Making Up Time

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you. I haven’t had a lot of time to publish any reviews or thoughts on beer but I’ve managed to squeeze in my fair share of pints. Hey, if you have to choose between writing about beer and drinking beer I think it’s obvious what the best option is.

Fortunately most of my drinking has come by way of sampler packs. I reacquainted myself with Goose Island by partaking of their seasonal sampler which featured four excellent beers from this Chicago craft brewer.

Headlining this pack was the Summertime, a very crisp Kolsch style ale that would fit into a discussion about session beers rather nicely. It’s a golden colored beer with a nice balance of hops and malt. It’s lighter in body than most of your ales and comes in the bottle with a 5.0% ABV so it’s not going to have you wobbling on the back nine if you choose to drink on the links.

Speaking as a notorious hop head and big beer drinker I can honestly say that I like this beer. Sometimes Kolsch falls a little flat for me. They’re either too sweet or they end up with a weird metallic taste because the acid from the hops doesn’t get checked by the malt. Goose Island Summertime is a very well balanced beer I can enjoy.

Goose Island’s signature beer is the Honker’s Ale which is a very nicely balanced trandtional session bitter. It’s amber in color and has a nice hop balance. Like a true English bitter it’s relatively low in alcohol at 4.3% ABV but unlike a lot of ambitious beers with a low ABV, Honker’s has an excellent flavor profile. In fact, of the various true bitters available, Honker’s is at the very top.

Of course, I’m not happy without hops. As well-crafted as those beers are I still enjoy a good IPA and this mix pack was kind enough to provide three of them for my drinking pleasure as well. For my tastes this was the best beer in the bundle but only by a narrow margin. Goose Island’s take on IPA isn’t nearly as outlandishly hopped as a lot of the offerings out there which makes it unique. As much as I love hops I have to admit that there are times when they can be too strong. It’s like hot sauce. I can eat wings covered in meltdown sauce but I’d be lying if I said I could taste anything except the heat.

Hops are different in the sense that they don’t numb your senses but they can overpower a beer. Sometimes I like the sensation getting whacked in the mouth with a pine tree but there are times when I want to enjoy the total beer experience. Goose Island IPA delivers enough hops to eliminate any confusion as to the style, but leaves enough of the malt behind to allow you to appreciate the effort that went into this beer. Trust me, this beer isn’t weak even by IPA standards. It delivers hops, but it doesn’t rely solely on hops to make a name for itself. It’s a really nice beer.

Rounding out the pack was another dandy offering: 312 Urban Wheat. This is another one of those wheat beers that can help skeptics overcome their reservations about hazy hefewiezens. 312 packs enough hop character to balance the sweetness of the wheat and Goose Island’s brew crew doesn’t fiddle around with a lot of other nonsense that would bring bogus flavors to the party. It’s a wheat beer with old school beer sensibility.


But wait, there’s more…..

I also enjoyed a sampler pack from Flying Dog. In fact, Flying Dog’s popularity might be the fact that it promotes its Mixed Pack sampler nationally. Flying Dog started in Colorado but brewing operations moved to Frederick, Maryland to accommodate demand. Flying Dog is best known for the funky packaging featuring artwork by Ralph Steadman. Fortunately the creativity is not squandered on lousy beer as the Mixed Pack quickly proves.

Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale is really the centerpiece of the collection and it is a very nice representation of what American pale Ale is all about. It’s got a hearty dose of Cascade hop aroma imparted in the dry hopping process and enough malt to hold up to it without being heavy. At one time this beer defined hops but over the past few years other brewers have gotten more aggressive. Doggie Style is still a great beer, it’s just not the trendsetter it once was. That’s not a bad thing. It’s got a light amber color, 5.5% ABV and a clean finish that makes the next sip as good as the first. Doggie Style is a very drinkable beer.

In-Heat Wheat is more of a traditional wheat beer. Flying Dog claims to use a proprietary yeast that imparts hints of banana and cloves. That’s probably not going to attract a lot of first timers but you really have to be thinking banana to pick up on that flavor. The clove flavor is there but it’s not as cloying as you might think. Since tradition German Perle hops are used this beer is on the malty side. I like it but not as much as I like wheat beers that are more assertively hopped.

Old Scratch Amber Lager is another nice beer that seems similar to a Dortmunder. It’s a little darker and sweeter than a Pilsner. This isn’t a beer that’s going to change your life but it’s a good beer that won’t let you down.

The same can be said the Tire Bite Golden Ale. It’s like a traditional Kolsch, not too bitter, not too sweet and a low enough ABV to let you drink it as a thirst quencher. Again, it’s a very good beer…just not a world beater.

Snake Dog is the IPA of the pack and as IPA’s go it’s really pretty good. They dry hop with Columbus hops and flavor it with Warrior hops. The result is a citrusy aroma and a really dry finish. When I first tried this I was expected something with very little in the way of nuance but as IPA’s go this beer’s well balanced enough to appeal to beginners while still providing certifiable hop heads with enough to chew on.

My favorite beer of the pack is also one of the best porters you’ll find on the market. Road Dog Porter is robust and malty with subtle hop bitterness that keeps it clean. There are hints of chocolate and coffee as is the case with any good porter but because this beer is hopped nicely there’s a warm smokiness playing in the mix as well. It’s not listed as a smoked porter but it certainly has the character of one. It’s very nice.

If you’re one of those people who insists that there’s a meaningful difference between stouts and porters this is the beer that will prove you wrong. The term “stout” was derived from breweries that used it as a way to describe the volume of malt in their porters. Back in the day Road Dog would have been designated “extra stout” because it’s such a big beer. At 6% ABV, Road Dog’s not going to be confused for the massive imperial stouts on the market but it’s still a pretty strong brew and it’s highly enjoyable.


So there you go. I think I made up for missing a few entries. Now go out, buy a mix pack and see if you agree.