312 Urban Wheat - Goose Island Beer Co.

    312 Urban Wheat is a Pale Wheat Ale brewed by Goose Island Beer Co. in Chicago, Illinois. I'm pretty torn when it comes to Goose Island beers as a lot of their distributed beers seem to mirror the low quality of Goose Island's owner, Anheuser-Busch's products. Their in-pub only brews, however, are on par with those of the best craft breweries in the country. We'll see what side of the coin 312 sits on in just a minute, though I already have my guess.

    312 Urban Wheat pours a pale straw color with vivacious bubbles swarming inside the glass. A two finger head forms at pouring, but quickly subsides into a thin layer of bubbles which lace the glass as the beer is enjoyed.

    Aromas of wheat malt and a bit of sour corn predominate the beer's smell. Very light, hoppy, citrus scents give the beer a bit of a grassy quality.

    312 has a light body and a high level of carbonation. There is a slight bit of wateryness to the beer that I could do without, though it finishes dry. The beer is sessionable at 4.2% ABV.

Goose Island's next Headquarters?

    Goose Island's 312 Urban Wheat beer tastes of light wheat malts with a slight aftertaste of corn. Very light citrus hops give the brew a hint of lemon zest.

    I remember having this beer soon after it was first released and thinking that it was a pretty decent wheat beer. Now, at this tasting, I'm shocked at how much the flavor has chanegd. I wonder if production was changed to make for being able to sell the product to a larger market, and in the process the recipe was reformulated to reduce the wheat malt used in brewing.

    Whatever the change was, it's definitely for the worse. I would definitely look elsewhere for a beer with great, clean wheat malt flavor. If you want something light, 312 still wouldn't be a horrible choice, but you could find better...

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