Honker's Ale - Goose Island Beers

Honker's Ale has a fun name that can't be denied.  It is one a several offerings made by Goose Island Beers.


Goose Island hails from Chicago Illinois.  It started out a single brewpub 1988 but was eventually sold to a better known brewery . . .  Anheuser-Busch . . . in 2011.  

The beer is distributed throughout the United States and England, but interestingly the Honker's Ale we enjoyed is made a little closer to home.  This variety and their IPA brewed specifically for the east coast in New Hampshire.  Does that make it a microbrew?  Mmm . . . I'm not so sure.



Honker's Ale is categorized as an English Bitter.  To me that brings to mind an acerbic hoppy taste but, in fact, this isn't the case at all.  British bitters are much milder than IPA's and are generally considered the mildest of English bitter ales . . . as opposed to best and premium bitter ales.

I would say that describes Honker's Ale pretty well.  It had a mild hoppy taste and was surprisingly light tasting . . . in other words, it is not a strong tasting beer.  It actually had what I would say was a hollow finish . . . not much flavor at all at the end.  4.7% alcohol by volume. 


Did I like it?  It thought it was good but not exceptional.  I can't say that I would buy it again; however, I wouldn't turn one down if someone handed me a glass.


Visit the Goose Island website for more information on this or their other offerings.