Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

I actually thought it only went to the one shop (BT last time, Capone's this time), but it looks like @FBarber saw Juice Pants in other stores, per below.

Any idea how much distribution Juice Pants saw (i.e. did it hit Binny's in the city)?

It seems crazy to think you couldn't get there at 5:30 and get some Son of Juice, but I thought I heard something about the Juice Pants release selling out in like 35 minutes or something. I could be wrong, though. I should be able to get over there around 5, and am hoping the crowd isn't too bad.

 

Thanks - probably all the more reason for me to get to Capone's if I want to give it a shot.

 

The search is futile Illinoisites! Nothing truly compares to the real deal. Just do what all the New Englanders want and trade your prop 14s and vanilla ryes for cans of Julius

My first ever ISO/FT post on BA last year was looking for some treehouse, any treehouse. I advertised that I had access to Chicago distro. I must have gotten 3 or 4 PMs asking for vintage BCBS variant bombers. I almost fell off my chair. Needless to say, I passed.

 

I went to the Juice Pants release at Beer Temple and it was the exact opposite of crazy. If memory serves I got there about an hour after the posted release time and there was no line, no crowd, not many more customers than you'd see normally on a Friday evening. The guy from Maplewood whose name escapes me was there pouring samples from a keg and selling bottles, and he was great to chat with. Overall no stress whatsoever, easy-peasy. No idea how the one at Capone's will be this week, but I'm going to try to make it.
Juice Pants did show up the following week at Capone's, Bottles and Cans, etc - pretty sure it didn't make it to any Binny's, but I could be wrong there.

 

Great info! I'll probably try to make it to Capone's as well just so I have some for the long weekend at the beach and around the fire.

 

I asked Maplewood's twitter yesterday about distro for Son of Juice specifically in the south burbs.. Here is their response to timing and places:

@galos11 we're packaging it this Friday, so *possibly* this weekend, but more likely that it'll be early next week

@galos11 still working out details, but a good chance your Binny's will have it (Evergreen Park?) & Open Bottle in Tinley is also a good bet

 

If I owned a brewery I'd release a barrel aged stout and just call it a NE style IPA. There is so much contradictory details on what makes a NE IPA, especially because the stuff in Vermont seems dissimilar to the stuff coming out of Boston. If haze is the only agreed upon characteristic, why don't brewers just capitalize on the fad and release a non-filtered version of their current IPAs and just put NE style on them? NE style Zombie Dust, same beer, just hazy....

 

I've got to agree - with everything above. First, Alchemist / SoS are much different from Tree House / Trillium.

2nd, haze isn't even the most important component. I read this somewhere and think it sums it up well (madfermentationist.com):

a bit more yeast character than indistinct Cal/American ale, a wonderfully juicy/fruity/saturated aroma, soft mouthfeel, balanced bitterness, and less than spectacular clarity.

Lack of clarity is the last thing mentioned. I think haze is a byproduct of the process more so than the defining characteristic. Hefeweizen's are hazy, but they are nothing like a NE IPA. To me, it's the combination of hops but without the strong bitterness that was associated with that in the past. And without a malty taste.

 

^ I like the word saturated in the post above... More than I like the word hazy.

A saturated hop flavor and the low bitterness are my two favorite parts of beers like treehouse, special sauce, RAM juicy, etc...

Ever since I've had them, any IPA that is clear just feels thin to me.

 

Aside from that - I had Hubbard's cave v1 last night (9/26/16 date). I liked the pure taste quite a bit, but it had no head on the beer, which kind of detracted from the solid taste. I don't know if it's really in the NE IPA category. If they could fix the carbonation issue I'd consider it a much better beer regardless of so-called classification.

 

If low bitterness and saturated hop flavors are the identifier, then I have to agree with SeanBond that HA beers like Beer Hates Astronauts and GDDC would meet the criteria.

 

Because I see the usual suspects in this thread, http://shop.3floyds.com/products/event-ticket-warpigs-tap-takeover

 

Much appreciated! (I don't think I'm a "usual suspect" but I sure as shit bought tickets!!)

 

I think the root is what causes the haze. Both Juice Pants and Cumulus are brewed with Conan/London III and neither are super hazy, Cumulus being the more opaque of the two. There's articles/posts I've read about the haze being created by certain yeasts and how they interact with certain hops, the timing of the dry hop additions, and the overall exposure the beer has to the dry hops. If that's to be believed then the equipment difference in HA's BHA could account for the look/flavor/mouthfeel difference if one gives the beer more exposure to the dry hop additions or maybe the hops used were the same but from different sources or crops. It is interesting though the stark difference between those 2 versions.

 

You aren't supposed to be in this thread.

 

The Hailstorm stuff like Cumulus (Nimbus and whatever the 3rd cloud series one was) are an example of marketing. Anyone can say anything is NE style. They are a decent IPA that is more reflective of a Hill Farmstead style where they use oats or wheat to make a crisper, bitter/floral/or lemony ipa. This doesn't strike me as anything close to juicy or Trillium like which is why the NE style needs to be broken down into further types.