Goose Island Clybourn Preps for "Black Friday"

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Nov 23, 2011 9:40PM

If it's Thanksgiving, it's time for one of Goose Island's newer traditions: Their own take on "Black Friday."

Last year, Goose Island sent beer geeks on a mad dash for Rare Bourbon County Stout. 260 people lined up outside Binny's Lincoln Park to be among the first to buy Rare BCS, which sold out in two hours.

This year, Goose Island Clybourn will be selling a wider range of beers. The Holy Grail among them: King Henry, a bourbon barrel aged barleywine that weighs in at 13.4 percent ABV.

King Henry is brewed with Pale, Caramel, Crystal Wheat and Dark Chocolate malts, and spiced with Pilgrim and Sturian hops. The bottle sent to us by Goose Island presented complex aromas of toffee, vanilla and oak, with smooth bourbon and malt on the palate. Drink it now if you must, but King Henry is a beer that's made to cellar.

King Henry will be selling for $25 a bottle when Goose Island Clybourn opens 10 a.m. Friday. There's a limit of three bottles per customer and the brewpub will also serve samples for $5. The brewpub will also have available for purchase cellared 2010 Bourbon County Stout (12-ounce bottles; $10/bottle; limit 4); cellared 2010 Bourbon County Vanilla Stout (650mL; $25/bottle; limit 2); cellared 2009 Pere Jacques (12-ounce bottles; $10/bottle; limit 4) and cellared 2005 Icarus barleywine (12-ounce bottles; $12/bottle; limit 4). Tickets for each beer will be handed out in line outside the brewpub, which will open Friday at 10 a.m. (We wonder if there's a line outside already?)