Goose Island Beer Company 312 Urban Pale Ale
What the brewers say
“We are from the city that invented the skyscraper. We constructed our Urban Pale Ale on a balanced malt backbone, so the citrus hops aroma and crisp flavor can stand tall.”
What our panel thought
Aroma: “Honey and navel orange notes up front with a low bready malt aroma. Sweet, like the initial mash in—grainy with notes of water crackers and toast but a surprisingly low hops aroma. Big melanoidin malt aroma—just like a bock.”
Flavor: “Super rich malt character with just enough bitterness to balance. Sweet and sunny with enough hops to keep the rich malt from being cloying. Nicely balanced APA with strong fruity esters. Low-in-the-mix hops offer some floral and bitter notes despite being buried under raw grainy malt. Tastes a bit like they used a decoction mash or a very long boil.”
Overall: “A bit sweet for the style, but not so much as to keep you from enjoying a full pint, as the bitterness backs up this big example of APA. An enjoyable beer, but the malt character is not expected from a pale ale—it’s as though someone added pale ale hopping to a bock.”
