Meet Matilda - My Favorite American-made Belgian Style Beer

Once in a while I come across a beer that genuinely surprises me. I sample a lot of beers, from a lot of places, and I really try not to build expectations too high for a beer that I'm familiar with, and have read glowing reviews for, but never sampled myself. That's not fair to the beer. Seldom has a beer with a lot of hype surrounding it lived up to that hype, in my experience (with a few exceptions, of course. Westvleteren 12, for example, is as good as they say it is!).

When it comes to Belgian-style beers, I'm even more cautious. Belgian beers are, for me, the pennacle of brewing excellence. The brewers of Belgium, particularly the Trappist breweries, are the very best in the world ...Sorry Germany. Because I hold the great beers of Belgium in such high regard, I'm always wary when an American brewer attempts a Belgian-style beer. Not that the results are necessarily bad, but there is almost always a qualitative difference between a "Belgian-style" beer and the genuine article. There is an elusive quality to the great beers of Belgium that cannot truly be duplicated elsewhere even in the most masterful of brewing hands. Don't get me wrong, there are very good Belgian-style beers out there from other countries ... several beers from brewers like Ommegang, Allagash, and Unibroue (Canada) come to mind ... but they're still not Belgian beers.

That's just my opinion, anyway.

I had the pleasure of sampling a beer from a fine brewery right here in Illinois last evening that I felt compelled to write about. You see, this was one of those beers that surprised me ... in a good way. I'm talking about Goose Island Brewing Co. in Chicago.

I've had many of the Goose Island beers, and enjoyed them all. I've never questioned that Goose Island brews quality beer. I have never, however, come across a Goose Island beer that impacted me the way this one did. I can honestly say that this beer is not only the best beer I've tried from Goose Island; it's very possibly the best American-made Belgian style beer I've tried in a long while.

That's saying a lot.