This is what every liquor license would look like if beer snobs ran the world. The Garden Gourmet, a grocery store in Chicago’s East Village, may be granted a liquor license that allows them to sell only craft beer and higher-end wine.  No booze, no malt liquor, no fortified wines, no Budweiser.  In other words, […]

Things just got real. Beer geeks have had our collective noses pressed up against the glass at Goose Island, wondering how the takeover of the brewery by Anheuser-Busch might effect the quality of the beer. Up until now, there was a safeguard in place – Goose Island founder John Hall was hanging around keeping an […]

A couple of years ago Jim and I went to a Rare Beer tasting in Denver, as part of our trek we made to GABF in 2010.  A pilgrimage we will surely need to make again…soon.  The Pints for Prostates Rare Beer Tasting at the Wyncoop Brewery was by far the best event of our trip, […]

Well May 21st has come and gone on all corners of the globe now, and SURPRISE! Nothing happened.  Yes, someone had many people fooled into thinking that the end was near, and the Rapture would begin.  Guess what, he was WRONG.  Now I know you are just about as surprised as I was when May […]

OK, hold onto your butts because this is some legal stuff I’m gonna be layin’ down here.  I have it on good authority that there is a method to AB InBev’s madness when it came to the purchase of Goose Island Beer Company, and unfortunately it has nothing to do with making beer…

Many folks are disgusted by the recent behavior of Goose Island brewmaster Greg Hall, who relieved himself into two beer glasses at Bangers and Lace in Chicago on Friday.  Baternder Matty Eggleston (pictured above) was left behind to clean up the mess, and decided to contact the Chicago Tribune and make a PR mess for […]

Our pal Adam over at BeerNews.org is reporting that current Goose Island brewmaster Greg Hall was caught urinating into two beer glasses at a birthday party held at Bangers and Lace in Chicago.  The incident happened Friday evening. The fact that Anheuser-Busch is in the process of purchasing Goose Island creates lots of opportunities to […]

There’s an old business adage: if you can’t beat ’em, buy ’em, and that’s what Anheuser-Busch is doing, buying out Goose Island Brewery for somewhere between $22.5 million (according to MarketWatch) and $38.8 million (according to the Chicago Tribune). When I first saw this I thought it was an elaborate April Fool’s Day joke, but […]

It seems that the post I did yesterday is being reflected in industry news.  The article below from “BeerNews.org states that Goose Island is looking to contract with Redhook brewery out of Portsmouth, NH to fill its ever growing demand.  See to my way of thinking Redhook is a mediocre brewer, they don’t make anything […]

Here I am again!  The Super 8 Hotel in Grangeville, Idaho!  It has been a while since I have had a night of drinking here.  I began my evening by checking in and finding my glass and three beers that had been placed in my room by one of the hotel managers.  They are all […]

My poor buddy Steve’s world is crumbling around him.  He loves him some nutty session beers, and the industry is moving on without him. The first blow was the hardest for him, when Troegs announced it was stopping production of its Rugged Trail Ale, Steve’s favorite beer on the planet. Today’s news that Goose Island […]

Well in the case of Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout this holds true. The 13% ABV Stout has been aged in bourbon barrels and this aging imparts a significant smoky quality to the stout that is really quite striking when you first taste it.  It reminded me a little of liquid smoke at first, but […]