This year I had the pleasure to return to Goose Island  as an invite to the MBA Reunion get together.

For those who have not had the pleasure of joining this elite group, allow me to explain. The Goose Island MBA Program (Master of Beer Appreciation) consisted of a list of the Goose Island beers brewed all year round.

As you drink them, your list gets checked off. For those of you beer chuggers, thinking you can join our group in a few short visits to the brewery's locations, think again. Along with the regularly brewed, year round beers, the seasonals are also a part of earning your "degree."

Anyways, you get it. Anyone who has earned their MBA has tasted a lot of great beers. Let's just leave it at that.

The think I'm most impressed about, is the class of this event. I'm not saying everyone's dressed in tuxes and gowns.

Think beer guts, t-shirts, jeans, shorts, sandals.....totally chill. Don't take this the wrong way...these are MY people!!  What I mean is that people who go here, appreciate their beer.

And the staff that put the event together and carry out the service, are top notch. The food was amazing. I especially loved the pesto chicken pizza, pretzel rolls filled with cheese.  The meats, cheeses, desserts.

SOOO good.

But the staff, always friendly, always smiling. Constantly refilling the empty trays of food for the late comers so that they don't miss out.

And of course, John Hall, owner, walking around personally thanking anyone not currently gorging on food for coming and appreciating all the hard work he and his staff do to make Goose Island what it is. A staple in the Chicago Beer Community.

Although this is all nice to hear and all, I know what you really want to hear about. The Beer.

So, I started with the Maple Bacon Stout.

Very dark. Before tasting, the smell alone was very smoky. I couldn't wait to see where the "bacon" name came from!

I'm a big fan of smoked beers, so I really liked the complexity of the smoked character mixed with maltiness and a slight hop character. 　

Next beer, I wanted to feed the hop craving I was having. So, I had the 22nd Anniversary Ale.

This was a very hoppy ale. Golden/Copper in color, it finished very clean. Not very dry in the end.

Had a very crisp character to it. Not sure of the alcohol content, but it felt like this could be a good session beer. Luckily, I moved on and didn't stick around too long to find out how strong it actually was.

I then proceeded to sample some foods and then back to the beers. Before my fun day ended, I got to sample a few more beers:

The Sovergn Bitter - Clean, crisp bitter style beer. Poured with a nice head of phone. Had hints of sour apples.

The Silly Goose - Poured a cloudy yellow with just a little head. The smells of spices and wheat created a sweet taste at first sip. But the after flavors, hinted bready characters.

FrankenPorter - This one was a dark, roasty smelling porter. As it poured with very little head, the thick appearance of the beer laced the glass very nicely. But when sipped, the feel of this beer was pretty clean. This one had a bit of a hop bite which created a dry feel at the end.

But I wanted to take the time to thank Goose Island, all the owners, brewers, and the staff that made this event another memorable, fun, and relaxing Sunday afternoon.

See Goose Island, That Cask Guy even decorates his home with your gear!!

Can you get your name on the plaques again if you go for another "degree?"