Brewed By: Goose Island Beer Company (owned by AB InBev) in Chicago, Illinois
Purchased: Single, 12oz bottle, from a 6-pack bout at Jewel in IL; 2012
Style/ABV: Kölsch, 4.7%
In keeping with the summer theme (being that summer is knocking), I'm going to take a stab at reviewing the Goose Island Summertime. It's not officially summer yet, but it's hotter than Texas right now. We have two seasons in Chicago: Winter, and Summer. It's either really fucking hot, or really fucking cold. Even right now, it's like 90 during the day, and at night it dips into the 40s. How do you even dress for that?
I love the warm weather though. That's the other catch with Chicago. There are 3 months of summer, and 9 months of winter. Okay, sometimes it's more like 4 and 8 or 5 and 7. But you get the point. So who are these Goose Island folks? Do you really not know?
If you roll over to the Goose Island Summertime page, you can get all the info you need about this beer. This is a German Style Kölsch, clocking in at 4.7% ABV and packing 20 IBUs. The beer is described as having a "sunshine" color, and described as having a lightly fruity aroma, with some slight fruity acidity. The beer features Mt. Hood (mild, pleasant, clean, slightly pungent) and Saaz (mild, pleasant, earthy, spicy) hops, and 2 Row and Wheat malts. This beer is a seasonal beer, available between March and August. With that said...let's get this beer crackin'.
The pour reveals a beer that you cannot even betray in low light. This thing has a yellow/gold color, an incredibly white head, and quite a bit of effervescence in the form of many small carbonation bubbles rising upwards. I poured 4-fingers of white, cloudy, but foamy head. As the head comes down, there is nice lacing on my glass, and about a finger's worth of head sticking around. When held to bright light, this is a super transparent, pale gold/yellow.
There's actually some nice aroma going on here, more so than the East-West Kölsch. I'm getting some hints of lemon, some apple/Pale Lager fruitiness, apple, pear, grass, lemongrass, and just a hint of malt (maybe wheat or grain?).
I'm more accustomed to drinking this beer out of the bottle, so this glass treatment is new. But there are some nice flavors in here. First off, this beer has a nice tartness, and subtle, almost wine-like dryness about it. You get some very subdued lemon, lemongrass, pear, and tartness; there is a hint of wheat/malt; the finish kind of implodes or sucks in on itself, leaving a slightly dry note, with a hint of grain or biscuit. Overall though, this is super light, crisp, and refreshing...but surprisingly, a lot different than a Pale Lager.
This is light-bodied, crisp, refreshing, and very drinkable at 4.7% ABV. This has a nice balance of hops and malts, with a bit of a malt implosion in the finish. There is moderate carbonation that supports the beer, and this has great palate depth and moderate complexity. Up front you get hops, grass, lemon; the middle is more hops with hints of wheat and malt; the back end is tart, dry, and some grain/biscuit implosion. The finish is nice.
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.Tonight's beer, the Summertime, is a Kölsch. I did a whole write-up on Kölsch beers a couple days ago, so check out the review of the Sam Adams East-West Kölsch if you're curious about learning about the style. Basically, Kölsch is a traditional German Ale that has some mild hoppiness, very little bitterness, some fruity notes, and subdued maltiness.
If you roll over to the Goose Island Summertime page, you can get all the info you need about this beer. This is a German Style Kölsch, clocking in at 4.7% ABV and packing 20 IBUs. The beer is described as having a "sunshine" color, and described as having a lightly fruity aroma, with some slight fruity acidity. The beer features Mt. Hood (mild, pleasant, clean, slightly pungent) and Saaz (mild, pleasant, earthy, spicy) hops, and 2 Row and Wheat malts. This beer is a seasonal beer, available between March and August. With that said...let's get this beer crackin'.
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| Goose Island Summertime |
There's actually some nice aroma going on here, more so than the East-West Kölsch. I'm getting some hints of lemon, some apple/Pale Lager fruitiness, apple, pear, grass, lemongrass, and just a hint of malt (maybe wheat or grain?).
I'm more accustomed to drinking this beer out of the bottle, so this glass treatment is new. But there are some nice flavors in here. First off, this beer has a nice tartness, and subtle, almost wine-like dryness about it. You get some very subdued lemon, lemongrass, pear, and tartness; there is a hint of wheat/malt; the finish kind of implodes or sucks in on itself, leaving a slightly dry note, with a hint of grain or biscuit. Overall though, this is super light, crisp, and refreshing...but surprisingly, a lot different than a Pale Lager.
This is light-bodied, crisp, refreshing, and very drinkable at 4.7% ABV. This has a nice balance of hops and malts, with a bit of a malt implosion in the finish. There is moderate carbonation that supports the beer, and this has great palate depth and moderate complexity. Up front you get hops, grass, lemon; the middle is more hops with hints of wheat and malt; the back end is tart, dry, and some grain/biscuit implosion. The finish is nice.
Rating: Above-Average
I'm feeling a strong Above-Average on this. This is good stuff, especially as far as summer goes. This is light, has nice subtle notes of lemongrass and grainy/biscuit malt, and goes down real easy. This is the perfect beer to session, or drink on a hot day, or to drink with food. This beer is also relatively inexpensive, coming in at around 7 to 9 dollars for a sixer. I'd say that makes this beer a great candidate to beat out most macro Lagers. Goose Island says pair this with fish or salad...I bet this beer could stand up to chicken or pork as well. Overall, this was an enjoyable beer, and certainly something to consider grabbing if you need a "summer" beer. So until next time, don't drink and drive-by.
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