Goose Island taps Pub members for clever monikers

Goose Island, an award-winning regional brewery based in Chicago, has tapped the University of Chicago to name one of its two newest microbrews.

"You're the smartest ones in town," said Greg Hall, head brewer at Goose Island, explaining why the University was chosen to host a beer-naming contest. "We're the guys who make the gourmet beer, but we're not as clever when it comes to names."

The new microbrewed beer, tentatively called Nitro India Pale Ale, is poured with a mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, which gives it a creamier head that cascades up as it pours, similar to Guinness.

Members of the University community who are over 21 can try the new India Pale Ale and submit clever monikers at the Pub in Ida Noyes Hall until May 23. The winner will receive a free case of beer from the microbrewery every month for a year.

"We're really looking to replace our label," Hall said. "But if no one comes up with a name we can use, then we'll give the prize to the most imaginative name."

So far, there hasn't been a flood of entries, said Victor Vogt, Manager of the Pub, but he added that more entries were expected with upcoming graduation and retirement parties. Vogt was one of the instigators of the contest, mentioning to a Goose Island salesman that Pub customers could certainly come up with a better name than "Nitro" for its new gourmet beer.

The Pub, part of the University for over two decades, has a tremendous variety of beers, comparable to the best gourmet pubs on the North Side. It has 14 beers on tap, two ciders, a selection of wines and 250 bottled beers, though not every one of them is always available, Vogt said.

"It's the best private club deal in town," Vogt said, noting that membership--which is open to all those in the University community who are over 21--is only $5, and the guest fee is $1. "We were part of the microbrewed beer revolution long before the rest of the city caught on."