Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

Maybe he only drinks new stuff and so when he doesn't have many beers received from around the country in trades, there is a surplus of new quality options to try locally?

 

Did this side by side a few days ago. My result was:
3rd - Green
2nd - My First Canning Line DIPA
1st - Galaxy Bowl

What I get from this is that other non-NE breweries can do this style and do just as good (or dare I say, better) than the OG breweries that help start the trend. I think this is good for everyone.

 

Just curious, have you had any of the recent cans from Transient?

 

This. I don't drink particularly often. 1x per week, on average. I have a couple of very regular trade partners from the northeast and my fiance and I take beer related vacations a couple times per year (We did a New England road trip in July, are heading to D.C./Richmond in December, for example). My fridge can overflow pretty quickly just with beers from trades and trips, so I don't drink much local stuff over and over again.

So, for me, it's exciting that there is so much good, new local stuff to seek out.

 

Juice is Loose is killer. That and PseudoSue are the two beers I'll drive an hour+ to get the next time it's released. Along with Juicy, those are the two best local IPAs (if you call Transient local). Obligatory is very good as well.

 

This is why I've enjoyed GB and Juicy. When I lived in Iowa and drank pseudo sue on the regular it had a lot of similarities to the beers popular right now.

To me it's the combination of the the right amount of juiciness and tropical flavors that create a top tier IPA to my palate. Sue and GB for instance had strong mango and pineapple/peach flavors, respectively. Even Sue being an APA was still there for me in mouth feel.

 

Just had a PsuedoSue that I bought at the Mornin Delight event; I thought it was really muted & caramel forward compared to GB/Juicy/Juice Is Loose. (Yes, it was a bomber)

Really disappointing for a Citra hop fan. King Sue, however, was worth the hype IMO.

 

That is interesting, especially in bomber if it was fresh. But everyone has their own set of tastes. Not sure if you've ever tasted the galaxy dry hoped version of pseudo sue, but that was always steps ahead of the others to me. King Sue is always on point.

 

I was there too! I wish I would have known, we could have had a brew

 

Just one guy's opinion, but I would say stop searching for what's so great elsewhere and look at what is great here, especially if you only drink 1x per week. I find the instances of finding something better than I can find here are very few and far between. Of course, you've had most all of them, so you know what you like, but I'd be intrigued if you had them all blind (perhaps you already have). I'd also love to know which beers from NE you think are above our local beers (and semi-available) so I can try to put some of them in my tasting.

 

I finally got to have this today, and I really didn't think it was special (and my buddy agreed with me). A bit too big and cloying for me. I would not pursue it if it were available locally. I like PseudoSue and enjoyed Golden Nugget for the first time, but would pass on King Sue.

 

I'ts always been tasty to me, but I've heard from more people as of late that it hasn't lived up the hype. Citra hops this year? Or just availability of other beers. GNug is good but I feel like I've preferred their other Bombers of IPAs.

 

I don't know what hops were used this year or in the past on King Sue. I've had some of their other bombers as well that I would prefer to GNug as well, but I'd be more apt to grab a 4 pack of GNug than buying King Sue. I also don't think I'd prefer GNug over Navaja, NvU, etc. that we already have here.

 

Had both King Sue and Psuedo Sue today. King Sue I thought was excellent but Psuedo Sue tasted like just another beer to me. Very little flavor in Psuedo Sue and mouthfeel was my great either.

 

Stopped by Burn 'Em in Michigan City on the way back from a southwest Michigan beer run. The had their rendition of the style, Vermonty Python, on tap. I've had limited exposure to the style but I thought they did a really good job with this. Thought it was way better than Hailstorm's cloud series and close to Transient's Juice is Loose.

 

I, like a few others in this topic, am getting a bit worn out on all of the NE IPAs I've been drinking lately. I just popped a Founders Harvest Ale and man this is so delicious.

 

I think it'll take a few years, but I hope that, eventually, everyone who loves beer gets a chance to get tired of these NE style IPAs and have another ahah moment with a fresh Sculpin or Gone Away.

I think the plenty people of people at the front of the curve are or will so experience this. There still is something great about "nice pop of bitterness" followed by juicy Amarillo hops and a dry finish. And I've found that even more true after have plenty of NE style beers lately. The west coast IPA isn't dead, but I do think the northeast style is going to take a chunk out of its market share eventually.

 

True and not true.

Depends on a few different things. But this is a long long discussion and i don't feel like it

I'll just point out breweries that shouldn't be thriving based on quality, yet still do.

Two Brothers
New Holland
Goose Island
Summit
Harpoon
Rogue
Southern Tier
Green Flash

Craft beer is no longer a niche market in which quality is all that matters. There is a LOT more than goes into it than that

 

I'd defend GI on that list. Sometimes I think they get crapped on because of the InBev purchase. They still do some interesting stuff, and issue from 15 aside, they wrote the book on BA stouts.