Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

Any of you who buy in the suburbs can find any of these goodies around?

 

Love to see them try a Citra Bowl...

 

Disparage Aquanaut all you want, the co-owner is a jackass (Phil Tadros). Just google his name and see for yourself. I refuse to support any of his business ventures (including Bow Truss).

 

Anyone know anybody who crowd funded Hop Butcher and if they get Galaxy Bowl as part of exclusive releases?

 

I was a fan of Bunny the Micro Bakery which rented space from Tadros' in Lakeview then that closed after a few months. Then I was digging The Budlong (fantastic spicy fried chicken) which replaced it in the space, but the owner pulled out after a few months because of Tadros. I'm amazed the minds behind Aquanaut haven't moved on without him....

 

Yeah, and I understand that situation, I'm sure there's plenty of good people that work there (or in any of his ventures). But at some point it becomes a Trump/Pence situation. You may not want to be associated with someone's actions, but by sticking with them, you are still supporting said actions.

 

Agreed, and that's more to my point.

 

I believe I heard (I think on one of the recent Beer Temple Insiders pods) that they are actively looking to buy him out at Aquanot.

 

I've always thought people getting mad about Goose Island being owned by a major brewery is pretty dumb. If anything, it is a good thing. How much more barrel aged stuff can GI put out now (aside from last year's hiccup)? Is craft beer being available at the United Center or Wrigley a bad thing? It's not like they bought GI and started pumping out a crap product, they bought it so they could brew more of if. More good beer is not a bad thing.

 

I did a blind tasting tonight of Juicy versus Galaxy Bowl tonight. Looking at both of them, one was significantly hazier and juicier looking. While I know they are both hazy when looking at them on their own, the one was just so much more hazier looking - although it also was noticeably less carbonated. The aroma was nice on both, but again, the hazier version was more of a pure juice aroma. The taste on the non-hazier version had a bit of a bitterness to it - not the bitter "rind" flavor I get from some of the other NE IPA's, but more of the traditional bitterness in an IPA (I like this bitterness...in moderation, which this was). The hazy one was pure juice, like a beer-mosa.

At this point, I was convinced I knew which one was what, so I told my wife (who poured them for me) that the "hazy" one was Galaxy Bowl and the "non-hazy" one was Juicy. And...I was wrong.

So, with all that, I should say I'm not surprised that I like the Galaxy Bowl more because (as has been documented quite a few times on this forum) I'm less a fan of the pure juice bombs that so many people like. That hint of bitterness in the Galaxy Bowl cuts across the juiciness, and makes it actually taste like....beer to me. That being said, the Juicy is very nice for that style, and better than many of the other ones I have had like it (which is what I thought when I had a couple on tap at Ram). And, it makes sense that I've seen more people preferring Juicy to Galaxy Bowl, since most people seem to prefer the NE style more than I do.

I have also re-affirmed my belief that I just get tired of this style - maybe it's akin to not wanting to drink much orange juice at once. A fun little experiment, and I'll save my last can of Juicy (thanks to @FBarber for the hookup) for a couple weeks to do the blind tasting with Special Sauce #8, Fresh v4 and Galaxy Bowl (again). Perhaps I can procure something from the New England area to throw in as well between now and then.

 

Nice write up. Always good to hear about blind tastings. I too am just iffy on the NE style. It is tasty once in awhile but pretty boring to me, I have found. Even the authentic ones out east that I have been lucky enough to try. I am going to have to have a couple assertive Huma after work I think. people love or hate it, but you definitely know you are drinking an IPA when that one punches you in the face.

 

I agree with you. I have only had Stratus and Nimbus but I prefer my IPAs to have a little bite. I will take Goneaway, Vallejo, Lizard King, Lexical Gap, Huma and even AntiHero to these.

 

Agree. Which is why I wasn't that impressed with juicy. It was too sweet with no hop kick, though I felt the "juicy-ness" of the style was spot on.

It's another reason Transient Obligatory blew me away. I know it's a pale and not an IPA/DIPA, but it has that hop bite to it, as well as the other attributes.

Excited to try the galaxy bowl I've got, as I've heard it has that same attribute.