Goose Island Class of ’88 Belgian Style Ale

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

Purchased: 765ml bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2014 (bottled 01/13/2014)

Style/ABV: Belgian Strong Ale, 11.2% 

Reported IBUs: 7

It's hard to believe I was just a wee little baby in 1988, sucking on dem titties and crapping my pants. I missed out on hairy bushes, bright pink lights, and cocaine. Wait, on second thought, I'm okay with that. About Goose Island:

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, 2013, 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. 

The Class of ’88 Belgian Style Ale was brewed in collaboration with Deschutes Brewery to celebrate both brewery's "silver" or 25th anniversary. Goose Island opted to brew this beer using whole flower Mt Hood hops, which were introduced in 1988. They then transferred this beer to Muscat casks and aged it on Michigan Riesling Grape juice and Oregon Pinot Noir grape must. It's kind of wine-like, like the Dogfish Head Noble Rot. The Goose Island Class of '88 features a Best Pilsner malt base, and punches in at 11.2% ABV and 7 IBUs.

Goose Island Class of ’88 

The beer pours into a slightly hazy, apple-juice amber/orange body, kicking up a finger of rapidly dissolving white head. The head crackled and fizzed away like soda, leaving a ring of white carbonation on the edges of my glass, and tons of alcohol legs. Bright light confirms the apple juice color of the beer's body, and some tiny carbonation bubbles are rising upwards with moderate authority.

The aroma is pretty subtle, with apples, grape juice, oak, and some peppery Belgian spice. If I really dig into the aroma I get some candi sugar and orange, lemon, candy malts, and some nondescript floral aromas. Kind of meh.

Wow...this just...sucks. Totally flat with dull Muscat and stale Riesling, obnoxious waves of glaring Belgian candy sugar and sappy candy oranges, and just...meh. There's hardly any barrel or oak, and there's little wine complexity. The finish is equally as flaccid and sad. For an 11.2% Belgian Strong aged in wine barrels with grape juice, I was expecting big things.

When the best part about a beer is the boozy warming, you know (1) you're an alcoholic, and (2) the beer sucks. This isn't quit the abortion that the Blue Moon Grand Cru was, but it's about on par with the novelty that Kwak is. I'm kind of offended that Goose Island would even bottle this, let alone in their fancy 765ml format and at an asking price of $20 a bottle. Fuck no. Maybe this needs some time to age in the bottle? I think there's some Brett in here? I dunno. Complexity is at an all time low, especially for a Belgian Strong aged in wine barrels with grape juice. Palate depth is okay I guess, and the 11.2% is hiding like minorities at the state fair. Up front: flat candy citrus, grape drank, sugary grape/orange, orange candy, weird chemical; mid palate rolls into more grape drank and apple juice, stale sugar, stale white wine, the "L" car that the homeless person peed in; back end is lingering sweetness and booze. Grapes, wine complexity, and barrels be damned. There's none of that here. Any Brett funk is in the alpha stages. I guess when Greg Hall isn't pissing and cumming on things, magic doesn't happen.

Rating: Below-Average (2.0/5.0 Untappd)

This is a Light Below-Average beer. Just...disappointing as my first three kids. Seriously, hit the fucking softball, it's on a tee for cripes crates. This beer is disappointing from the onset: no pop when you open it, no aroma when you sniff it from the bottle, and a pour that would only make the thirstiest homeless person happy. On the plus side, this beer isn't as bad as it could be...I mean they could have mixed the 312 with some grape juice and slapped a shiny label on it and stuck it in their trademark 765ml bottle. About that, do I really have fucks to give about the extra 15ml? No, I don't. I'm not even going to recommend food pairings in good faith here, because I honestly wouldn't waste 20 dollars on this. If you do blow your load on this expensive beer, age it for a few years because yeahhhh. BOOOOO.

Random Thought: Hey, it happens. At least Kwak comes with a cool glass that you can use as a butt plug or to butt chug.