I don't know what it is but I really root for Goose Island. I know deep down in my heart that there are breweries out there who make more interesting stuff and who are maybe a bit more innovative but there are few who are MUCH more interesting and MUCH more innovative and I can't think of any who are both. I grew up supporting Tottenham Hotspur, a team that would consistently delight and disappoint me in equal measures and even though I know Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are almost definitely better teams, I never switched allegiances, I could always appreciate what they were doing, even marvel at them but if it ever came to a straight fight between them and Tottenham (which almost NEVER happens) then I know who's corner I'm in. That's how I feel about Goose Island, they're my team, I'd buy a replica sports jersey with a goose on it if they sold one and I'd have "Drew's Brew 69" on the back because I'm deeply immature.
What does any of that have to do with this review? Not much apart from making it quite clear that you can't trust it as far as you can throw it (it's inadvisable to throw stuff you read on a computer, it often results in needing a new computer.)
This was partially just an exercise in matching a glass with a bottle for a picture, I wasn't even going to review the beer, it's pretty tough to get it in this country, which means that this would just be a deeply biased review of a beer you probably can't drink. Oh well.
It pours an oaky, dark brown with a finger of head that leaves thick, resilient speckling that you probably couldn't remove, even if you used a chisel and some WD40. It has that beautiful Christmas Beer smell; booze, fruit cake, raisins, mixed with a little rye bread and malt loaf. It smells as appetising as the idea of crashing a car made of lovely beer into an erotic cake shop with figgy pudding walls.
It really tastes like malt loaf too, it's sweet and smooth whilst being thick and boozy. You know you're drinking a strong beer but it doesn't necessarily taste like a strong beer should, it tastes like something you'd pickle plums in, or something old people would drink to ward off evil spirits in the middle ages. It's thick, gloopy, borderline chewy, and a Christmas meal unto itself. I knew it'd be a good'un! I didn't even need to be obviously biased, you can make of that statement what you will.
Food suggestion: As good with Christmas Lunch/Dinner as it would be with that Boxing Day sandwich, though the latter seems rather decadent... But who cares? It's Christmas!
Drink this if you like: ...Santa?
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