Goose Island Rambler IPA
A bold ale with a mix of herbal, woody, and citrus aromas from Mt. Hood and Amarillo hops.
3.4
230 reviews
Chicago, United States
Community reviews
Had to check it was an IPA - almost no aroma or bitterness unless you are really looking for it. Kind of malty and plain, but not bad, just far from a fresh IPA.
Can from the lcbo. Incredibly malty ipa. Overly sweet hops, sticky pine and sugar added candied citrus rind. This is actually pretty rough. Very malty, and sweet, and actually slightly nutty, with some roast in the end. Very low bitterness, cloying finish. I wonder if this was decent before In bev bought this brewery?
This is a delicious fresh-tasting ale with enough resin in the aroma and palate to call it an IPA. Herbaceous floral flavors, rain-kissed wild field aromas, very balanced sweetness, very dry medium palate.
Couleur ambré, mince effervescence, petite mousse, Un nez cuivré métallique. En bouche Du cuivre, aluminium, on décèle un mince coté résineux caché par un goût vraiment pas agréable.
Une finale qui donne des maux à l’estomac! Au chiotte!
Plutôt ordinaire, cette IPA. On est malheureusement dans la catégorie macro-brasserie, avec un goût bien beurré.
Bière de couleur rouge avec une mousse généreuse. Bouquet puissant de houblons frais : chair d’ananas et sapin. En bouche c’est goûteux et les houblons sont puissants aussi. Notes de sapin, d’agrumes et de sel. Petites notes sucrées subtiles qui complètent le tout. Bière de bonne qualité qui me plait . Excellent rapport qualité prix ! Cheers !
This has the "stale hops" aroma you may expect from a mass produced IPA. But the taste was better, and made it an overall enjoyable beer.
Can from LCBO. Should’ve known better than to waste my wrong side of pay day $$ on this washout of an ipa. Pours like a red ale, tastes like an unbalanced strong ale. Malts are spiked with sugars. The hops are wooden & herbal & lack character. Might have been interesting ten years ago but makes little sense in this current market. Nothing to see here. Move along.
473ml tallboy from LCBO. Pours an excessive amount of foamy tan head, but eventually settles into a very thin coating. Has a slightly hazy golden amber appearance. Some spotty lacing. Aromas of bready malts and quite fruity. Flavours are similar to aroma, with bready malts and more fruity notes. Average carbonation and medium retention. Good fairly smooth mouthfeel. Not bad.
473ml can. Pours a clear red tinged amber with a tan head. On the nose resinous notes, caramel, grapefruit, and faint biscuity malt. Taste wise, a bit of a let down. Caramel, mineral notes, citrus pithy bitterness that heads into watery mineral heavy hopping, and a fruity sort of freezer burned finish. At best, alright, and not worth the price at all. I tried it. I don?t need to try it again. Oh AB-Inbev, stop your sillyness.
booo..come on goose island. what do you expect from London Ontario and labbats
Can from the LCBO. Clear dark amber with a large rocky off white head that lingers and leaves tight lace. Nose is toffee, flowers and citrus with some light pine. Light+ sweet malts with a medium bitterness and herbal notes. Mouth is slick but a bit thin with average carbonation. A little too sweet in the start.
7+/4/7-/3/14
De Couleur orangée et un peu voile avec peu everfesssance. . V est des notes houblons herbacé genre sapin . Au gout c est se qui ressort le plus de cette Biere Il faut aimer le style car pour c est particulier se gout mais bon sens prends .
Amber, light tan head. From a can. Not very impressive. Probably wouldn;t buy again.
Sweet caramel malts on the nose. Toffee, pine and some ripe citrus on the tongue with more sweetness on the finish. More American Strong Ale than American IPA but still pretty good.
Pours super clear dark amber with an average white head that leaves average, sticky lace. The nose is caramel bread malt forward with some herbal and citrus peel hops underlying. The flavor is a bit more bitter herbal, grassy, and citrus hops than on the nose, but still a strong dose of caramel bread malt. The body is medium with lively carbonation and a long bitter herbal and citrus peel finish with some dark bread.
