GI’s 2015 Pitchfork lineup
The annual Pitchfork Music Fest is the only local, 3 days summer bash to feature beers made in the neighborhood that it resides. Goose Island’s production facility on the Near West Side is just three blocks from Union Park.
At least one of those beers went on to become a mainstay in the Goose catalog. Their spring 2015 release -Blue Line Pilsner started as Recommended, a collab with the Pitchfork staff last year.
Chicago’s own Chance The Rapper closed the weekend with an energetic set on Sunday night. This also marks the 1st time Goose has produced a beer for a festival headliner. No Collar is a Helles Lager at 4.8% Chance designed the label and wanted to create a beer for the working class citizens of the city.
No Collar
312 Periscopes
This ‘virtual collaboration’ was a bit different from the previous 2 years of artist/ brewer creations. 2014’s SVE Kolsch (w Sharon Von Etten) was conceived after brewer Eric Ponce flew to Denver for drinks with Sharon after her show at Bluebird Theater. This is where pair the traded tasting notes over beers.
Run The Jewels was a dry hopped Belgian Pale Ale made with group members Killer Mike & El-P at the Fulton brewhouse about a month before the 2013 fest.
Goose is rumored to have averaged about 70 kegs per day sold at Pitchfork.
There were more beverage options available this year too. Dark Horse Winery along with 5 non-alcoholic options were set up near the green stage. For the 1st time Virtue Cider made an appearance at Pitchfork with 3 ciders on draft.
There also seemed to be a small village dedicated to record sales. A pair vendor tents with no less 6 different shops selling vinyl.
@joekutta on the Missed Connections typewriter
New additions to the brewery’s tradition layout near the main entrance were (312) Urban Periscopes setup to view the greed and red stages. They were cute, but a bit of a novelty as they didn’t magnify images.
We got to catch up with GI Innovation Manager, Mike Siegel to chat about their recent Migration Week to Brazil. In addition to launching Honkers Ale and Goose IPA, they found time to make a beer with Cervejaria Wäls in Belo Horizonte.
It’s a dark tripel with some Brazilian ingredients including a nut called Baru, dried bananas and Brazilian sugar. The beer will be aged in Cachaca barrels. Be on the lookout for it in bottles at the Goose taproom this winter.
–Nkosi
Pitchfork Music Fest 10th Anniversary. July 17-19, 2015
