You love the blog, so subscribe to the Beervana Podcast on iTunes or Soundcloud today!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Goose Island Matilda

Goose Island is, in craft brewing terms, an old-timer. Good beer arrived later to the Midwest, so when Goose Island set up shop in Chicago in 1988, it was a pioneer. Despite its early founding, it was hampered by Midwest palates that still considered Grain Belt a decent beer. I was dimly aware of it when I arrived in Wisconsin a few years later, but the Badger state breweries were already leading the way (New Glarus and Sprecher were standouts). A friend of mine referred to Goose Island's beer as "swamp water."

Things have changed. Chicago's beer palate has grown up, and Goose Island has become a brewery associated--at least nationally--with its Belgian and barrel-aged offerings. Bourbon County Stout has been available on the West Coast for awhile, and now Goose Island is rolling out their Belgian line. This is an interesting moment in the development of craft beer. For years breweries just toyed with Belgian styles, but now a few are actively seeking a market for them--in front of demand, as far as I can tell. Consumers still seem enamored of big, burly American ales (hoppy or black and barrel aged); Belgian styles still command only a niche audience. Yet with this expansion of their Belgians, Goose Island is gambling that the niche will grow and that they'll be first in line. A trend to watch.

First up is Matilda, which the brewery was kind enough to send my way.

Inspired by Orval
Although the brewery calls it a "Belgian style pale ale," Orval is the inspiration for Matilda. If you recall, a legend animates the Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval. The story holds that a young countess was sitting beside a spring near where the monastery is located. Her wedding ring fell off; distraught, she prayed until a trout appeared, ring in mouth. The countess' name? Matilda.

If the monastery's name is an homage to this legend, then Goose Island's Matilda is an homage to Orval. Their version, like Orval's, is made with pale and caramel malts, is both fairly hoppy (32 IBU) and similarly-hopped (both use Styrian Goldings, Goose Island substituting Saaz for Hersbrucker), and both use sugar to enhance the alcohol without adding body. Orval, famously, employs multiple yeast strains--a regular ale yeast in primary fermentation, and then a blend of yeasts for secondary that includes brettanomyces. And apparently, so does Matilda. Or did, anyway--more on that presently. Owing to the brett, Orval has variable strength depending on age--6-7%. Matilda is 7%.

Tasting Notes
As you can see from the photo, Matilda approximates Orval in color as well--though it's less orange and more copper. The head on my pour wasn't tall and fluffy like this, though--I got just a skiff. The nose is alcoholic and a touch phenolic, with a slight clove note and just a (pleasant) hint of sulfur. It is much as one would expect from a fortified Belgian.

I was surprised at how thin the body was. The sweetish sugar-alcohol note is contrasted nicely by a very dry finish. There's a bit of spice on the palate, but not a lot. With beers like this, I hope for some layered complexity, but Matilda is straightforward: gentle, alcoholic, dry.

All of this comes with a caveat. If the brewery still uses brettanomcyes, it hasn't had a chance to express itself in this young 2010 vintage. I found absolutely no evidence in my bottle. This may well be intentional: young Orval is principally hoppy and wet; but once the brett starts to munch sugars in the bottle, it matures until it is bone dry, lemony, austere. Perhaps Matilda is designed to change with age, too.

Because Matilda is inspired by and apparently modeled on Orval, it's impossible not to compare the two, and this is not to Goose Island's advantage. Orval is easily one of the best beers in the world (I'd put it in the top five). Matilda, while pleasant and enjoyable, is not particularly distinctive. It seems a bit like what it is--an early example of a transplanted style being brewed in a new country. A respectable outing, but not a home run.

Stats
Malts: Pale, caramel
Hops: Styrian Goldings, Saaz
ABV: 7%
Availability: Newly available on the West Coast. 12-ounce 4-pack $11-14.
Rating: B-


Postscript
I don't actually get (or solicit) much in the way of promotional samples. I know from reading Jon's blog that breweries regularly include wowza packaging when they send these to reviewers. Cardboad boxes, okay. Even wooden boxes, not surprisng. But check out Goose Island's packaging. It's a wooden box, but the wood is cut thin and rolled like parchment, sealed with a leather strap. Two photos below try to capture it. Packaging is usually meant to send certain messages about brand or product, but damned if I know what to make of this.




