Goose Island 312 Urban Pale Ale

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

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack bought at Jewel in IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: American Pale Ale, 5.4% 

Reported IBUs: 30

"The 312 lineup is expanding, and that is awesome!" Said no one ever. 

My girlfriend and dad were both confused. "Isn't this the beer that used to come in yellow?" "Is this a new beer?"

Hopefully they don't start branding this under different area codes, then shit would really start to get confusing. Anyway...

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 312 Urban Pale Ale is part of Goose Island's "Urban Ales" lineup. This one punches in at a gentle 5.4% and 30 IBUs, and features Amarillo, Mt. Hood, and Nugget hops. The malt base features 2 Row and Crystal 60 malts for that "balanced malt backbone." 

Goose Island 312 Urban Pale Ale

This one pours the part of a Pale Ale, pouring into a dark golden body, kicking up several fingers of dense, hop-fueled head. There's some streams of mid-sized carbonation rising up, and the beer looks surprisingly similar in bright light. There's lacing and all that fun stuff.

The aroma here is vibrant and welcoming. Seriously, even if this was contract brewed in New York or Colorado (the bottle lists both locations), this is a Goose Island beer through and through. There's a light, malty backbone of crackers, rye bread, and whole grain bread. On top of the lightly malty backbone is some big floral hops, light resin, pine, and big grass. I'm getting a lot of grass on here, light lemon, cut grass, woody, some wet leaves, and maybe iced tea. It smells inviting and drinkable and good.

This is incredibly palate-able, with clean hops cutting across your mouth and Pilsner-like cracker and biscuit malts padding your tongue. This is vibrant and bright, with nice grassy and light citrus-lemon notes. There's an iced tea note as well, which is solid.

I don't drink a ton of Pale Ales on the regular, but for frame of reference, I had Half Acre's Daisy Cutter last night (on draft). This isn't as good, but it's not exactly slacking either. The reviews for this beer have been needlessly cruel and biased, because I guess hating InBev adds +5 to your craft penis stats. Seriously, look at this fucking circlejerk. This light-bodied, clean, refreshing beer is the perfect thing to drink at backyard barbecues, at the bar while watching the game, or by the 6-pack. I guess none of these situations apply to the typical neckbeard ticker on Ratebeer, but for all you Chicago folks, cheers. This has good palate depth and duration for the style, and my only knock is the lack of complexity. She plays it straight, with clean, grassy hops up front, more hops and some biscuity/cracker malts in the middle, and a nice clean bitter, hoppy finish. This is stupid refreshing and stupid drinkable, and it also has a mildness about it that makes it approachable for non-craft beer drinkers and non-hop heads. My dad gave it his seal of approval, what more do you need?

Rating: Above-Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

This is solid, I like it. I'm tossign this a Light Above-Average, with the disclaimer that there are better Pale Ales out there and in Chicago, but when you math out the cost of this beer vs. drinkability...how can you not pick this up by the 6-pack? This is that so-called macro lager killer that Pete Coors is scared of. Or he would be if he wasn't a dinosaur. Pair this beer with hockey games, baseball games, basketball games, (etc.), and this would also taste great with lightly grilled foods, fruit salads, and your typical Pale Ale pairings. This is very solid, which is impressive considering the scale at which it is being produced. 

Random Thought: I'm a glass half-full kind of guy (lol), but I wonder if the haters thought about the big picture. This beer has serious gateway potential. It's a big step up from the 312 Urban Wheat Ale, which is somewhat bland and mild. This beer has been properly hopped and features big bold flavors...relatively speaking.