Jared Rouben's collaborative beer series at Goose Island Clybourn keeps on rolling. Last week Rouben debuted Curbside, an amazingly subtle saison he brewed with Time Out Chicago's Heather Shouse for the release of her book on Food Trucks and the Food Truck Summit. While we were there we also got a sample (actually, a growler courtesy of Rouben) of a beer he worked on with Stephanie Izard that's now on draft at Goose Island Clybourn and Girl & the Goat. It's called Black Wit and it's one of the more curious collaborations Rouben's done. We asked Izard via email about how the collaboration came to pass. more ›

One of the more surprising developments that came from the brewing of Sai-Shan-Tea was the decision of Goose Island to showcase it at the annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver. The festival has grown by leaps and bounds over the past five years — this year's version sold out five weeks in advance — with an estimated 49,000 attendees. more ›

I helped brew the Beer of the Summer. If there were no Sai-Shan-Tea, this week's selection, a collaboration between Goose Island and Rick Bayless, would be a strong contender for the crown. more ›

Fans were working overtime circulating air throughout a packed Goose Island Clybourn Thursday night as readers and beer geeks joined in with what turned out to be a healthy Chicagoist alumni reunion. Faces some of us haven't seen in years showed up to say hello and get a glass or three of Sai-Shan-Tea. also present were some of the city's notable food media like Grub Street Chicago editor Nick Kindelsperger, Mike Gebert of Sky Full of Bacon, Carly Fisher (NBC Feast/Chicago Brunch Blog) and the ludicrously prolific Michael Nagrant. more ›

In less than five hours those of you planning on attending the reader meetup this evening will finally be able to taste what I've been writing about for weeks. Yesterday I finally had an opportunity to sample the final, carbonated, dry-hopped Sai-Shan-Tea. To say that it's exceeded my expectations is an understatement. more ›

In the weeks since Goose Island's Jared Rouben, Rare Tea Cellar's Rod Markus and I started fermenting our lemon tea saison wort at Goose Island Clybourn, our individual schedules were such that the three of us couldn't nail down a time to taste the beer together. Meanwhile, Rouben updated us in the weeks following the brew day with rave reviews from someone new who had sampled the beer. the anticipation was starting to gnaw at me. What I found out later only heightened the anxiousness. more ›

We're fans of a good dinner paired with beer. Last year, we attended Carnivale's Slow Food and Goose Island Brewery Dinner. This year, we're nudging you to attend the C-House Saison Beer Dinner. The seasonal dinner will include a cocktail reception, three course meal, and variations on a limited-time Goose Island craft beer, C-House Saison, a collaboration between C-House's Nicole Pederson and Goose Island's Jared Rouben. more ›

(Part 1 of this series can be read here.) more ›

Been fighting one mother of a chest cold all wee and was nearly inclined to name Alka Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine this week's "BotW." Then the fever dreams subsided and we remembered the best beer we had after our brew day at Goose Island. more ›

(Part 1 in a series.) more ›

One of the best beers we had last year was the Goose Island/mado beer brewed in collaboration between Rob and Allie Levitt and Jared Rouben. Rouben intimated in our visit to the Clybourn brewpub a couple months back that they were collaborating on another beer for Craft Brewers Conference using cocoa nibs provided by Allie Levitt. more ›

Since Goose Island renewed the lease on their Clybourn brewpub at the last minute in 2008, they've been actively moving forward to improve both the quality of both its beers and its food. John Manion's short stint at the brewpub laid the foundation to the new menu advancements of current chef Andrew Horza. Hroza is a certified cicerone and well-qualified to know the intricacies between pairing beer with food. more ›