With a mass of international craft beer brands entering just in the past year alone, it seems like Hong Kong is on its way to becoming the Asian beer hub. The latest player to join the fray is Goose Island, a craft brewery with just under 30 years’ history that started in Chicago.
Read more: The Complete 2021 List of HK Craft Breweries
The modestly sized Goose had the chance to spread its wings (pun intended) in 2011 when it was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev, even though what came along with the change was an onslaught of criticism challenging the brewery’s integrity and identity as a craft beer brand. However, this hasn’t stopped Goose Island from garnering considerable international recognition. US President Obama gave the beer an informal endorsement after announcing the establishment of two manufacturing hubs in Chicago and Detroit in 2014, commenting on how the hub in Chicago will be built in the shadow of where ‘a very superior beer’ also happens to be brewed. It was also the beer that the president chose to gift then British Prime Minister David Cameron during the G20 meeting of 2010 (even though that was before the brewery was sold to Anheuser-Busch).
There’s great news for all you beer lovers in Hong Kong: a selection of three choice Goose Island ales are now available here, including Obama’s go-to 312 Urban Wheat Ale, a straw-coloured pour with a slightly citrusy aroma. The other two options available are Goose IPA with its bright, citrusy aroma and bold hop finish and Honkers Ale, an English-style bitter featuring a fruity hop aroma with a rich malt middle. They are offered at various restaurants and bars around the city as well as for retail purchase at The Beer Bay at Central Piers 3 and 4, Craftissimo in Sheung Wan and TST, Ruggers in Causeway Bay and more.