Name: Goose Island The Illinois
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 8.4%
You're all probably scratching your heads right now as to why I have a picture of a growler instead of a bottle above. A couple of weeks ago over in neighboring Superior, WI at a little place called Keyport Liquor introduced their very own growler fill station like the one located at Casanova in Hudson, WI.
Since Minnesota law prohibits you from filling a brewery's growler with another brewery's beer, this is considered to be quite a novelty amongst Minnesota craft beer drinkers.
Now keep in mind that Keyport doesn't quite have the selection of Casanova, missing breweries like Toppling Goliath, Ale Asylum, Three Floyds, and so forth. Right now, they have some pretty good stuff Milwaukee Brewing, Southern Tier, Sierra Nevada, Bell's, and Goose Island.
Named after Frank Lloyd Weber's vision of a mile high skyscraper called "The Illinois", we have a growler of Goose Island's The Illinois. To my understanding, it was supposedly only brewed once and it's only available on draft. Since I now have a growler, it's time to give this a proper review.
The Illinois pours a clear orange color with a fairly filmy head. The lacing left behind is pretty good and the carbonation has a very mild appearance.
The nose opens up to a fairly sweet apricot aroma with hints of piney hops, grapefruits and mild caramel maltiness. Not too overwhelming and rather mellow smelling for an Imperial IPA.
A bitter citrus hoppiness greets the palate upon drinking mixed in with some peaches, apricots and mild caramel malts. The aftertaste leaves behind a bitter resin/piney hop flavor. Flavor isn't mild but it isn't vibrant either. The body is quite heavy in terms of weight and the carbonation is has more of a moderate intensity.
The Illinois is a pretty good Imperial IPA. It may not be as robust as other beers of the same style but it's quite smooth and you definitely aren't making a bad choice by trying this out!
Goose Island The Illinois - 8.5/10
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