Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

How crowded??

 

I was there around lunch time and it wasn't crowded at all. I was able to get a seat at the main bar and there were still plenty of open tables behind me.

 

Noon Whistle seems like another one of those under-the radar places (for now, not for too much longer, I suspect) that injects alot of creativity into their lineup. During the summer I had a cucumber saison which was lovely!

 

Their Swanky Smack I have had was close to on par to some great new glarus sours, and for me thats great.

 

There's a place like that pretty close to NWI, maybe 10 minutes from FFF, called One Trick Pony. Their flagships (Warlander - IIIPA, Stormcat - Hoppy Amber, Spotted Saddle - APA) are all exceptional in my opinion. They also do a release of Kentucky Mountain, their BA old ale, around Christmas every year which is great. It's great that they fly under the radar, I don't have to wait in the blistering cold for hours to get Kentucky Mountain every year, haha.

Yummy Gummy has put Noon Whistle on the map for me. It's only 15 minutes from where I work, so I'll be checking them out on a more regular basis from now on.

 

I'm really starting to think these NE IPAs are really a pretty easy style to brew once you get the general style down. IMO there's not a huge variance in quality and I'm wondering if there's something about the style itself that makes it more forgiving than others.

 

Seconded on all info regarding One Trick Pony.

 

I think they are like BBQ sauce, it's pretty easy to make a good one as there is very little subtlety involved when the flavors hit you over the head.

 

What were the crowlers selling for?

 

$12/each. They even fill them, and seal the top onto the can right behind the bar - it was interesting. Although, literally as she was canning the two I ordered, somebody from the brewery got on a step stool and erased the crowler and growler prices for the two NE Style IPA's. Not sure if that meant he was changing the price, or not offering it anymore for the day

 

IMO the Treehouse and Trillium beers I've had aren't significantly better (and are in some cases not as good) than the better NE IPAs coming out of the midwest

 

That's pretty much the same as I've thought, although there are obviously a lot of people that will have different opinions than ours. That's what makes it so fun - people can go try them and determine which ones they like best. It's been awhile since I've had any Treehouse or Trillium, though, so I'm thinking it might be time to revisit some of them - I kinda had them before the NE style craze really hit our neck of the woods.

 

How was the peach NE IPA?

 

There's a reason there are TH and Trillium beers in the Top 250 on here and that Julius is a 4.583 on Untappd. It's not all hype. Obviously people will have a personal preference, but the majority of people who have drank a lot of both will say what's coming from those places is better than what we have here. Again, not ALL people, but the majority. That also doesn't mean the beer we have here isn't very good. I'm not claiming I have a lot of beer friends (or friends in general ) but I honestly don't personally know anyone who prefers anything from here.

 

I only got a half glass of it since peach, especially in beer, doesn't really tickle my fancy. It was good, not too much peach flavor to overpower you, but you can definitely taste it. It wasn't enough to make me get another one, or to take a crowler home of it like Yummy Gummy. Take my opinion with a grain of salt though, since I don't really like peach all that much.

 

I liked Lunches, Brunches, GB, some of the Narrow Gauge stuff more than any of the Treehouse/Trillium beers I've had but thought the T/T beers were better than things like JiL, Maplewood, etc.

Again, it's all about preference. My original point was it seems this style lends itself towards beers that are, once a brewery grasps the style, fairly hard to mess up and differentiate at a nuanced level.