Traditional Bitter
Goose Island Beer Co.

This is an English bitter. T he color was amber with a white head. It left slight lacing down the glass, good head retention. It was well carbonated. The aroma was butterscotch with a hint of hops. Taste of yeast and dried fruit, like raisins and apricots. The bitter hops round out the experience. Finishes with a pleasant maltiness and bitterness and fruit. This a very complex beer with a dense mouthfeel. It's definitely drinkable.

This beer has a light brown/orange body with a thin tan head. Smell is of brown sugar and earthy hops. Taste was somewhat light for a bitter, caramel and toasted malts, earthy hops in the finish with a hint of citrus as well. Nice bitterness levels. Dry for the English bitter style, I suspect an American yeast strain was used. Mouthfeel was smooth, nice low carbonation levels. Drinkability was good, though I suspect it would have been better on cask. I was somewhat disappointed, as the cask version ran out earlier in the day, but on tap this beer is good too. Defininately worth trying, but I suspect the cask version is better.

Had this at the Claybourn Brewpub. Served from a cask into an Imperial pint glass.

4.5 A: Medium orange and surprisingly clear. Thick creamy head with very good retention.

3.5 S: Grainy and mild herbal hops.

4.0 T: Good balance. Mild bitterness, mild herbal hop flavor, and crystal malt.

4.5 M: Medium body. Good carbonation. Smooth and super creamy.

4.0 D: This is a very sessionable ale. The taste is damn good and never got boring.

on tap at the Clybourn brewpub, poured into an imperial pint glass. pours an auburn brown color with fiery amber highlights and a single finger of light tan frothy head. head is reduced to a soapy rim after a couple minutes, and leaves no lacings.

aroma is of light grainy malts with an ephemeral character overall, with a bit of caramel, mild citrusy hops and some tropical hop notes thrown in.

taste is of mild citrusy hops and a touch of malty grain up front. hoppier than the aroma would suggest, which drowns out the malts a bit and leaves the overall character unbalanced. the hop quality is great, but it could use a bit more malt character to be a great bitter. a bit of caramel shows after some warming, attempting to balance out the profile a bit, but falling short in the end.

mouthfeel is medium bodied with a mildly bitter texture and aftertaste. well done.

drinkability is good. for what it is, this is a solid brew. however, as a bitter, it is mediocre at best. as far as GI Clybourn brews go, this one seems lost in the mix. usually one can expect their brews to be emphatic in character, and this would be an exception. could use more malt character and could be more balanced to be a great bitter.