Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

Yeah I second this.

 

Like a man, that was a so 3 pages ago.

 

Wasn't in Des Plaines was it? Ran into almost the same thing there, they had Prairie Madness from September.

 

My Chicago NE IPA night has gone Morning Fog->Juice is Loose-> Morning Fog

Now I'm finishing up with a Stratus before I open a High West-ified. The mouth feel and ending taste still isn't quite up to par, but Hailstorm is getting there!



Edit: sorry for the shitty picture, my phone decided to drink with me

Double edit: my girlfriend who loves IPA's absolutely loved Morning Fog and Juice is Loose. She said Stratus tastes like soap, which leaves me to back my statement that their taste on the end of this batch isn't quite there...YET. I would like to see another stride forward in the next batch, while keeping Cumulus the same!

 

The Marz attempt at the "style" is legit. Very smooth and juicy. Up there with JIL for sure. Had a Stratus as well tonight. Not even on the same level as the two mentioned before, but has a great mouthfeel and haze. Taste is likened to a lower grade Flightless or Boombox Banger.

 

TG's X-Hops Gold is awesome. I wouldn't list it as hazy, but they don't filter their beer. Girlfriend dislikes hoppy beers, but has been okay with NE style ones. Cracked this and made the obligatory "you can have some, but it is hoppy so you probably won't like it. " She tried it and proceeded to enjoy half so I'm going with a flavor profile similar to NE style on this.

 

I also wouldn't list it as Chicagoland.

 

Is anyone else excited for the Chicago Suburban Cascadian Dark New England Style Black IPA from Mikerphone and WerkForce? Wow that was a mouthful

 

Nope

 

If Transient in Michigan counts, I'm counting TG, especially since they will distro in IL.

 

Transient Beers were/are available in chicago bottle shops.

 

Transient counts because Juice is Loose was brewed at aquanaut.

 

TG hits IL, though in limited capacity at the end of the month. I could wait 3 weeks to re-post if needed.

 

At least something coming out of Aquanaut can be considered beer.

 

Damn, shady lmao

 

You certainly can do that, but that just means you're wrong.

 

Had the Marz NE entry today; more dry/bitter than I prefer but the haze was pretty & the taste was slightly above average.

It's not gonna make you throw your Monkish cans in the garbage, but it's worth a session.

 

Just had mellotron... 100% Belgian yeast flavor (banana/pepper). Off putting to me. Admittedly I had this after two double dry hopped Other Half beers.

Next up tomorrow: juice is loose and reply hazy. After those two, I'll be ready to post my top 3 (or 5) of 2016.

 

I'm wondering about the yeast that Hop Butcher uses because it does seem a bit different. Like I said a page or so ago, I'd be shocked if it was actually Belgian yeast. I'm wondering if it's something like this: http://www.imperialyeast.com/organic-yeast-strains/ if you look at the A20 and A24 strains. Both use a wild saccharomyces strain that is super fruity, but can get funky too. The A24 combines it with The Alchemist Conan strain. I know Mikerphone uses both of those yeasts, but I wonder if Hop Butcher is too. Maybe if they let the beer ferment a bit warmer the wild yeast gets funkier and gives those banana esters? This is all just super nerdy speculation on my part, but I'd love to know what yeast they use.