Goose Island Belgian Blonde Ale

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

Draft at GI Clybourn. I wasn’t expecting a whole lot, but turns out I loved this one. Poured a clear golden color with a white head. Some lace was left behind at the end. Enticing aroma of fresh citrus fruits and light clove. Light bodied and pleasantly effervescent, even a little chalky. The flavor was similar to the aroma with citrus stronger than clove and accompanying subdued banana. Delicious.

Draft at Clybourne. Pours golden with a white head. Light bodied, but not watery. Flavor is sweet, with notes of pineapple, pear, and apple. Just enough hops to be detectable, but not to balance it with sweetness. Some dusty and yeast notes on the finish. If you like sweet beers, this is good.

Cask conditioned via firkin at Dark Lord Days ’08. Pours a clear golden pale brew with a thin white head that quickly dissipates due to cask drawn beer. Aroma of light multi-grain bread malt, some coriander, a touch of banana and some white pepper. Taste is medium bodied, no carbonation, with flavors of bread malt, coriander some citrus zest and a touch of cloves. Finish is semi-sweet with a hint of banana esters/yeast aftertaste that quickly disappears.

On tap into tulip, Clybourn brewpub. Hazy pale golden yellow with barely a dusting and ring of head left. Some funk on the smell, like a High Life that’s been left out in the sun, lurking beneath spices and soft malts like banana cream. Nicely light and lively, with the yeasty byproducts tickling the tongue from the beginning and the characteristic spiciness of a wit (some corriander, though mostly ginger, cardamom, and pepper). Immediately following the swallow, the beer blossoms with acidity that is very much like grapefruit with lemon all around it, biting sour but not intense with the lemon as a soft flavorful counterpoint. Settles into a dry finish that eventually just fades away and leaves a bit of sweetness on the top of the tongue. Very refreshing summer beer.

On tap at GI - Clybourn. Poured a hazy yellowy-golden with a short, well-retained white head.. some lacing followed it down. Aroma was of peppery spices and banana at the yeasty fore.. some light fruits not far behind.. really enjoyed the nose on this. Flavor was a great blend of peppery yeast with lighter-skinned fruits and a mild floral bitterness.. left a long, tasty impression at the finish. Lighter-bodied but chock fulla flavor.. nice flow to it.. refreshing finish. Great stuff!

A decent enough version of this deceptive style. It actually pics up points due to the the fact that the Japanese hops they apparently use offer a nice resiny character. Nothing amazing, though it’s interesting how the resiny hops interact with the phenols produced by the yeast. bananas and cloves. Chill haze. Decent.

On tap at the Clybourn location. Clear, golden in color with a medium-sized white head that was partially diminishing. Yeasty aroma, some coriander, spiced candied fruit and lemon peel. Slightly dry, mildly sour flavor. Moderately carbonated. Solid.

Light golden color with a moderate white head. Pale malts, light candi and mildly spicy hops scents. Pale malt, sweet start with some decent spice and ester. Cloves and bananas in a belgian way verses a weiss way. Reminds me of a thin Duvel, back when Duvel was better, if that makes any sense.