Goose Island Brewery


Goose Island Beer Company is a brewery in Chicago, Illinois, that began as a single brewpub opened in 1988 in Lincoln Park, Chicago, and named after a nearby island. The larger production brewery opened in 1995, and a second brewpub, in Wrigleyville, in 1999.
Their beers are distributed across the United States, and the United Kingdom after a stake of the company was sold to Widmer Brothers Brewery in 2006, and the brewery was able to expand into different markets. In 2011, Goose Island was sold to Anheuser-Busch InBev. Greg Hall stepped down as brewmaster with the AB InBev purchase in 2011; Brett Porter was hired as the new brewmaster.

History

John and Greg Hall were originally influenced by the English brewing tradition.

Brewpubs

Goose Island has one brewpub located on Clybourn Ave which serves brunch, lunch, and dinner next to their assortment of beers. The brewpub was sold to Anheuser Busch in 2016, but it still remains a subsidiary of the Fulton Street brewery. The Clybourn Avenue Brewpub closed for renovation in January 2017; it reopened in October 2017, slightly renamed to Goose Island Brewhouse. The Wrigleyville brewpub closed in 2015 to make way for further development of the Wrigleyville area.
The brewery on Fulton Street features a tap room and offers tours of the facility.
Goose Island currently operates different concept locations across the globe, with brewpubs in Toronto, São Paulo, Seoul and Shanghai; a pub in Monterrey, Mexico; Philadelphia and a vintage ale house in Balham, London. The vintage ale house in Balham has since closed in the spring of 2018 to make way for another brewpub in the Shoreditch area of London.

Products

Beer

Goose Island produces a number of beers that are available year-round, as well as some beers that are seasonal. At different times in the past, the brewery has produced dozens of other beers.
In November 2008, Goose Island made news when its small batch of Bourbon County Stout became available for the first time in Western states.
While Goose Island products were originally only available in the Chicago area, their products are now available in all 50 states.

Soda

For several years, the WIT Beverage Company licensed the Goose Island name for a craft soda line. The branding was changed to WBC Craft Sodas following the expiration of the Goose Island licensing in 2013.

Citations