Ten Hills Pale Ale

When we met Brett Porter at the "Beer's to You and Gourmet Too" last month in Waterloo, he gave us a sample of the new Ten Hills Pale Ale. I appreciated it so much that at my first opportunity I picked up a six pack to enjoy at home.  Brett is Brewmaster at Goose Island and explained well how Anheuser Busch-InBev's takeover of Goose Island has helped the brand, providing resources to get ingredients and technology to make really good beer, as in this present case. Here Goose Island showcases their hops from the first ten hills of their agreement with Elk Mountain Farms in Idaho.

The complexity of the flavors in this American Pale Ale assure me that Goose Island is not losing the advantages of a small brewery even as they are swallowed up by the big guy.  Quite a different model than what we saw in Leinenkugel's case when MillerCoors took them over and started making their beers the industrial way.

I wish Brett and his team well and look forward to the next batch.