Jared Rouben Departing Goose Island To Start His Own Brewery

Of all the beer made in and around Chicago in recent years, some of the most interesting has been Jared Rouben’s food-centric brews.

The Goose Island brew pub brew master has collaborated with some of the city’s most notable chefs — Rick Bayless, Stephanie Izard and Mindy Segal among them — and employed unlikely farmers market ingredients to produce such inventive beers as green strawberry India pale ale, bourbon barrel-aged chocolate barleywine and baby carrot Belgian wit.

After three years of honing such creativity at Goose, Rouben resigned this week to start his own brewery. Though it doesn’t have a name yet, Rouben said he is closing in on a space that will include a tap room and hopes to be producing beer by the end of 2013. His last day at Goose will be in mid-January.

Rouben said he plans to produce at least one beer available year-round, but will largely be "seasonally focused." His beer will initially be draft-only and available exclusively in the Chicago area, he said.
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