Goose IPA

The Goose Island Beer Co. is an established and celebrated Chicago microbrewery, though it has now been taken over by one of the giant international beer conglomerates. Fortunately for we the thirsty, to this point, the beer has remained tasty.

On a sunny but quickly chilling evening, I uncapped a bottle of Goose IPA, a 5.9%, 55 IBU ale that came in a 341mL bottle. Unbottled, I discovered a hazy beer with a colour somewhere between copper and gold. It poured with a thick and sudsy off-white head and exuded a lemony, hop-driven scent. For flavour, lemon is again in the driver's seat, with dry, piney hops riding shotgun.

According to the copy on the box my beers came in, these suds have medaled six times at the Great American Beer Festival. Truthfully, though, in my opinion, there's a paucity of the booze and a scarcity of the bitterness that'd make this IPA a Stout Man award winner. It's a fine brew and one I'll almost certainly buy again, but I don't think it'll be taking home any hardware on my watch.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.