, flush flavor, very particular, this...but altogether delicious! Almost like a saison, just about...but so very tasty, and satisfying...lofty and lovely, ...a keeper! Enjoy when you can!

Wow. Thanks to my summer Secret Santa for this one! Not often a brewer tries for an Orval clone, much less finds success with it. Light hazy orange, decent head fades away slowly. Aroma was brett, hint of barnyard, apples, wood, and sour cherry. Complex and inviting, really nice. Flavor contains many of the same components, but with a touch of candi sugar and an almost fruity note to the aspirin hop finish. A bit medicinal as well. Really well done, would never have pegged this as an American brew.

On tap at the Goose Island bar at O’Hare Airport. I wasn’t going to rate this until I realized that I was being charged $8.91 for an 8oz pour. This beer has a dry, dusty, yeasty aroma full of banana esters. Some sweetness and doughy aromas are also present. Mildly hazy orange-honey body with an off white head. Leaves some nice lacing. Served a little on the cold side and overcarbonated. Has a sweet, yeasty banana start. This also has some light anise characteristics, too. A little spicy and peppery in the middle. Seems to have a bit of citrus in the finish with a grassy, herbal, hop bitterness. The dryness here is rather acceptable.

10.02.05 Various samples all over Denver, bottle and tap. Special thanks to Facto for half a bottle at Logan’s. Hazed orange-straw color is nearly irredescent below a short white head of large bubbles. Aroma is a knockout, one of the finest perfumes of any beer glass I’ve ever stuck my nose in. Smells like a flowering spring field on the range. Cobwebs, some saison-ish spiciness. Flavor is a blend of apple skins, underripe pear, edible flowers, but it’s maybe a bit underdone. Some honey sweetness underlying. The stuff is just good enough to make me want something more.

bottle, ligth orange amber color, fizzy tall head, sour paste and fruit nose, tastes of spice and yeast, nice body but flavor is lacking

2006 Bottle. Yeasty nose with orange and citric zest, touch of candy sugar and lots of wet fruit. Really an incorrigible gusher, caught all of this one, though. Hazy-opaque goldenish orange with a strong carbonation tornado in the middle and a huge, yeast-driven, lacing, rocky, spoonable beige head. Taste a nice balance of acidity, bitterness, and light sweetness, malt and fruit with yeast. Crisp medium+ body, prickling but very soft. Aftertaste is yeasty and very dry, faint perfume notes linger on. Orvallish but not quite on the same level; still an excellent go.