The Goose is Loose

Day #700 Pere Jacques 2012 / Goose Island Beer Company, Chicago, IL
Previously from this brewery: the others

Today is a Penn State game day, so let's all hope that goes well.  Your beer for the day is a bottle of Pere Jacque 2012 from Goose Island that's been sitting in the fridge for a year or so.  This Belgian style ale poured into a tulip glass a honey brown color, with no head.  There are welcoming aromas of yeast and cherry, and when you imbibe you pick up flavors of sweet malt, bread, apple, dried cherries, and light notes of honey.  From the bottle, you learn that this beer develops well for up to five years, further dispelling the notion that you need to drink beer quickly after it is made.  Good beers are like wine in that they grow and evolve over time, and this one is more than just "good."

That's French for "tasty"

Thing to Think About Today:
If Goose Island is up for review, we're going to pay homage to one of the great film roles of all time, from one of the greatest movies of all time:  Goose, from Top Gun.

Played brilliantly by Anthony Edwards, Goose was Maverick's wing man extraordinaire, even when it came to picking up ladies in the bar - hence, where today's common usage of the word wing man truly originated. And if we're talking about Anthony Edwards, let's give him credit for also being amazing in another "greatest of all time" movie, Revenge of the Nerds, and one of the best tv shows of all time, ER.  My man brings his A game.

You know, I can't even begin to tell you how many women I've picked up in bars by finding a random microphone and then getting the entire bar to join in a sing-along serenade.  Too many to count, really.  So, Goose and Mav (and the rest of the bar), take it away....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRA6rM2gTjk

"Don't worry, I'll take care of this....."

Day 690: Goose Island Pere Jacques

My advice to you: If you see a problem developing, do not ignore it for months on end. It will not go away. And it may result in a missing toe nail. That is all.

That beer up there is the Pere Jacques 2012 from Goose Island.  It is a Belgian style ale and this particular one was bottled on October 18, 2012. This one managed to age for just over a year in my house and supposedly it ages beautifully for five years. Beer never lasts that long in my house.

It poured a hazy medium-tone amber sort of brown color with a thin off white head. It wasn't nearly as rosy as it looks in this photo. It smells of Belgian candi sugar, bread dough and apricot preserves. It has a full mouthfeel. The flavor is lots of creamy fruit sweetness with a dry finish. There's a little cracker flavor in there as well. 

Beer stats

Style: Belgian style ale

ABV: 8.7%

IBUs: Unknown

Rating: Great

Previously reviewed from Goose Island

A review of Matilda from what feels like a million years ago

Mr.'s review of Honkers

Beer 117: Goose Island Matilda or Me, Expounding on Life

Today is my 37th birthday.  Funny, I still think I’m in my late 30s.  Hell, I feel like I’m just 30.  After reading this blog, you may think I behave like a 20 year old…whatevs.

As I get to start another year, I have a few thoughts to share.

1.  I have it good.  I have an amazing husband.  A. Seriously. Amazing. Husband.  Have you met him?  He’s pretty darn amazing.  And cute.  Did I mention how cute he is?

2.  My dogs are awesome.  I wish Flash and Franklin were still around, but we lived and loved and laughed together, had lots of belly rubs and it was good.

3.  I have two amazing families, who I adore.

4.  My friends keep me sane or help me be more insane and they know exactly when to do either.  I’ve known some of them for a year and others pretty much all of my 37 years and I am grateful for each and every one of them.

5.  Me and this house are finally starting to get along.  It’s getting improved a little bit every year.  New furnace, new chimney liner, new roof, new window, new siding…or perhaps my house is a money grubbing whore.

6. I have a career that is awesome.  It allows me to be me - how could I ask for more?  Plus I feel like I’m doing good in this world.

I’ll admit that the past twelve months have been trying and maybe that’s why I’m feeling optimistic about the upcoming year.  It was almost exactly twelve months to the day between when I found out my Mom had leukemia and when we had to put Flash to sleep.  How is that for bookending an incredibly shitty twelve months?

But one has to constantly learn from life and I’ve learned that I have an inner strength that just a few years ago, I would have denied having.  I wish I didn’t have to figure that out in the manner I did, but that’s life isn’t it?  

***

To celebrate my birthday, Gary is taking me out for an afternoon of tomfoolery followed by dinner at our favorite BYOB -- Frankie’s Fellini Café in Berwyn.  You should go there.  It is delicious.  I hope to find some good beer along the way and you’ll certainly be hearing about it in the coming days.

But for now I leave you with a review of Goose Island’s Matilda.  It is a Belgian style pale ale.  It poured a warm, deep apricot color with a thin white head.  It left lots of lacing down the glass as I enjoyed it.  It smelled organic, kind of grassy.  The taste was smooth…slightly fruity like ripe apples with mild hops in the middle and finishing dry.

I have NO IDEA what happened to this photo!
Note to self, should have asked for a camera for this birthday.

We discovered Goose Island Beer Company on a trip to Chicago a few years ago.  Gary just reviewed the Honkers Ale.  I love the labels on their vintage series -- I’m kind of a freak for good fonts.   I am definitely on the lookout for Juliet (a sour!) and the Lolita (framboise!) but feel like most of their offerings are pretty solid.

And on that note, happy birthday to me…and my Dad!  How cool is it that we share a birthday?!?

Cheers!

I Like the Pick and Roll/I Like the Give and Go

Beer #97 Honkers Ale / Goose Island Beer Company, Chicago, IL

Great way to spend a Friday: blowing off work for the afternoon, hanging out with friends, drinking beer, and watching basketball.  The first day and a half of the tournament hasn't produced as much madness as I'd like, but that might be changing.  Norfolk State already took down Missouri, a #2 seed, and Lehigh (LEHIGH!) was battling Duke (DUKE!) on even terms through half the game.  As my alma mater isn't much of a basketball powerhouse, I typically go into this time of year praying for chaos.  I love a good Cinderella story and always root for the underdog, even if that means my bracket gets laid to waste.

And what goes better with basketball than beer?  Unlike the River Spirit Casino, you can find some decent craft beers at O'Hare Airport.  In my case, the Honkers Ale from Goose Island.  Another beer from the bottle, so not much to report on appearance or aroma, but the taste has good malt notes, with citrus, caramel, and hops.  It all combines nicely to make a good and flavorful yet still easy drinking English bitter.

I'm a bigger fan of Goose Island's Green Line Pale Ale, but you take what you can get in the airport, I suppose.  It's also important to note that beer giant InBev, owner of Anheuser Busch, bought up Goose Island last spring.  So far, that seems like a way for InBev to collect the profits from craft beer and reduce their own distribution costs in the state of Illinois, more so than a plot to drive Goose Island to use cheap ingredients and make crappy beer.  We'll continue to watch that one.

Thing to Think About Today:
I was thinking of suggesting we all think about some of the great NCAA basketball tourney upsets, but there are too many amazing finishes to try and pick just one.  It's a Friday and the beers are flowing, so let's think about basketball, but mix in some awesome 80's music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_shxzlTRK44&ob=av2e 

'cause it's basketball with Mr. Kurtis Blow!