Originally Published: March 1, 2010
Well, you learn something new every day. I had not known that March 1 is Beer Day in Iceland, held to celebrate the end of prohibition there on this day in 1989. Apparently there’s also a modern US Naval tradition of “Beer Day:” when a ship has been to sea 45 consecutive days, and is not within 5 days of reaching a port, the Commanding Officer can authorize the crew to drink two cans of beer that day!
The Goose Island folks have a new beer out that probably won’t be seen on store shelves for some time. And it won’t have the familiar goose-shaped tap handle in bars, either.
Green Line Pale Ale is part of Goose Island’s Green Line Project, an initiative co-funded by the City of Chicago to investigate and reduce the brewer’s carbon footprint. The brewery has used the result to start a number of sustainability initiatives, and to promote their project with a new beer. Green Line is available on draft in the Chicago area only, to save bottling and shipping resources. The wood for the tap handles is reclaimed from trees killed by the emerald ash borer in Wilmette.
I caught up to Green Line at Brixie’s in Brookfield. In a pint shaker glass (like the one on the photo here), it has a light brown pale ale color, with a deeper russet in the thick top half of the glass, and a thin layer of white foam. Very few bubbles in the glass. Despite being, apparently, a “base” Goose Island beer, it smells surprisingly hoppy, with a caramel malt backbone. The Green Line web page mentions the American hops Liberty, Amarillo, Simcoe and Columbus, all known for bitter, citrusy and piney notes. Lightly toasted malt taste. A hop palate that stays strong through the finish. At 5% alcohol by volume, it’s an excellent “base” pale ale, right up there with Honkers Ale as a fine Goose Island house beer. Check the links above to find another of the many places serving this tap-only beer.
All beers reviewed are known to be available in the Chicago area at the time the review is published. The author usually purchases his own beer, but after ordering this one, the bartender offered it “on the house.” This is why the author writes about beer instead of head lice.
