Chicago shelf beers - no CO distro

I'd have him grab just about any Pipeworks available. There should be Ninja vs. Unicorn and Lizard King on shelves, as well as potentially some bombers such as Nelson Sauvin or maybe Coffee Break Abduction. Not sure if Half Acre's new release coming out today (Rainbow Never Ends) will hit distribution next week, but if he sees that, you might as well give it a shot too.

If you don't get Founders, then their beer is definitely worth grabbing. I think Mosaic Promise is a great beer that is available now.

 

Depending on where you're at in CO, you may be able to find Pipeworks out there. I'm not sure if CO gets everything they put out though. I'm a big fan of Spiteful IPAs. Grumpy Greg DIPA with mandarin oranges, and Stu Likes Disco DIPA might still be around.

 

Daisy Cutter is considered a Chicago staple but if I were to bring back one Half Acre beer it would be their Vallejo IPA

 

Surly is on the shelf. I've seen Todd within the last week or so.

 

He might be able to find some Todd the Axe Man - some stores got drops of it this week.

I had no idea CO got Pipeworks...I thought it just went here and to NY. They seem to have a strange way of figuring out which states to send their beer to.

 

Todd the Axe Man might be available. I picked up a 4-pack a couple nights ago, but I don't know how quickly it tends to move. Since moving here, I've been enjoying Lexical Gap from Pollyanna Brewing and Buckledown's Belt & Suspenders. Wouldn't classify either as "knock your socks off" but I'd rank them ahead of Anti-Hero and Daisy Cutter.

 

Todd should still be pretty fresh, so yeah, have him look for that. You might still want to have him grab a fresh 4-pack of Lizard King, but if you get PW, nevermind! As @croush mentioned, Half Acre just dropped Rainbow Never Ends today, and it should be hitting distro very soon, so I'd put that towards the top of the list as well. I'm not as high on Citra Hero as some others, but it's cheap, good, and comes in a sixer, so that might be a good Revolution choice, and actually, if he sees Bedlam from Ale Asylum, that's one that surprised me, too (you can see the theme here is citra for me).

 

Most of Transient Artisan Ale's lineup would suit your tastes. Not sure where to find in Chicago though as I am an hour away.

 

I think the Beer Temple is one of the better spots for Transient.

 

Speaking of which, Beer Temple just got more Todd in, so yeah, it's out there and fresh.

 

I just wanted to drop a recommendation for the Citra Hero in cans Rev recently put out. Should be easy to find and it has quickly become one of my go to drinkers. Also, have him see about the Hubbard's Cave "Fresh IIPA". I am loving that beer as well and it is not very well-known (yet). Fair price point at around $10 for a 750mL bottle.

 

Ah yeah, good call! I've been meaning to grab Fresh IIPA as I've heard good things.

 

Todd would be a fantastic score. One of my favorites.

Some other good shelf beers:

Buckledown Clencher
Half Acre Vallejo
Brickstone Hop Skip

 

Haven't had Clencher, but the other 2 are solid choices.

 

The Todds we're seeing in Chicago are canned 7/6. That's unusually fresh for Surly here so jump on it!

Good call on HopSkip, I'd throw Brickstone APA in the conversation as well

 

Half Acre Navaja cans coming this week sometime. Not sure if it will be before he leaves town or not.

 

Good point, and I actually asked about that when I picked up Rainbow Never Ends on Friday. I think it was the 22nd or the 29th at Half Acre, then distributed after that. They have another release coming out either the 22nd or 29th as well I believe.