October Brewery of the Month – Goose Island

When Goose Island founder John Hall took a tour across Europe, he savored the styles and selections of brews in every region, and thought to himself, ‘America deserves some damn fine beer like this, too.’ So he began his craft beer in Chicago.

Craft brewing wasn’t widely known at the time, but upon return from his European sojourn, John set out to change all that. He settled down in his hometown of Chicago’ a city perfect for craft beer, with rapidly evolving tastes and the largest system of fresh water on the planet. And then he got to brewing.

By 1995, John’s beer had become so popular that he decided to open a larger brewery, along with a bottling plant to keep up with demand. 1999 brought even more growth when the company added an additional brewpub to their thriving business. What was once one man’s pint-filled dream has become the Goose Island empire, now an acclaimed enterprise in the craft beer industry.

Goose Island Brewery uses 32 fermenters, over 15 different yeasts, and stores their brew at a crisp 38 degrees until shipping. The brewery was built in 1995 and has more than doubled in size since originally built – it even has a 143,000 square foot barrel warehouse! Goose Island also has separate rooms to house small batch innovation programs and yeast propagation units.

Goose Island pioneered the process of bourbon-aged beer in 1992. They begin with first-use bourbon barrels choosing only those that have had held sweet whiskey in their bellies for an average of 8 years. Then they age their beer inside for 8-12 months using each barrel only once, ensuring the best quality taste in every pint. Their barrel-aged beers also have their own dedicated stockroom.

Goose Island offers classic ales like Goose IPA – a hop lover’s dream with a fruity aroma, set off by a dry malt middle, and long hop finish; and Honkers Ale that combines a fruity hop aroma with a rich malt. Also, seasonal beers like Ten Hills, Oktoberfest, Rambler IPA, and Festivity Ale are favorites of beer lovers.

For more information, visit: http://www.gooseisland.com/home.html