Goose Island Brewhouse isn’t just a charming, 18,000-square-foot brewpub – it’s a major step in the AB InBev-owned, Chicago-based beer brand’s massive Canadian takeover.

Piggybacking off Labatt’s hefty infrastructure to mass-produce its products in Canada, the onetime indie label has been making major inroads north of the border since the Budweiser owner acquired it in 2011.

Natalia Manzocco

The company’s next step toward capturing valuable market share in beer-mad Toronto would, naturally, be a brew pub all its own, one that matches the rough-hewn charm of its two beer halls in Chi-town. They chose a space formerly occupied by Fionn MacCool’s on the Esplanade, shacking up with Bier Markt for a two-in-one location that shares a single kitchen.

So: between the corporate ownership connection, the corporate restaurant partner, and the touristy digs, it’s safe to say most of the beer geeks reading this have already stopped reading – but before you smash that red X, skeptic, you may want to at least take a second look.

Natalia Manzocco

Big-budget pedigree and recent move to mass-production aside, Goose Island still kicks out some pretty solid brews. In the years since the brewery’s acquisition, they’ve used the cash windfall to double down on some of the things that made them so beloved in the U.S. craft beer scene in the first place – for example, the brewery known for popularizing barrel-aging now has a massive aging program and sprawling warehouse dedicated to the practice.

In Canada, it appears that they’ve followed the same game plan, recruiting Bernard Priest, formerly of Quebec’s Trois Brasseurs (Three Brewers), and Marc Mammoliti, previously of Great Lakes Brewery, to head up the local brewing program, which will account for the majority of what’s on tap at the Toronto brewpub.

Natalia Manzocco

They’ll be trucking in the standard Goose brews like Honkers Ale and Goose Island IPA from Labatt’s Montreal plant, and a few selections will be replicated from the U.S. brewpub’s recipes – but everything else available on tap is a Priest/Mammoliti original, created on-site. Priest says he and Mammoliti essentially have free rein over what comes out of the four-vessel BrauKon brewing setup installed at the brewhouse (“It’s like the Maserati of brewing equipment,” he adds).

He and Mammoliti are psyched to be able to tap into the major R&D that’s sprung up around Goose Island’s U.S. brewing operations.

“They’ve got projects going on that will benefit not only Goose Island but the entire industry as a whole,” he says. “For a brewer, that’s kind of the dream, right? To have those financial resources, the supply chain, as well as the knowledge.”

Natalia Manzocco

Those available pours pull from a wide variety of styles – highlights include Allora, a tart, sessionable raspberry ale and the easy-drinking Quite A Thing saison, as well as a coffee porter, American brown ale and English bitter that are sure to go like hotcakes once the weather cools off.

Natalia Manzocco

On the food side, Goose Island shares a chef de cuisine – Shawn Jackson – as well as a kitchen with Bier Markt, and several of the food items (kale and Brussels sprouts salad in a Witbier vinaigrette beer-and-bacon mussels with garlic cream sauce) are identical to the other side’s menu.

It’s unorthodox, yeah, and it comes off as maybe a little lazy – but I sure as hell wouldn’t kick the Montreal-raised Jackson’s killer, melt-in-your-mouth Reuben, or the cracking charcuterie plate offerings, off my dinner table.

Natalia Manzocco

Sure, it’s corporate as all get-out, and there are plenty of small, local breweries that probably need your spending money way more than Goose Island does. But the Brewhouse is one of those rare big-money downtown watering holes that seems to have put its ample budget toward solid pub eats and a promising beer program, instead of funding the acquisition of leather banquettes, skimpy uniforms, deafening sound systems and five dozen flat-screen TVs.

The food and beer are decent here, the patio space is ample, and the vibe is chill. I might even call it a loose Goose.

Natalia Manzocco

nataliam@nowtoronto.com | @nataliamanzocco