Goose Island Clybourn Brewhouse Wax Color Guide

Time after time I’ve seen people combing through their cellars struggling to figure out what Goose Island Brewpub bottle they have.

Goose Island’s original Brewpub previously started 750ml bottle releases in 2013. The bottle art has changed but one thing has not, the name of the beer is never on the bottle. The only way to differentiate beer from beer is the wax colors.

Below is a list of previous Goose Island Brewhouse (formerly known as Goose Island Clybourn) bottle releases sorted by name, description and wax color of the bottles. This list only does not include Proprietary or Vainglorious, but does include Night Fights

Last Updated: 4/6/20

Beer Name	Description	Wax Color	Example
BA Big Lazy Joe	Imperial brown ale with coffee aged in bourbon barrels	Red
BA Impervious	Imperial stout	Olive Khaki
Big Train	Imperial Rye Porter aged for 10 months in Buffalo Trace and Woodford Reserve barrels	Dark Cream
Brettanomite	Sour wheat that was aged 13 months in oak barrels	Yellow
Cherry Run	Wheatwine aged in Woodford Reserve Bourbon Barrels and finished with Tart Cherries	Pink Pearl
Cthulhu	Imperial Oatmeal Stout aged in an 18 year Elijah Craig Barrel	Periwinkle Blue
Cthulhu	Imperial Oatmeal Stout aged in an 18 year Elijah Craig Barrel	Copper
Dark Crusader	Imperial stout aged in Woodford Reserve barrels	Lavender Purple
Double Date	Belgian Quad aged for 10 months in 12 year Elijah Craig barrels.	Black
Flanders Red	Flemish red ale aged in wine barrels	Brick Red
Grimm Vicar	Belgian Dark Abbey Ale aged 2/3 in red wine barrels and 1/3 in bourbon barrels.	Black Sparkled
Ground Control	Barrel aged strong ale	Matte Silver/Gray
Night Fights	Raspberry Impervious	Lilac, light purple
Nutulhu	Hazelnut Oatmeal Stout	Bright White
Silver Jubilee	Double Pale Ale	Forest Green
Yellow Umbrella	Description	Yellow

Photos courtesy of Untappd

Additional Notes

• There was 2 releases of Cthulhu, but they are the same beer from the same aging period. Copper is the first release, and the Periwinkle Blue is the second.
• Yellow Umbrella and Brettanomite are both Yellow wax. If the bottle has a 25th anniversary logo on it, it’s Brettanomite, if it doesn’t, then its Yellow Umbrella
• BA Impervious, Big Train, and Ground Control are all kind of a vague brown/gray/green color. They can easily run together so check them closely if you’re unsure. A lot of photos make those wax colors look different depending on how well lit they are.