Goose Island Honkers Ale

Pours a dark auburn in color. Decent inch of head sitting atop. Smell is mostly hops. Taste is bitter. Not a hoppy bitter, just a different bitter. Lots of malt in this beast. Medium feel in the mouth and decent. Not a beer that I’ll revisit.

Very drinkable pale ale. Good balance of hops and malt that finishes with a creamy ending. Worth trying again.

[On-tap] Pours deep amber with a small off-white head. Decent lacing. Aroma was limited, but not bad, mainly toasty malt--no hops and really weak. Taste is very malt dominant--maybe some barley in there?--I’m not sure, but it wasn’t bad. Mild citrus hoppiness that fades quite quickly as it warms, and is replaced by some notes of brown sugar. Decent mouthfeel with a long finish once again dominated by the malt. Really not a whole lot going on here. I would have liked to have seen the hops a little more present, but otherwise it was drinkable.

I’ve never understood why this is their flagship beer. As an American, the IPA is just worlds beyond the Honkers. I’m not saying Honkers is bad, quite the contrary. It’s a nice, sweet and creamy ale that is easily accessible in my area. In fact, now that I think about it, this is definitely the best beer available in most gas stations. Even if your not from Chicago, if you see it, be sure to give it a try.

From the bottle to my imperial pint, this malty sweet English bitter style beer has a bittersweet, mapley malt toastedness that’s skillfully balanced by well integrated grainy, lightly spicy, bitter hop flavors. The creamy smooth mouthfeel that follows becomes stickly sweet as the beer warms and the hops mellow out. It’s full on malt presence returns mid-glass with a hint of honey and brown sugar surprising the palate. Very well-crafted, and an excellent example of a highly quaffable pub bitter, G.I. Honkers Ale finishes with hints of sticky, chewy caramel.