This one completes the story from my two other posts: a full-out documentation of the main Goose Island brewery and another visit to the barrel room with John Laffler where En Passant, the latest in the Fulton + Wood Innovation Series beer was released.

En Passant is an English Mild Ale made with rye, blood orange concentrate and rind meant to mimic the flavors of an old Fashioned whiskey cocktail. In fact, it’s meant to be paired with a whiskey on the side. For this event, Goose Island invited the folks from Templeton to join them, pairing their rye whiskey for the each pour of En Passant. Thankfully, En Passant was also attenuated with the pairing in mind, coming in at just 4.3% so there’s no worry in over-doing it.

Each innovation beer release is the result of a small team’s concept making the cut. Last month, John Laffler another brewer produced Old Town Yard, a Helles lager with simplicity in mind. This month’s team consisted of Joel Becker, Keith Gabbett and Claudia Jendron. French for “in passing,” their chosen name: En Passant might refer to it’s intended pairing, it’s sessionable quality, but deliberately refers to the name of a chess move intended to keep players from behaving in a protectionist manner and putting the competition on notice. Clever.

I’m far from being first out of the gate with this one. Nkosi (a former HUNTER/Gatherer) from Chicagobeergeeks.com and Steph from thegirlandherbeer.com (black + white photo above) both made great posts last week from the event.