Honkers Ale use to be my go to beer. I have to admit, since they were bought by ABInbev, it hasn't been the same for me. I'm sure it's 95% mental on my part, but I really only drink anything from Goose Island when I'm at the actual brewpub. I will say though, I did notice a change before I had heard they had been sold. Honkers was one of my favorite beers and it just had lost some of the character it had. Hard to describe, but almost like it became a little watery. I just figured it was my tastes changing over time, that could still be it.
Honker's Ale is now made at a Bud plant in Baldwinsville, NY. I agree. It's watery now and bears little resemblance to the original. I bought a 1/6 keg a few months ago. I never finished it.
The goose island they send down here to NC doesn't come anywhere near the quality of the breweries in Asheville. It's like drinking colored water.
Goose has actually lost more than several brewers that have gone off on their own since the buy out.ThreeSheetz said:I listened to the Jamil Show's podcast on the Firestone Double Barrel Ale and they spoke with brewmaster Matthew Brynildson who says he came to Firestone Walker from Goose Island. If Goose Island lost their brewmaster that could explain why their beer went sideways
The Matilda was OK but served in a pretentious wine glass. The Green Line and 312 were undrinkable. I've had 312 before and it was fine but not at Terminal 1.
Last year after the Husker/NW game we went downtown to some big tower to look around... had the 312... worst beer ever!! seriously I took a couple sips and that was it!! dont know if just that one was bad or what... I believe that was the only beer i never finished...
I did have the Honkers Ale and it was fine... and an Eliot Ness Lager I really liked also
Goose has actually lost more than several brewers that have gone off on their own since the buy out.
I've found their beer now to be hit or miss depending on where you are and where it's being brewed and shipped. It's very unfortunate as it has been a flagship of the Chicago beer scene but so many new breweries have popped up here it's not quite what it used to be
Whenever I mourn the decline of this great brewery, i crack open a Daisy Cutter, or a Sidekick or, my new favorite local brew, an Anti Hero IPA
Elliot Ness is Great Lakes Brewery out of Cleveland. Not owned by InBev or affiliated with Goose Island. Spectacular beers...I would argue that their Edmund Fitzgerald is one of the BEST porters available, hands down. But I digress...
Clef051 said:I'd take any great lakes beer over goose island. bourbon county is a great beer, whatever style I"d pick of their standard beers I'd choose the great lakes bottle every time. For the most part though I find goose island to be average at best. I believe it was matlida that I had that was also excellent.
I really like GIs specialty ales, but their main stream stuff is lacking.
I really like GIs specialty ales, but their main stream stuff is lacking.
Just got my hands on an Anti Hero, very well done
I've always had a hard time deciding if it's the beer that changed or my tastes. For everyone who says that they used to like GI beers, but don't like them anymore, consider that if you are like me, Goose Island, Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, and Anchor were some of the first "craft" beers that you had. At the time, they were a new experience with new flavors and they were exciting. Now those beers are available to you anytime, anywhere and you're broadened your horizons to much more variety in beer. The craft beer industry has exploded (again) and there are flavors in beer that simply were not there 5 years ago. Those beers you had then are not new and not exciting anymore.
Are you remembering the flavor of the beer when you first had it, or are you remembering the experience of first having it?
Are you looking at it through the same lens that you did then? Did you think about what hop varieties you tasted, texture, finish, clarity?
I don't know if GI beers have changed in the last decade or not, but I know for sure I have.
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