Goose Island Willies Small Beer

Brewed by Goose Island Beer Company (Brewpubs)
Style: Brown Ale
Chicago, Illinois USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Shaker

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draft at goose island. i don’t see how this was a brown ale. a lot of green hop flavor. pretty light bodied. ok.

Draft at Clybourn. This is one of the better small beers I’ve had, but it’s definitely not a brown ale. More of a pale ale this time. Clear red pour with fizzy head. Taste is full of summit hops (which they used this time), so herbal/grassy and a touch minty as well. Nice clean beer, super sessionable. Definitely a good one.

Had this one on cask at Goose Island Clybourn so it must be out of retirement. Pours light brown with a small light tan head. Aroma is very weak maple nuttiness and malty sweet. Flavor starts with a candy like malt followed by a caramel and roasted maple flavor. Finishes very weak and a bit bready. Low to medium body and low carbonation. Very light and weak all around. Works for a low alcohol beer and good for someone who wants to have a lot of decent resfreshing beer. Just not my cup of tea.

Cask at GI Clybourn, 4/30/2005. Murky brown pour with a good sized creamy tan head. Aroma is nutty and bready, and just a touch floral. Quite flavorful for a small beer, with sweet bready malts with just a touch of fruity tartness giving over to a nutty dryness in the finish.

On tap at the brewery: Pretty cool style ... although it has a thin consistency, this had an impressive malted candy flavor that grew on me as I went. Sweet, yet solid.

This was an interesting brew. Dark amber to brown. There’s not that much going on. You get an initial bitterness that lingers and doesn’t vary. Kind of a sharp bitterness, not citrusy. Easy to drink.

UPDATED: JUL 26, 2005 Clybourn pub: Pretty much of a watery, uninteresting drink. Anchor has a "small beer," too, and on this site it’s a bitter, not a brown ale. You could call this either, because it’s short of both. Very light clear brown with a slight head, a weak caramel aroma, and a near flavorless body. Not much in the hops. Judging by the other ratings, either the cask condition version was from another batch, or the barmaid half-filled my glass with water just for snicks.

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cask conditioned: Unfiltered ruby orange. Sparkler-induced foam density slowly collapses to form a thick ring. Nutty, minerally, semi-fruity aroma with floral hops, yeast, and almonds. Slickly bodied, but coarse, as well. Soft and lush carbonation. Gentle floral-accented hop earthiness slowly gives way to unsweetened chocolate with a scratchy cocoa underlay. Lightly estery with passionfruit. Finishes deceptively malty-sweet with luscious notes of bread being counteracted by a perfect level of dryness and delicate brush of hop bitterness. Soft nuttiness lingers alongside buttery yeast and chalky malt flavors. Flavorful and complexly malty, while being eminently quaffable. An outstandingly-crafted session Mild.

Named Willie’s small beer, Cask at Clybourn and rating #1800! Ruby brown with a small but lasting frothy head and very good lace. The aroma has notes of toasted and bready malts, hints of apple and strawberry, heather, and some walnut. The taste is fruity and displays mild malts. Nice undertone of apple and grapefruit with a touch of pine. Very subdued bitters and mineral notes on the finish. Thin and watery but then it’s a 2nd running small beer so that is expected. What is not expected is a fine taste and drinkablity you get from this beer. Truly a session beer if there ever was one. I could pound pints of this stuff if available. Refreshing!

On tap at Clybourn: My first small beer. Pretty much a really light brown ale. Pretty thin, yet I appreciated this because I’m not a fan of browns. Although I’m curious about the Impy Brown. Thanks to Ma Beth.