Tag Archives: honkers ale

Goose Island Beer Company Beer Dinner (Glowbal) – June 6th, 2017

by Mike

One June 6th, 2017 I was invited out to an invite only beer dinner with Goose Island Beer Company out of Chicago that was held at Glowbal restaurant in Vancouver.  This was my first time actually dining at Glowbal.  To start the night off samples of Four Star Pils were served to guests.

The dinner was hosted by the brand new Head Brewer for Goose Island Toronto Brewhouse Bernard Priest and the Executive Chef Kyle Dampsy.

This is a fine dining restaurant and the room for the dinner was decorated to match the occasion.  To start the night they brought up both Bernard Priest and Kyle Dampsy to discuss the beer and then the food.  Once the talking had finished the started to serve the first course.

First Course
Amuse Bouche
Foie Gras Sable Cookie with Strawberry Gelee Se Salt
Paired with Gillian 2016

It was nice to start dinner off with what would almost be considered a desert.  The cookie was really tasty and the sweet strawberry topping really paired nicely with the sour strawberry farmhouse ale.  Sweet and sour counteract each other really nicely.

Second Course
Parmesan Fried Chicken
Parmesan Fried Chicken, Corn Puree, Compressed Watermelon, Pickled Watermelon Rind
Paired with 312 Urban Wheat Ale

The fried chicken in the Parmesan breading was amazingly flavorful with a nice little zing. I wouldn’t say that the chicken paired perfectly with the wheat ale but the Watermelon sure did.

Course Three
Flank Steak
Yucatan Style Flank Steak, Mushroom Polenta, Roja Sauce, Cilantro.
Paired with Sofie 2017

Who can take what is considered a poor cut of beef and make it amazing?  Holy hell can this chef!  The BBQ sauce has a big pepper spice and goes well with the peppery saison.  The flank steak was rare and cooked amazingly well.  I don’t know a ton about Polenta but this mushroom version was really great.  The hint of earthy mushroom really worked with the saison.

Fourth Course
BBQ Pork Ribs
BBQ Pork Ribs, Celery Seed Brined Coleslaw, Jalapeno Corn Bread.
Paired with Goose Honkers Ale

The flank steak was great but this may have been better.  I am still undecided and I may need to try both again to find out haha.  The rib sauce had a mild sweetness that really melded well with the honkers ale.  This is not my favourite beer from Goose Island but with this dish it really worked.  I have never had a brined coleslaw but after having one I don’t know how I have eaten it any other way.  I love the kick that it gives.  The final touch of the jalapanjo corn bread just rounded it out with a nice mild spice to contract the sweetness of the BBQ sauce and the beer.

Course Five
Carrot Cake
Carrot Cake with Goose Island IPA glaze.
Paired with Goose IPA

This desert lived up to the rest of the meal but even I was getting full.  The carrot cake was not super sweet and the glaze was really nice.  With Goose IPA being a malt forward English style IPA it really worked well with this pairing.

This was definitely a great beer dinner and I would like to thank Goose Island Beer Company and Labatt for inviting me out to share the evening with them.

Goose Island Beer Co
http://www.gooseisland.com

Glowbal
http://www.glowbalgroup.com/glowbal

As a nice little thank you to people that attended the dinner they gave us a bottle of Gillian 2016 Vintage a beer that is not sold in Canada.

 

Goose Island Beer Co Migration Week 2016 – BierCraft Cambie

by Mike

Goose Island Brewing in Chicago is now in their second year of Migration to Canada (Check out last year’s event).  On Tuesday May 24th 2016 Goose Island held their second Migration Week event in Vancouver.  This year the event was held at BierCraft at their Cambie Location.

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This hoppy hour event started at 5pm for a small group of local bloggers, industry people and beer media.  This was a closed education event to inform us of 4 of their special barrel aged sour beers.  The beers included Lolita, Halia, Juliet and the highly sought Madame Rose.  When we arrived we were given a pint of Goose IPA to settle in.

Like I said all 4 sour beers are highly sought after barrel aged beers using wild yeasts.  Each of the 4 sours came with a in depth explanation of what kind of barrels were used (usually wine barrels that are treated to make sure now wine is left), what wild yeasts they use an what they add for flavour.  Three of the beers use only one wild yeast but one used 7 different yeasts or bacteria.  Lolita is a Belgian Style Pale Ale that is aged with raspberries.  Halia is a Farmhouse Ale aged with whole peaches.  Juliet is a beer aged with blackberries.  Madame Rose is a different animal all together and the most complex beer that Goose Island Brewing makes.  This beer is a Flanders Brown Ale aged with cherries using 7 different wild yeasts and bacteria that has to be aged from 1.5 years to 3 years.  All of these beers were great but Madame Rose was next level good.

