I’m in the Chicago airport before heading to my Cuisinternship and thought I’d grab a beer at the Fox sports bar and grill in terminal 3 at O’Hare (where I had the Molson Canadian). To my surprise, it had been converted to a Goose Island bar/restaurant. So, I thought I’d enjoy one more taste of home before catching my flight west.
The menu says Matilda is a Belgian style Pale Ale fermented with wild yeast for a complex flavor (I hope that’s a controled wild yeast… not something that floated in the window in the windy city). It was served in a goblet and was a copper-orange color with almost no head on it. It had a bit of a fruity/spicy aroma typical of a Belgian beer. I think I also smelled a bit of orange peel as well.
It had a light-medium body and I first noticed a fruity taste, which quickly turned a bit spicy. It had a fairly dry finish and the aftertaste had a bit of a horsey/wet leather flavor.
It was an interesting beer, with a unique flavor, and certainly not one you’d expect to find brewed in Chicago. With the flavors it had, I thought it might go well with a steak sandwich or a french dip. Overall, I found it to be fairly interesting, but not one that I would likely sit down and enjoy several pints of.
