Being a Chicago brewery, I almost HAVE to love Goose Island. Recently they’ve changed Demolition completely and introduced a few new beers. This made me a little sad – I could say I once had the beautiful Demolition 1800 – but extremely happy and excited for the new ones to come out. The general packaging of this beer just exudes class and I feel almost guilty in the visual pleasure I may take away from this…

Brewery Hometown: Chicago

Appearance: I have it in a 312 pilsner glass and it just looks like 312…however a little paler and cloudier in appearance. The head is a thicker foam than I was anticipating considering the light appearance, overall pretty solid yet fluffy and inviting.

Aroma: Sweet orange citrus. Maybe like a faint orange juice that’s slightly fermented. I know that’s not really appealing sounding but it truly is an inviting scent. There is some spice in there that seems to warm it up the overall profile and make you smile.

Taste: Different; the first sip I was expecting a wave of citrus flavor with warm spices but I got none of that. The flavor is very mild while the beer is still in your mouth, and when you swallow it the flavor develops into what I was looking for. The appearance isn’t tricking you, it is fairly thin; crisp and easy to drink with a bold flavor. I can’t help but smell it every time i take a swig and it only amplifies the tastes of spice and soft finish. As the beer finishes it releases a vanilla-ish flavor that makes it way more in line with a belgian (than which it started, but in a good way). The carbonation is pretty excessive but it works beautifully with all the flavor. I took a break from this for a couple of seconds, took a quick big swig and it actually made my mouth water afterwords. The orange peel stays on your lips. Lick them: it tastes like you’ve been eating an orange (pretty fucking cool). This beer is 80% Belgian style ale blended with 20% Belgian style ale aged in wine barrels with orange peels. Now I wonder what the beer straight from the wine barrels tastes like…

Alcohol: 6.5%

Drink one or all?: It only comes in the 650ml and I would suggest drinking all of it.

Cost: $6 for a 650ml (1PINT 6FL OZ, 22FL OZ) bottle :(

Overall: Goose Island has not let me down. This is nothing short of what I’ve come to expect from them. I only wish it were a little heavier on the vanilla and alcohol content, but still worth while. Biggest downside is the bottle size and price. The orange peel lingering on your lips was so cool and unique, I will always remember that. Classy and smooth.