Minnesota "NE style" IPA's

I've just now tried Green and Haze tonight, and I have to say, Reaper is damn near if not as good as both.

 

They just started to do crowlers 3 or 4 weeks ago... Damn good was just released on Saturday for the first time. They are doing another crowler release on this coming Sunday starting at noon, I believe. They haven't posted what will be in the crowlers. If you follow Disgruntled's FB page you will get updates on the crowler releases.

 

A Fulton employee told me that Grog as it was named was made to honor an employee who passed away recently and that the plan was to bring the beer back after the initial run under a different name.

 

I had both Disgruntled's Stupid Good and a can of Bissell Brothers Swish sent via beer mail. I have to say, even though I didn't try them side by side, the Stupid Good wasn't far off a legit NE IPA.

 

And reaper is even better (imo). I've been fortunate to have many of the NE IPAs. Stupid good and reaper are right up there. Reaper is better than most I've had from TH, trillium, etc.

 

Stupid Good at Ansari's was not up to Monkish/TH/Trillium level... it passes the eye test, but the nose and taste are not quite on par. Is it something I would regularly drink and thoroughly enjoy? Yes, absolutely. But does it measure up to the big boys? Not yet. (Just my opinion of course!)

I will give it the benefit of the doubt though, as a lot of NE hops peak at about 1.5 to 2 weeks out. I am at least curious enough to make the drive and do some Crowler testing in the near future

 

I pretty much agree. I had the last 2 pours from Ansari's of Stupid Good and then a Reaper. Iv'e had reaper a few times before and keep coming back to that as my favorite from Disgruntled. Reaper stands right up there with TH & Trillium.

On a related note, this thread should be expanded to include Iowa so we can bring in Pulpit Rock and 515!

 

I had some Stupid Good from a growler and Reaper on tap today. Both amazing, but for me the Stupid Good was much better. May just be that the keg beer was older than the growler beer, but regardless both were great. Glad to see an MN brewery hopping on the NE haze train and doing it well. Way to represent MN Disgruntled! I'll echo the sentiment of many others that these IPA's are right up there with some of the best in that style category. I can't wait to see what they continue to put out in the future.

 

I also had Stupid Good on tap at Ansari's and I was just slightly disappointed. Passed the eye test, had a pretty good nose, and was very soft with almost a complete lack of bitterness. For me though, it was just a tad too sweet, and I wished it was slightly drier. It also lacked a little bit of depth for me. I still enjoyed it quite a bit, but I was expecting just a little more.

Is this just my lack of familiarity with NE-style IPAs? I thought I had a good handle on it, but I was definitely surprised by how sweet Stupid Good was. Any idea on how fresh that keg was? I can't tell if @Imperial_Jake is suggesting the keg was a little past prime or not.

 

Between Stupid Good and Reaper, I preferred Reaper by quite a bit. But I tried Stupid Good on tap and Reaper from a crowler. I also had a sample of Reaper from the keg and preferred Reaper out of the crowler over Reaper out of the keg.

Looking forward to trying Damn Good either way.

All very good beers.

 

I thought it was about as sweet as other NE IPAs I have tried. Granted, a lot of those are 8% ABV or above, so perhaps that's an unfair comparison. For Reaper at least, based on the OG and ABV (1.061 and 6.5%, respectively) provided by Disgruntled, the FG would be about 1.011, or approximately 81% attentuation. Tree House, Trillium, and Tired Hands don't provide the gravities on their brews, but Bissell Bros Substance reports an OG of 1.060 and a ABV of 6.6%, which would mean an approximate FG of 1.010 and 83% attenuation. So pretty similar for those two. How Stupid Good stacks up is another matter (Disgruntled doesn't provide OG). But taste is subjective, and I think Galaxy hops (which are in Stupid Good) tend to bring out the sweetness of the malt base more than other hops. Either way, I think Disgruntled is putting out some of the most exciting IPAs in the state now. Cheers!

 

Do they fill growlers, and do you know if they fill others growlers? Also, they seem to have several IPA's/Pales, is Hip Hops the main NE style favorite? I'll be coming back from WI this weekend and might swing up through La Crosse/Rochester to check these guys out.

 

Hip Hops is actually not a NE IPA. It's just a delicious Citra/Mosaic west coast IPA, or at least that is what I would classify it as. Well, the new batch is closer to the style, but still not NE in my opinion.

They do not fill growlers, BUT they always have a cooler full of Crowlers when you first come in (way before you actually walk to the bar area). Call ahead to see what all they have, as they go fast on weekends.

They rotate their hops quite a bit, so there is no go-to NE IPA there—although Moon Hops was the best IMO so far. No word on when that is coming back though. They have a new DIPA on called Shocked Hops—I will be trying that tonight and will report back on if it's more of the NE style or not.

Highlights on tap right now if you stop by include a new imperial porter (Pudding Goggles), and a phenomenal sour (Twisted Zweig). You really can't go wrong with them anymore.

 

Much appreciated, thanks for the info!

 

For sure! If you are trying to get your hands on more NE hops, I would be happy to meet you there and share an Other Half 3rd Anniversary DIPA with you or a Galaxy DH Fort point. Will have fresh of both come the weekend. Cheers.

 

Thanks man, I'll let you know if I make it up that way (would be on Sunday).

 

This makes ME want to drive down and I'm 6 hours away.

 

I think Moon Hops is waaaay more NE than Hip Hops.

Both are awesome beers. I was at both Forager and Grand Rounds last Friday and felt that the Grand Rounds Mosaic was closer to the NE style than Hip Hops was. Both are really great beers, but Hip Hops is drier and not that hazy. I would agree with Imperial_Jake that it's a bit more West Coast.

 

Stopped into Grizzlies with hopes of trying Reaper, but no such luck. Keg is tapped. They had Disgruntled Lingerer on instead? That was what the server told me, I didn't see it in writing.

Looked the part, but lacking in most other NE aspects.. That said, still a really good ipa.

 

Wicked Wort has had a tangerine IPA on tap in the past, it's not exactly a NE IPA but is damn delicious and I'd recommend it if you see it in the future.