Goose Island Festivity Brown Ale
3.3
181 reviews
Chicago, United States
Community reviews
Bottle. Pours reddish brown with a thin tan head. Aroma of caramel, dark fruit and nuts. Flavor of caramel, vanilla, raisins, dark fruit and some winter spices.
Bottle: Pretty much what I expected from Goose Island, nice head and lacing, although dark ruby in color. Expected it to be a bit darker. Bready and biscuity, with a moderate nuttiness. Smooth, but fairly moderate body. Seems like a touch of alcohol on the backside. Breadiness lingers, with a touch of nuttiness. Pretty solid Brown Ale.
Rich caramel, cashew, and clove nose. Ruby brown, medium tan head. Caramel, tree bark, candied cherries on the edges. Tree bark finish, a bitterness that doesn’t doesn’t quite fit. Light to medium body, easy carbonation. Interesting winter warmer that isn’t a total spice bomb.
Pours mahogany with a tan head & some lacing. The aroma is primarily caramel malt. The taste is traditional brown with dark malts, a bit of bitterness, but also some caramel & booze flavors in the end. It’s complex and pretty easy on the palate. A nice beer overall!
Clear dark brown with red tint. Aroma is sweet malt with light hint of caramel. Taste follows nose. Descent beer.
12oz bottle 4/14/16 (Jewel-Osco)-44° in Shaker-Pours brown with a small tan head. Aroma of malt, caramel, toffee, and dark fruit. Taste of the same. This medium bodied brew is nicely balanced and goes down smooth. Decent brew.
Had just a taste of a friends beer last night. Brown with ok head. Ginger and other spices. Cibnamon. Sweet finish with some caramel. Not my thing. Bottle.
Brown with a thin off white head. Aroma is mildly sweet with dark fruit notes. Flavor is mildly bittersweet with a fruity finish. Mild body and a bit thin though; finish had a mild chemical note.
Malty, nutty, with caramel and a bit of coffee. Lots of spices, raisin, cherry. Rather full.
Bottle pour into nonic pint glass from Epsom Circle Market. Aroma is strong dark fruits and caramel (almost a custard or creme brulee), light alcohol. Appearance is clear dark red with no sparkle, quickly fleeting off-white 1/2 finger width foamy head and trace lacing. Taste is strong dark fruit and caramel sweetness with alcohol. Palate is medium bodied with thick creamy texture, average to lively carbonation with late zip to the front of the tongue, mild warmth to mouth and stomach. Overall, not complex but a strong, dark, rich representative of the style.
On draft at Seven Springs. Amber brown color. Clear. Good head retention. Aroma of roasted malt and a perfume smell, and cherry, raisin Spices, clove,'cherry taste. Average carbonation. Solid.
Bottle - average size tan head, very dark brown/Amber color, big nutty malty aroma and flavor, some mild fruity notes in there, full bodied finish, not bad overall
A big holiday ale closer to a spiced strong ale than a brown. Sugared plums, brown sugar, chocolate-covered cherries, cinnamon and anise all play a part. Fruit cake in a bottle. Pours pretty reddish brown with a big frothy beige head. Somewhat overly sweet though, and that holds it back. Some more bittering hops would have pulled it back into balance.
Pours a clear reddish brown color with ivory colored head. Spices, caramel sweetness, and some roast on the nose; follows onto the palate. Medium bodied. Finishes with spice and sweetness.
(bottle - 12 oz. - Rating #4000) Reddish brown pour with a thick tan head. Sweet spice and tons of caramel malt in the aroma. Malty and sweet flavor with a bit of spice and vanilla coming through at the end. Sweet and sticky.
Pours up a deep dark brown with a creamy mocha head. Big sweet aroma with brown sugar, nuts, and malts. Taste is just as sweet, with hints of vanilla, coffee, almonds, chocolate, and just a hint of spice. Just enough hops to keep it from being cloying. Nicely done.
12 Oz bottle poured, listed as Goose Festivity Ale. Reddish brown color with a thin fizz head. Caramel heavy malt aroma. Flavor is a little metallic, with some sweet malt. Definitely a beer with a holiday feel to it. Soft fruit finish. I didn’t mind this at all. Best thing I learned from this beer is the brewery’s phone number.
Bottle. Kroger. Pours dark red-brown with a small head. Smells
Of cherries and other dark fruit as well as leaves and caramel. Taste is metal, caramel, leaves, cherry, burnt sugar.
Wood and roasted malt aromas from a crystal clear medium brown/golden body with a thick tan head. Delicious dark fruit flavors reminiscent of a dopplebock. More woody, roasted notes follow this that dry out the caramel/molasses sweetness. This is a really delicious winter warmer.
Pours reddish brown with a medium tan head. Aroma is caramel, bread, raisin and pear. Taste is malty sweet with some light tartness. Medium bodied with good texture.
Deep ruby brown/cola with a one-finger white hear and solid rings of lace. Aromas of toast and caramel, accompanied by notes of cinnamon, vanilla and holiday spices. Caramel malt sweetness up front gives way to holiday spice, vanilla, brown sugar and cinnamon. Medium body and carbonation, rich mouthfeel and a lingering sweetness in the finish. Nice for a holiday gathering, but I wouldn’t want to make a steady diet of it.
12 oz bottle from Kroger. Pours a clear brown color with a medium sized off white head. The aroma and flavor have toasted malts, caramel, some earthy notes, Christmas spices, all in all pretty average, jafb.
Deep red and Christmassy. Burnt sugar and fruitcake on the nose. It begins with a smooth fruit and caramel. It then moves into an unfortunate burnt sugar flavor with a bitterness that lingers very long. It’s like the brûlée without the creme if you get me.
On tap at Rudy’s in downtown Chicago. Aroma is nice medium nutty bitter with a touch of chocolate. Flavor is much of the same. A very standard brown ale. Was expecting more spice considering this is their Holiday seasonal. Not bad though. Well balanced.
Bottle. It poured dark reddish brown with a tan head. The aroma is malty with the flavors being plums and raisins with a caramel background.
Bottle. Dark brown and amber and mostly clear. A light beige head. A spicy bitter bite hits first. Earthy and malty, too. Nutmeg, cinnamon, and raisins. Toffee. A nice rich feel. Complex fruit grows as does bitterness. Rye spiciness.
This is not as good as last year’s version. Clear mahogany pour with a thick beige head and decent retention. Fair lacing. Dark fruit and malty taste, but more bitter than before. 7.7% ABV is very evident and a little harsh.
The 2014 was more of a true brown ale. This is now a harsh winter warmer. Bring back the 2014 version!
Rated on 12-13-2015. This bottled (bottled on 07Oct15) beer’s appearance is a medium sized fizzy tan head that slowly diminished, hazy dark brown/red tint body, lively, fast rising carbonation, and spotty amounts of lacing. The aroma is toasted, nutty, malt, toffee, dark fruits, and spicy. The flavor is sweet, dark fruits, caramel malt, light hops, spicy, bready, and toasted. The mouthfeel of this beer is light carbonation and this beer is light-medium bodied. This is a most quaffable beer with a good flavor. The different flavors blend together very well and this is a good December holiday beer. It is definitely a beer that I would partake in again and again.
12 oz bottle from Food Lion, Short Pump, VA The ale poured a dark brown amber with beige frothy head. The head dissipated to a tan collar on the ale. You detect on the nose various spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. The taste has raisins and molasses in a complex taste. The finish has a nice clean bitterness. Good brown ale.
This beer is a little off putting. It’s malty and sweet. The alcohol is masked well. Some spice and clove. It has the festive feel but it also had this burnt kind of bitterness.