Goose Island Ten Hills

Brewed By: Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a Variety Pack left in my fridge in Chicago, IL; 2015 

Style/ABV: American Pale Ale, 6.2% 

Reported IBUs: 50

Woo shelf turds. 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 Ten Hills is a seasonal APA released during Decemeber through March. This beer is brewed with 2-Row, Caramel 20, Caramel 40, and Munich malts, and features Perle, Cascade, and US Saaz hops. 

Goose Island Ten Hills

This pours into your typical copper, amber-body, kicking up two fingers of amber-tinged head. Blah blah, it looks like every other Pale Ale/IPA out there. The beer is well carbed with good lacing, it's basically a basic bitch beer. 

The aroma is...shock...hops. This has a faint hit of onion and garlic on the aroma, with lots of orange, citrus, pine, and big hop wallop. The malt base is unobtrusive, and hints at whole grain bread if anything.

This isn't bad...it's actually a pretty basic follow through of the aroma. You get sweet malts, caramel sugars, and lots of oranges, hints of resin, and some lingering onion/garlic. It's pretty big for its britches, and that's not a huge shock at 6.2%. This is practically an IPA. 

Again, this is a big APA and really pushes the envelope as far as the style is concerned. I'm not having any trouble getting this down at 6.2%, and the palate depth is good with good duration. This is medium-bodied, and has lower carbonation. It's not that complex. This is pretty sweet...with honey like sweetness, lots of caramel sugars, and orange candies. You get those honey-like sugars up front (it reminds me of a toned down Hopslam), with lots of juicy hops in the mids, and some caramel sugars and lingering hops in the back. It's not bad. 

Rating: Above-Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average on this. This is a nice contender from Goozie Islands. I'd buy this again to pair with a spicy dish, and I think Goose Island has their heart in the right place when they decided to release this in the colder months of the year. The malt-heavy profile and intense sweetness makes this great for slightly colder weather. I hope Goose Island keeps this as part of their rotation. 

Random Thought: Goose Island's rotation changes are pretty frustrating, actually. They've killed some good beers.