Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

I've wondered if this is why some breweries also prefer not to delve into the style.

We are similar in that we can't claim a lot of beer (or "regular") friends, but I will say that I don't personally know anyone who has been excited at any of the stuff from Treehouse/Trillium. That includes people I shared with at DLD...I couldn't give away the Trillium. I'm obviously not mingling with the folks writing all the reviews on BA, Untappd, etc.!

 

And I don't doubt that. It's all a matter of personal preference. It just seems pretty clear that more people prefer beers coming from those breweries than local ones. Some of that is most definitely hype, but after 117,000+ check-ins on untappd, it's probably rated that highly due to an incredibly wide range of people significantly enjoying the beer, batch after batch after batch. Tree House sells hundreds of cases per day. When Mike puts out a beer (while very good), he drops what... 80-100 cases? I realize a lot of that has to do with capacity and I'm not knocking Mikerphone at all but there have been 715 check-ins of Lunches, Brunches on untappd (not a NE-style IPA, btw). Hard to compare that to a beer that has over 100,000 check-ins. That's like comparing the Lake Effect BA Imperial Stout to Bourbon County.

Like I've said, I don't judge anyone who prefers local stuff to the beers coming from out there. It's all an opinion... and after all, it's just beer.

 

Hit me up next week. I'll give you a Galaxy Dry Hopped Fort Point. (I wish I could do this for more of you, but this dude needs to try one). Taken with a grain of salt, it's #56 on this site's Top 250. Unless you don't like Galaxy hops... then I'll give you a DDH Mylar Bags (OH isn't Trill/TH, but it's still damn good).

Juice is Loose is legit. It's my favorite "local" take on the style.

 

As someone who has had a decent amount of Tree House and a fairly ridiculous sampling of the NE IPAs here, I would much rather have TH. But the best stuff here in Chicago area (about 5 offerings) is close enough that I would direct someone to them as an excellent proxy. Can't move to Monson so getting reasonably close stuff here, or even stuff that's more on the Other half level, is nice.

 

I think I've said something like this once before, but...

I will find you.

 

Correction: the one from Noon Whistle today is named Funny Gummy. I've been calling it Yummy Gummy in this thread all day....I'm an idiot

 

I got the peach one. Right Near the Peach Boyee. Play on a quote from half baked.

More importantly it was damn good! Reminded me a lot of galaxy bowl - first batch fresh.

I got the other one yummy gummy to go - only had time for a quick beer. Their tap list looked great too

 

Better yet, set me up with a DDH Mylar bags. That was an excellent beer!!

 

One of the best things I learned in 2016: I tend to enjoy hopy beers utilizing Galaxy hops.

It may have passed Citra as my go-to.

 

Fresh Treehouse beers are far ahead of anything in the Midwest in terms of NE style (Julius, Doppleganger, Haze, Alter Ego, Sap). Some of the local versions approach Trillium with the exception of their best DDH beers.

That aside, I had Funny Gummy and the Peach version tonight at Noon Whistle. Both were very good and worthy additions to the local attempts at the style.

 

I'm curious when you say fresh Treehouse beers - do you typically have them really soon after canning? The reason I ask is because there are so many different opinions on the sweet spot for these beers (and I think TH may have even said that sweet spot is 4-6 weeks). Just wondering what your personal preference is...and that is yet another variable that can differ from palate to palate.

I can't say that I've had anything from TH super fresh when it was just days old, but I've had them had the 2-5 week marks at various times, perhaps even a bit "younger" than 2 weeks...just never less than a week as far as I recall.

 

Right Near the Peach Boyee and Funny/Yummy Gummy were both very good! I preferred the peach variant a lil more. I also had an opportunity to try Snoochie Boochies from Forbidden Root, and have to say that this beer rivals JIL as one of the better offerings of the "style" that this area has.

 

I think I made a similar 'jump' with Mosaic. Now I ask my buddy to get me growler fills of Pompeii instead of PseudoSue from TG, I always opt for Lizard King over NvU (I know it's not only Citra), plus a bunch of other examples. But Galaxy may have jumped Citra as my next favorite.

 

I've had them the same day as canning (Julius, Sap, In Perpetuity specifically) and also 4-5 weeks out. There is a difference that's more evident in the aftertaste and feel at the end, definitely, but it comes down to preference as far as which is better.

Super fresh, the malt backbone isn't very prominent and the beer is quite easy to just drink down. I believe this is what people refer to when they say those NE style brews lack a good feel and body. But with a few weeks on them, that 'end' gains more body as the malt sweetness starts becoming more pronounced, and the beer gains some balance from the front to end.

I believe this is what people need to do with some of the Ram-Schaumberg beers Shaun releases (Juicy and Morning Fog) because the complaint seems to be that they're lacking good 'end' feel and balanced malt backbone. After a few weeks, it should gain more body. I have one can of Morning Fog left I am keeping around for another couple of weeks to test it out and see if it turns like TH beers.

 

We tested this earlier in the thread when Juicy was released. I saved a can of Juicy and @SeanBond did the same with Galaxy Bowl - both cans had a month on them if I'm not mistaken. Juicy was definitely not better with that amount of time on it, it actually lost a lot of what made the beer so good. It was no longer a juicy, fruit bomb, and the hops started to take over on the end of it and they dominated any flavor that was coming out of the beer. I'd highly suggest drinking RAM offerings as fresh as possible.

I even thought this last night as I had one of my last Morning Fogs, I thought with a few weeks on it that the beer was really starting to fall off.

 

I've had as fresh as hours old at BT's and as "old" as 2.5 weeks. I definitely preferred super fresh Alter Ego to the 20 day old version

 

Just got back from NW a bit ago. They were selling both NE IPAs in crowlers today. $14/per.