Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Goose Island: Nut Brown Ale

Hello ladies and gentlemen. I'm writing to you today about a certain beer named Goose Island Nut Brown Ale. If you've read this blog you've heard me mention Goose Island before and personally, I think this is one of their best.

The scene was a Thursday night at the Goose Island headquarters (Goose Island Bar & Grill, 8 buildings away from Wrigley Field). I was expecting a drunk dial from a certain Clairetoris Hambly, but alas that call never happened because she was too drunk to remember. Instead I enjoyed my roommate's band perform onstage while I joked with some new friends and got made fun of for taking notes in my notepad about the taste of this beer.

This is an English Brown Ale style and a fantastic one at that. The nutty flavor smacked me out of my chair with the first sip, but left me begging for more. I LOVE NUTS!!! It is apparently brewed as a chestnut-hued ale, no doubt the source of the nutty taste. However, you can also detect subtle hints of chocolate, honey and tobacco in it. Particularly the honey and then chocolate, which is an awesome combo. It was of course a dark brown color but the smell.......maaaaaaaaaan, it smelled like malted brown sugar. For as rich and flavorful as this brew is it finishes smooth. The taste just fades away and melts like butter.

Beermigos Rating - I'm gonna go with Dinner with the In-Laws/Girlfriend or Boyfriend's Parents:
This is a beer with a lot flavor that I would say just about anybody could at least respect (which is something that's good to have from your significant other's parent). It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but no one will hate on this choice. It's a safe bet for this sort of situation. It's not a Onesy because while flavorful, it's not as complex as other brews. Plus at 5.2 % ABV you're not running too many sobriety risks after one or two. At dinner though, you could throw them back and not feel too drunk.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm stuck here in northern California. Can I find this beer out here? How does it compare to a Newcastle Brown Ale? Hopefully, it's better than something called "Brown Sugar" that some guy got for me.