_______________________
Share

13 comments:

  1. Nice write-up on Matilda. I think the Matilda is fairly decent but their newer Belgian style beer, Sophie, is much more outstanding in my opinion. It is a saison style and I personally found it about as good as anything I have had from Belgium. Hopefully you can get your hands on a bottle and give that one a try too.

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I did have the Sophie, about a year ago. I agree: exceptional. I will enjoy giving it a fuller review when it hits our shores.

    By the way, Matilda's pouring at Belmont Station right now, if you would just like a pour to try.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "Despite its early founding, it was hampered by Midwest palates that still considered Grain Belt a decent beer."

    As opposed to the many, many NW palates that considered Rainier a decent beer? Or the majority in the NW who still consider PBR or Bud Light a good beer?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Going to Chicago on business in two months, any pub or brew pub recommendations for the windy city?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jason, I considered expanding on that comment, but it seemed like a digression. The two regions were different. The Midwest was where German immigrants turned cities like Milwaukee, Detroit, and St. Louis into brewing capitals. That created a culture that was very different than the NW. Even though regional breweries managed to survive until the 80s here, Portland and Seattle never considered brewing a central part of their heritage. (Milwaukee named their baseball team the Brewers.)

    Even now, lagers are far more prized and appreciated in the midwest than they are here. (A fact I lament.)

    So.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh my, I think Jason has a point.

    Not sure which way the wind blows, but I think I'd rather drink a Leiny or Point beer over a PBR, Rainier or even a Henry's. The fact that these old mid-western breweries (Leinenkugel 1867 and Stevens Point 1857) are still around and NOT being contract brewed is pretty amazing, but the fact that they have expanded their beer catalog with the times beyond just simple mundane old American light fizzy water is just as amazing.

    Here in the NW what breweries of old have survived as thriving independent breweries? NONE. Oly? Contract. Henry's? Contracted. Rainier? Contracted. Hamms? Contracted. Not only do none of these breweries still exist, but most of their contracted versions are unchanged beyond yellow fizzy water of the past. Contracted versions of Henry's is the only exception.

    I'd say the Mid-western breweries of old have held their own and adapted with time. A sign of more commitment, pride and diligence? Oh no, not that!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Doc, that was exactly my point--thus the Grain Belt comment. That regional brewing still had a presence in the midwest is why craft brewing started there later.

    But beyond that, your history sucks. Pabst is a Milwaukee product. Hamm's is from Minnesota.

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Doc: Leinie's may not be "contracted", but it's owned by Miller, and the word I hear from all my friends back in MN and WI is that most of the new stuff is insipid and all the classics have gone to shit.

    ReplyDelete
  9. @Jeff

    Whatever.... I'm rambling.

    People here are still drinking those crappy beers wherever they are currently CONTRACT brewed. Doesn't matter where they came from, it's still crap and they're still drinking it. ;-}

    While the Mid-west Breweries and populous have at least persevered, while the Mid-West palates have grown up along with their historic breweries.

    You get the gist....

    ReplyDelete
  10. @ Chris

    Oh.. You mean like Henry's which is also owned by SABmiller?? Sorry, I stand corrected.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Jeff,

    I just tried a bottle of Matilda yesterday; found it very one dimensional. Not a bad beer, but nothing special that stood out about it.

    The label did say that the beer develops in the bottle for up to five years, so perhaps some Brett is used and the brew will get more interesting over time.

    Cheers!
    Kevin
    www.beerandcoding.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. Place some Matilda in a closet, walk away, and come back to drink it in 4 years. I think that was the best bottle of beer I've ever had.

    This one definitely gets better with age. I bought a 4-pack of it in 2005 (a 21st birthday present to myself). I had one then, one in 2006, one in 2007, and one in 2009. Each one a lot better than the last.

    ReplyDelete