Goose Island Pepe Nero

Brewed By: Goose Island Beer Company (owned by AB InBev) in Chicago, Illinois

Purchased: 1 Pint, 6oz (650mL) bomber from Binny's in IL; 2011

Style/ABV: Dark Saison/Belgian Style Farmhouse Ale, 6.0%

Tonight I am cracking open one of Goose Island's Vintage Ales, the Pepe Nero. 

Goose Island is a Chicago-based brewery that began as a brewpub on Clybourn, which opened on May 1988. The actual brewery opened on 1995, and is located on the Southwest side of Chicago. The second brewpub, located in Wrigleyville by the Chicago Cubs, was opened in 1999. On March 28, 2011, Goose Island sold 58% of the brewery to Anheuser-Busch. The remaining 42% of the brewery is supposed to be acquired by A-B InBev in the future, and there has been much discussion about the brewery's takeover. 

Pepe Nero is a Belgian Style Farmhouse Ale according to Goose Island. BeerAdvocate and Ratebeer both have this pegged as a Saison; and a Saison is a Belgian Style Farmhouse Ale brewed during the winter months meant for consumption throughout the summer. Goose Island describes this beer as having an aroma of roasted chestnuts, and a taste of roasty sweetness, earthy notes, and black pepper. This beer clocks in at a 6.0% ABV, packs 30 IBUs, and is brewed with Pilgrim and Saaz hops. Rye is also used in the malts. Traditional Saisons are typically refreshing, fruity, peppery, and dry. This beer is clearly a "darker" beer, so it deviates from the traditional Saison in a few ways. This beer also uses Pilsner malts which are typical of the Saison style, and the Saaz Hops that are used are a Noble Hop variety; Noble Hops often show up in Saisons. The Pilgrim hop variety appears to be a bit more potent, so I will be on the lookout for those 30 IBUs when I taste the beer. And speaking of tasting...let's dig in shall we?

Goose Island Pepe Nero

The beer pours with 4-fingers worth of thick, foamy, tan/root beer float/brown head. The head is very thick and bubbly. This is definitely a brownish or reddish beer; both in low light and in bright light. Goose Island's website says it is "mahogany." That's a hell of a lot more refined than what I can come up with, so let's roll with that. This is a murky beer, although I can see a storm of carbonation rising from the very bottom of the glass. I'm guessing this will be carbonated and effervescent.

In terms of aroma: very earthy, herbal, and Belgian. I'm picking up hints of Belgian funk, vanilla, banana, and clove. There are also hints of malts: chocolate for sure. I'm also picking up some Saison notes: that kind of barnyard, grassy aroma. When I swirl the beer in my glass I can also pick up hints of grain, rye, and pepper.

Now this is an interesting tasting beer. You get some sharp acidity and fruitiness, but the back end is huge roasted malts, hints of chocolate, pepper, and dry smoke. This dries with a smokey and peppery finish that reminds me of dried meats. On the front end I'm tasting some sweet malts as well; berries, earthiness. You know that kind of orange-citrus-coffee note you sometimes get in really roasted coffee? You get a shock of that on the front of your tongue. A very earthy note. Maybe a hint of lemon or grass.

This beer is really complex and has moderate to high palate depth. It is crisp and drinkable, but finishes nice and roasty and dry. I would say this is medium-light on the palate, carbonated, and drinkable. The front of the palate is sharp, acidic, fruity, tangy; this rolls into a mellower middle with some hints of roast, maybe a touch of that Belgian funk; the back end is all roast with huge smoke, hints of chocolate, and a dry finish.

Rating: Above-Average 
Score: 86% 

I may have to revisit this one. I feel like this is a really impressive, interesting, and tasty beer. Perhaps it is a touch thin or watery, but I really think what I am tasting is the beer's dryness. The bottle I am drinking today is almost one years old. This is one of Goose Island's bottle conditioned beers that can be cellared for 5 years, so no problems there. 

But seriously...the way this beer unfolds is really cool. You get that Saison kick up front, followed by some Belgian notes, followed by this really dark malt profile that just kicks your palate's ass. Very cool stuff. This is worth checking out, especially considering how available this beer is (it is a year round offering). I will be drinking this again.