Goose Island Sour Sisters

The ones I have seen in stores have all been from 2013.

 

Saw rose and lolita 2015 in binnys algonquin yesterday

 

I picked up Juliet 2015 at Binny's when I got some more BCBS on Friday morning.

 

Des Plaines. They had Juliet, Madame Rose and Lolita.

 

The whole foods on in Lincoln park had almost of the sour sisters sitting in boxes in there beer department over the weekend. Maybe GI decided to release them to general distro?

 

I thought I saw somewhere that GI was staggering the release rather than letting them all hit at once. I'm curious if they made a shit ton of lolita again..i can still find 2013 sometimes at binnys.

 

Can anyone share their beliefs on how GI sours compare to say....those of Russian River? I've seen many instances of GI sours shelf turding, haven't pulled the trigger on any of them. Hoping to get a frame of reference to something I've had in the past before buying

 

I would say overall less complex than the Russian river beer (less barrel/wine character and not as tart). I agree that the RR sours are better, but the Halia and Madame rose are worth trying imo. I think the GI sit around because of the price point and availability.

 

Lakeview Binny's also had Juliet, Madame Rose and Lolita on the shelf yesterday.

 

I think Juliet and Halia go up against RR. Not that thrilled with Lolita and Madame Rose.

 

I'm clearly in the minority here, but having had Supplication, I prefer most of GI's sours. But I'm no sour expert, so it's certainly possible that my palate is just not properly adjusted yet.

I like Gillian in that space too, but mostly agree with you.


Edit: I'm wondering if Goose Island didn't sell as much as they thought they would by switching to in-restaurant only, and decided to release them to the general public. I saw...Lolita at Whole Foods last week, and was confused, but happy to see it. Will probably grab a bottle of Gillian at some point (probably after the bombardment of BA stouts ends in a few months).

 

Thanks to all for the feedback.....I'll eventually spend the $ on these, but with a bit of a tempered expectation.

 

It is entirely unsurprising to me that these eventually made it to distro. They were supposed to be for on-site consumption locations only, but I have a feeling that with the volume of these that they make, and at $35+ a bottle they just weren't selling.

What are the prices at Binny's?

 

Lolita: $17.99, Gillian: $29.99, and Madame Rose: $27.99.

 

I picked up Halia this weekend in Wisconsin and there was a bunch of Lolita as well.