Goose Island The Ogden

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

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at Rayan's Discount Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2014 (bottled on April 16, 2014)

Style/ABV: Belgian Tripel, 9.0% 

Reported IBUs: 35

The Ogden is one of Goose Island's new beers, which includes their really solid The Illinois, their hoppy and accessible 312 Urban Pale Ale, their Endless IPA, and their Ten Hills Pale Ale. Is The Ogden up to snuff?

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 Ogden is a Belgian Tripel, which is a hard-hitting style known for being deceptively boozy and full of big, complex flavors. Goose Island's The Ogden is named after William Ogden, who opened Chicago's first brewery, and was also Chicago's first mayor. He also added the North Brand channel to the Chicago River, where Goose Island would eventually reside and take their name from. This beer is brewed with Citra, Brewers Gold, and Saaz hops; it is dry hopped with Brewers Gold and Citra hops as well. This one features a 2-Row malt base, and is fermented using Belgian Tripel yeast. At 9.0% and 35 IBUs, this is a big, bold beer.

Goose Island The Ogden

This beer pours out the part of a Tripel, into a picture perfect golden/yellow body with some orange tones. The beer kicks up a finger or two of perfectly white head. The head is white, wispy, and looks like clouds. As the head drops off, you get massive webs of lacing. In bright light, this beer is all yellow/gold, with lazy dots of mid-sized carbonation. The beer seems to be filtered or semi-filtered, and the head is vibrantly white. Again, this beer's appearance is the stuff you'd expect from a brewery like GI.

The aroma here is pretty hoppy, actually. This is definitely an American interpretation of a Tripel, with big orange, grapefruit, candied perfume, orange perfume, sugar, clove, banana, and bubblegum funk. The big Citra hops really come over the top, driving the bready malt backing and the clove/sugar/banana/bubblegum funk. It's not a bad aroma at all, especially if you like Citra hops.

Again, the taste is a nice continuation of the aroma, with big Citra splashes up front. I'm getting lots of orange and grapefruit, with big funky Belgian clove, bubblegum, light banana, and tons of sugary caramel. The finish is somewhat bready with lingering sugars. There's a perfume element that shows up in the middle and continues towards the end, and the end drops some mild alcohol warming and alcohol spice on the back of your throat. You also pick up some light grain.

This is full-bodied and feels substantial, which you want at 9.0%. This is remarkably drinkable and hides the alcohol well, but you know something is up here. Palate depth is just okay, and complexity seems a bit low for the style. While I'm enjoying the Citra hop aspect of this, I feel like the rest of the beer is somewhat simple in execution. You get those big Citra splashes up front with grapefruit and orange against a funky Belgian backdrop of clove, bubblegum, banana, and white sugar; the mids dial up the bready caramel, with some serious layers of sugar, candy sugar, and more dark sugar, with some more Belgian funk; the back end cleans up with some bread, grain, and lingering perfume notes. It's very solid, especially for the price. Probably a three point five. 

Rating: Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'll go with a Strong Average here...when I first had this earlier today, I thought it was maybe too sweet. Now that I'm drinking it again, I think the sweetness is appropriate, especially for the style. This isn't a bad beer by any means, it's just missing that element I can't quite place a finger on. Having said that, at 9.0% this is big and boozy in all the right places. This is a beer begging to be paired with pizza or something doughy. Maybe pasta. My awesome girlfriend made pasta with a white artichoke sauce for dinner tonight, this beer would have paired wonderfully with it. 

Random Thought: Even though I'm not 100% sold on this beer, I'd be happy to see this beer on tap around town or at sporting events. Drinking one of these with a Bulls game? Yes please.