Appearance: clear medium amber with two fingers of rocky light beige head, excellent retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: pine, caramel, earth and wood, citrus, toasted bread, black tea. (6/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate-high bitter. (6/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry lingering bitter finish. (4/5)
I can’t make up my mind whether this is intended to be a deliberately old-school A/IPA, or an attempt at a hybrid E/IPA+A/IPA… or is it supposed to be a Red IPA? Either way, the effect is somewhat less than impressive, feeling a little bit duller than I would like, and a bit earthier, and a bit sweeter. The bitterness is present at the level I like to see, but it’s not bright or sharp - at most, it’s predominantly piney and earthy, instead of citrus. Pleasant, I suppose, and pretty, but not really representative of the current state of the art. (13/20)
Pours a clear strong golden with a medium white head that leaves very nice lacing. Nose is of oranges mostly with some peppery alcohol in the back quite strangely. Taste is not quite sweet but close with a moderate bitterness? Caramel, pepper, oranges and that same alcohol from before. Feels stronger than the advertised 6.5%, really. Body is light, carbonation high and texture is a bit oily. A bit sticky too. Alright but I can’t say it was interesting, really, just a less than average oldschool IPA.
On tasting at High Point liquor store. Pours a golden with a white head. Aroma and taste are malty, tropical fruits (candied citruses). Very good and pleasant.
Thanks for sharing. Orange body, white head. Grassy, herbal aroma. Taste is semi-bitter, pine notes. Not bad.
Bottle: Reddish amber, nice off-white head, fluffy, good lacing. Very soft aroma of tea leaf like hoppiness. Seems a touch stale. Similar tongue, very stale and muddled. Strong tea leaves with some alcohol. Having this right after the Boundary Bay Red IPA I gotta say this one takes a back seat. Moderate body and mouthfeel. Unpleasent malt bitterness on the backside. Not very bright at all. Finishes with lots of tea leaf bitterness. Not a fan of IPAs like this.
Can of the Canadian brewed version. Deep reddish-amber with a small just-off-white head. Rather big and impressive aroma with juicy citrus, floral and cedar hop notes alongside sweet caramel malt. Flavour follows, an great caramel-citrus balance, with a lingering bitterness. Medium bodied, carrying the flavour well. Sweeter than most big American-style IPAs are nowadays, but taken as a bit of a throwback, it’s pretty darn solid.
My Bottom Line:
Foresty hops and their floral accents grow through richly caramelized hops in this old school American IPA.
Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam sits atop the misty dark copper.
-The end product is too sweet for my liking in IPA, but the flavour profile is still balanced.
-Hop bitterness and aftertaste are quite coniferous and earthy.
-Drinkability is hindered by the sweetness.
-Orangey accents are also found here and there.
Can.
Pour a bright clear red amber with a pillowy cream coloured head. Nose of candy sugar/caramel, cherry candies, and pine. Mouthfeel is a bit thin. Alcohol is easy to detect within the strong pithy, medicinal bitterness. Decent amount of malt sweetness. Earth, strawberry and peach, with their old pal grapefruit/tangerine. Well toasted bread, in the finish along with sustained assertive grapefruit rind. Good... but two would be plenty.
Pours clear dark red with an orange tanned head. Big hop nose with toasted malts in the background. Has a good bitter taste with a dry finish. Another great beer by Goose Island.
Bottle from Chevy Chase Wine and Liquors. Nice reddish body with big tan head. Nose is malty, toasty and some citrus. Taste is toasty with hops, citrus and floral notes. Sweet in the finish. Nice one.
Clear copper, big lasting, lacing off-white foam head. Nice hoppy aroma, clear citrus notes. Great bitter taste and lasting aftertaste. Good IPA again. (Velp 201511)
12oz bottle from Brook Falls Discount. Off the mixed 6’er rack - shrug? No bottle date. An amber pour with an off-orange head leaving spotty lacing. Aroma has basement, floral hops, pine and loads of sweet malt Taste is of sweet malts, caramel mainly, with sweet fruits, pine and light citrus. Medium bodied with a bit of alcohol. Finishes surprisingly well blended between bitter and sweet. Beyond the nose, this is not too bad. A subtle American Strong presence, which is always enjoyable. 13.4
Bottle from Winooski. Clear deep amber pour with creamy white head. Aroma is toasty, piney, rich caramel maltiness. Taste is sweet, caramel, grassy bitter finish. Palate is med full bodied with good carbonation. Very much an old school IPA but the rich English toasted caramel malt profile seems to make it quite satisfying nonetheless.
Not bad and not s watery as other Goose Island’s brews. Nice aroma and somewhat creamy features too.