Goose Island 1800 Demolition Ale (Strong Golden)

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

From the bottle

Pours a beautifully saturated and slightly cloudy amber with an adequate head.

The aroma is of orange peel and yeast, the flavor slightly astringent, with citrus, cognac, and spice followed by a subtle but sufficiently bitter hop finish. The beer does not hide its 8% alcohol particularly well. Mouthfeel is very nice, full but not the least bit cloying or sticky, with good but not overpowering carbonation. This is quite a nice beer, though for some reason the whole seems less than the sum of the parts. (This is certainly not a traditional Belgian ale - rather, it’s a beast of its own.)

Decent-looking, crystal clear orange body with barely a head. The aroma is very gentle and herbal/earthy. The flavor is slightly sweet, slightly mineral-like, and highly malty. Not much spiciness that I expect for a BSA. The finish is hoppier than I expected as well, but its a nice mix of bitter and sweetness.

A lemon/grass aroma. A golden color with a pale golden head that is long lasting and with lacing. Starts of with a honey like beginning and finishes with a bitterness.

A big thanks to beerguy101 for supplying a change of pace beer during the Lynnwood International Swill Fest. This beer pours a very intriguing bright orange color with active carbonation, a thin white head and very little lacing. The aroma is perhaps as strange as it gets. It smelled absolutely... i mean ABSOLUTELY like cheesey foccacia bread. It wasn’t close..it was an EXACT match! Some orange tang could be spotted in there as it warmed as well. The flavor is medium to full-bodied with heavy orange tang and perhaps a slight hint of alcohol, though rarely noticeable. This beer also finished very bready and dry with hints of oil and cheese. Somewhat yeasty, but all around very solid.

Nothing is very belgian about this ale - it’s more like an Imperial IPA/lighter barleywine hybrid, but I won’t complain about this - some citrus in the aroma, with background honey, strawberry, a touch of melon - mild hops up front, with a lot of honey and grain in the middle, finishing with more bitter hops, a hint of peach and lingering honey - not true to style, but quite unique and tasty.

Pours with a nice citrus aroma, which becomes a little stale over time. Thin off-white head which dissipates quickly, leaving soem lacing. Starts off as a cloudy amber, but clears up with time. Gives a nice floral/citrusstart, a honey middle, and subtle hoppy finish. LIght p[alate, as this type should have, with a little lingering on the tongue from the honey notes. Maybe my favorite Goose Island so far.

Nice clear and shiney amber color... fat bubbly white head, turns into a creamy ring around my Westvleteren glass. Sweet flowery aroma. Nice and pleasant balanced taste of sweet flowery hops and light doughy yeast. Lingering bitter perfume hint in finish.

bottle. pours a crystal clear orange/amber with some lace but what started out as a small head faded very quickly. aroma of candi sugar, caramel malt and light fruit. sticky sweet on my lips and a somewhat dry bitter finish. glad I tried it, but there are other GI brews I like better