April 10--Goose Island's forthcoming brewpub won't be in the Loop, Wicker Park, Rogers Park or even Sleepy Hollow (yes, it's a place near Chicago -- look it up).
Try Toronto.
Details are scant, but Chicago's oldest and most iconic brewery has confirmed it plans to open a brewpub in Canada's largest city.
"While still early in the planning stages, we plan to open a Toronto brewpub to broaden our presence by serving more of Goose Island's quality beers, along with seasonal specialties and some great food pairings," Goose Island General Manager Ken Stout said in a statement. "We're excited to be expanding internationally with our destination brewpub and look forward to sharing more details as our plans take shape."
The move seems to be a developing part of Anheuser-Busch's playbook with its craft brewery acquisitions; 10 Barrel Brewing of Bend, Ore., which AB bought in 2014, plans brewpubs in Denver and San Diego. Both have run into a degree of local opposition, but remain in planning. Anheuser-Busch bought Goose Island in 2011.
Though it is yet to be seen how Toronto will embrace a Goose Island brewpub, Torontoist -- which was among the first to report the news last week -- issued a correction on its headline after complaints from readers: "A previous subhead of this story initially stated that Goose Island was joining the craft beer scene. Torontoist regrets the error."
The updated headline simply removed the word "craft" from the headline. Goose Island, along with other breweries bought by Anheuser-Busch, are no longer considered craft by the Brewers Association due to their corporate ownership.
jbnoel@tribpub.com
