Formerly Chicago Beer Review: Goose Island Green Line

I think maybe I am trying to hold out on Goose Island: they were usually there for me as a craft brewery but now that they have sold out they have fallen out of that category. Can they even be considered a Midwest Beer anymore? Probably not.
Please understand, I am not one to blame them for selling to the big guys, I realize when opportunities come along you have to take them.

Listed as a Pale Ale, this is another one that is not exactly what I expected. This is a little different than some of their other more mass-produced brews, like 312 and Honkers. It tries to be somewhat bold and unique but I think they could have done more to it to make it more unique.
They wanted a local sounding smooth one that they serve only in Illinois and as a part of a bigger project, the Green Line Project. Quoting them:

Green Line Pale Ale is a honey-colored, immensely session-able American pale ale with a pronounced, bright, American hop aroma and citrus flavor. Notes of biscuit and lightly toasted malt create the backbone for Green Line’s pleasant, crisp bitterness. 


I personally thought it was refreshing, and a very repeatable drinking beer, but it was not bold enough in the hop to be considered an American Pale Ale. Then again, maybe the definition needs a little revision. I see some of my favorites carrying the APA label yet pack a lot more hops. Try a TB Bitter End or Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and they both blow this away in hoppiness. Even Summit packs a bolder punch.
So maybe a different category for those three? (technically the Summit is an EPA, an Extra Pale Ale).

MY CBC Rating: 3. Drank in a shaker pint glass while at Wildfire Steak House in Lincolnshire.