The oldest currently-operating brewing company in Illinois, it began as a brewpub that opened in 1988 in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, and was named after a nearby island.

[6] Goose Island has one brewpub located on Clybourn Ave which serves brunch, lunch, and dinner next to their assortment of beers.

[8][9] The Clybourn Avenue Brewpub closed for renovation in January 2017;[10][11] it reopened in October 2017, slightly renamed to Goose Island Brewhouse.

[19] In November 2008, Goose Island made news when its small batch of Bourbon County Stout became available for the first time in the Western United States.

[23] Goose Island's Brett Porter said: "We let the warehouse run to Chicago temperatures—cold winters, followed by hot humid summers—that causes the staves in our bourbon barrels to bring in and then force out liquid, and that's where the flavor comes from".