On top of the education on this beer we were informed how rare these beers were.  Especially true for the Madame Rose.  Sadly these beers are not available in Canada and this event and other Migration Week events were the only way to try them on tap (or bottle) in Canada.  These are also very expensive beers from what I have gathered.  Once 7pm rolled around the event was opened up to more industry people.  At that time the amount of beer available increased.  on tap included the 4 sours Lolita, Halia, Madame Rose and Juliet.  On top of those though there was Bourbon County Brand Stout, Goose IPA, Honkers Ale, Four Star Pils, Goose 312 as well as The Illinois a Double IPA.  This is a great introduction into what Goose Island has to offer.  They have their standard fare made by their parent company with their barrel aged beers only brewed and barrel aged in Chicago.  There was also some amazing food to pair with their great beer including pulled pork and duck tacos, cheese, vegi pakoras and a tasty vegan friendly option I don’t remember.

Goose Island beer is becoming for prominent in Canada and it is well worth picking up.  The more beer we drink the better chance this high end rare barrel aged beers make it to the Great White North.  Fingers crossed everyone can drink these beers sooner than later!

full sized photos

Goose Island Beer Co Migration Week – Wildebeest

by Mike

Goose Island Brewing of Chicago have been slowly pushing into Canada since 2014.  Things are about to change though as the brewery is now making a big push into Canada.  As the brewery puts it they are Migrating into Canada with their Migration Week.

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Two events were held in Vancouver for this occasion one being a smaller industry event that I attended and one being more public that I couldn’t.  Goose Island Beer Co may be owned by AB-InBev but don’t let that push you away from the brewery as they are still making great beer and i don’t see that changing.  Some of their core brands are not longer made in house if they were easily scaled up but things like Matilda, Sophie and the Bourbon Country lines are still brewed on site at the brewery in Chicago.  The Chicago brewery is still massive with a 60HL brewhouse with more production volume than local breweries Central City Brewers & Distillers or Parallel 49 Brewing.

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Seeing as Vancouver is one of the biggest Craft Beer markets in Canada Goose Island Beer Co brought their Migration Week to the city.  Only Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal had events in Canada this year.  The brewery brought with it one of their Chicago brewers and some of their educators to help spread the word about their beer and inform about their brand.  They brought along a selection of beers including Matilda, Sofie, Goose IPA, Honkers Ale, Bourbon County Brand Stout and Autumn Ale.  To say the people attending this event were excited to find Bourbon County Brand Stout on tap would be an understatement as this is a very highly sought after beer!  Each beer had a food pairing created by the chefs at Wildebeest and all tasted amazing together!  From the impression given they look to be pushing much if not all of their beer into Canada in the future.  Bourbon Country with an alcohol content of between 14% and 15% will take a little more work for them as our tax laws do not consider this a beer but fear not as beers of 18%+ have been or are for sale in British Columbia.

When big American Breweries push their way into Vancouver, BC and Canada it just reinforces what a growth market Craft Beer is in Canada.  We may be small in numbers but we sure are thirsty!  Goose Island Beer Co’s push into Canada should be exciting to both the casual craft fan and the uber geek alike!  Cheers to more great beer spreading to all reaches of North America!  I look forward to seeing what they have in store for us next.

Check out BeerMeBC’s for another perspective on the event.

Full sized photos found here.

Goose Island Beer Co
http://www.gooseisland.com
http://www.gooseisland.com/migrationWeek.html
1800 W Fulton St
Chicago, USA

Wildebeest
http://wildebeest.ca/
120 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC
604 687 6880
eat@wildebeest.ca

Honkers Ale – Goose Island Beer Company

by Mike

From Goose Island Beer Company out of Chicago Illinois comes their “Honkers Ale”.  The Canadian batches are being contract brewed across Canada keeping the beer fresher.  The beer pours an amber colour with an off white head.  The aroma consists of sweet fruits, bready and what malts, toffee and some grassy hops.  The flavour is of bread, wheat, biscuit, toffee, nuts, orange peel, fruit and a leafy hops with little bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 4.3% with an IBU of 30 making this a great beer to session.  Weirdly enough I prefer the bottled version of this beer over tap versions I have had.  I could see this being a great beer to sip on a patio for hours.

Commercial Description:  Inspired by visits to English country pubs, Honker’s Ale combines a fruity hop aroma with a rich malt middle to create a perfectly balanced beer. Immensely drinkable, Honker’s Ale is not only the beer you can trust but one you’ll look forward to time and again.

Food Pairing as per brewery:  Burgers, Fish and Chips, Camembert, English Cheddar.

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Once again my Goose Island beer arrived in an amazing package.  I removed all the straw filling before I left my work as it got everywhere last time so the photos show an altered packaging but you get the idea!