Goose Island Night Stalker (2012)

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

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at Binny's in Illinois; 2012 (bottled on 11/19/12)

Style/ABV: Russian Imperial Stout, 11.5% (my bottle says 11.5%...)

Reported IBUs: 60

Oh Goose Island...clever girl. The plot just keeps thickening with these guys:

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. On November 16th, founder and CEO, John Hall, announced he would be leaving Goose Island. On January 1st, 2012, Anheuser-Busch "veteran" Andy Goeler will take over Goose Island. Additionally, around the same time as John Hall's departure, resident barrel-program leader John Laffler also announced his departure from Goose Island. There have been many changes regarding Goose Island...so we will see what the future has in store for Goose Island. 

A little disclaimer about the Night Stalker. It's my understanding that all of Goose Island's stouts come from the same base beer. That base beer is the "Cook County Stout." I'm fairly certain the Cook County Stout has never been released commercially. Using the base beer...Goose Island does a bunch of different things. The Bourbon County Stout takes the base beer, ages it in various barrels, and then they blend that shit like Blendtec. The Bourbon County Coffee and Vanilla get aged with coffee or vanilla, etc. The Big John gets aged on cocoa nibs. And tonight's beer, the Night Stalker, is dry hopped like crazy. 

Many people dislike the fresh Nigh Stalker, and will cellar it for a few years...once the hops drop out, you probably get something that bears more resemblance to the base beer. 

You can get the goods on the Night Stalker on Goose Island's website. The beer is evidently an homage to a Chicago-based television show, and is described as an intensely hoppy and roasted beer. I'm not sure if the 2012 batch is all that different from previous batches, but the website says this beer uses Mt Hood and Simcoe hops; and 2-Row, Munich, Chocolate, Caramel, Roasted, and De-Bittered Black malts. They suggest enjoying this beer within 180 days...which suggests that it is hopped like crazy. I'm sure it's dry-hopped too. Nevertheless...at over 11% ABV, you can certainly age this. The end result just might not be what Goose Island had in mind. Anyway...onward!

This beer pours an inky, black color...with 2 fingers of dark brown head. The head is creamy, and it's actually sustaining quite nicely (I guess those Bourbon barrels are a bitch). The head is leaving lacing as it falls away, with big alcohol legs. In bright light you catch some red and brown on the edge of the glass. 

Goose Island Night Stalker

The aroma on this is really weird...like, I see where you can pick up on some of that Simcoe, with strong catty notes playing off big roast. Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm getting strong fruit aroma, namely grape...and a big waft of burnt plastic and rubber. As I smell this more, I'm getting hop pellets, and big roasty aromas. Let's see how this tastes...

Whoa...this is really weird. I thought I could draw comparison to Okar Blues' Ten FIDY, but I'm not so sure...there is big chocolate and roast in this, and I'm pulling out some citrus and hints of hops. I'm also pulling out really big soy sauce, and some of that burnt rubber from the aroma (which I assume is just a catty note). Lots of chocolate, roast, coffee, and super creamy mouthfeel up front...then you get catty notes, burnt rubber, and hop kick in the middle. Soy sauce is dropping in hard in the back, with lingering roast and citrus. This is sticky on the finish, with alcohol warming. The hops in this are incredibly "hoppy." Like...concentrated hop pellet hoppy. 

I am so fucking confused right now. My first few sips were not good...but this is kind of mellowing out into something that's enjoyable. I'm belching up mad hops, and you really get the Simcoe on the finish. There's big roast in here too. And while strange...the soy sauce thing is kind of cool. I'd pair this beer with Chinese food in a heartbeat. This is a full-bodied beer with a giant mouthfeel. This is creamy, with just enough turbulence, has nice supporting carbonation, good palate depth, and okay complexity. Up front is roast, coffee, chocolate; middle is burnt rubber, catty Simcoe, citrus; the back is HUGE SOY SAUCE kick, lingering Simcoe, roast...fade to a dry, sticky, finish.

Rating: Average

I'm feeling a Light Average on this...this isn't bad, and it kind of grows on you as you drink it. The hop thing that flirts with burnt rubber is a bit off-putting, and if you dislike soy sauce...oh boy. It's a very interesting beer, and I haven't had anything like it. Big Simcoe, lots of catty notes...soy sauce...and epic roast. Stouts and Chinese food typically don't tango...but pair this with anything that benefits from soy sauce. You can also pair this with a burger, or a nice lettuce wrap. I'm not sure if I'm feeling this one, but at 10 bucks a bottle you might have some fun checking it out.

Random Thought: And so the great Night Stalker experiment begins. Because this shit is both available and relatively inexpensive (at 10 dollars a bottle)...so why wouldn't I age a few of these? I have a 2011 bottle in my cellar, which I'll pull out someday. It's amazing what a few changes can do to a base beer.