Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

Yeah, I don't agree with that. They are certainly in that vain. But to me, their bottled IPAs/PAs are great regardless of how you classify....

One of the best offerings of an alcoholic beverage I've had!

 

Just want to throw my two cents in the ring here.......the caveat to all of this NE style dialogue is, it's extremely subjective/ preferential. Like most things in life that harbor a varied, wide ranging opinion. Personally, I enjoy the mixed preferences, that's the beauty of the craft beer scene and how in this sense being diluted with opinions is a positive. Somone can think Heady falls directly in line with the NE craze and is the "originator" , while others think it's to bitter, not as explosive as the Treehouse/Trillium of the world. No wrong answer. There is a reason we all can find solace in the phrase "to each his own". That being said.....

I plan on doing a rather neat side by side comparison tomorrow evening of the following beers, all from outside this region:

DDH congress st- canned 3/6
Treehouse curiosity 32- canned 3/3
Swish- canned 3/11
The substance- canned 3/11
Coconut double milkshake- canned 3/3

I have a feeling all of these will be different, and likely a "softer" mouthfeel then most of the offerings here in Chicagoland. However that doesn't mean Transient, Noon Whistle, Ram, etc are brewing bad representations of the style. On the contrary I find them all good in their own way. Excited to see if the aformentioned beers truly "blow away" the NE representations we have access to here.

Cheers everyone.

 

Giving a new meaning to St. Patrick's day green beers

 

I'm going to assume they allow to go in growlers. Not 100% though.

 

Is there any proof that oats are used in the beers you mentioned? My understanding is that the insane amount of dry hopping helps achieve the haziness. I can't find any confirmation that Tree House does and I have found direct rebuttals by Trillium. I know Tired Hands uses oats, but I don't believe they all do.

 

Trillium and Tree House have pretty different mouth feels.

None of the breweries refer to their beers as NE-style IPAs. Julius just says India Pale Ale on the can. So do Monkish cans (and they're obviously in Cali). NE-style is something that some breweries use as a marketing tactic.

The style itself is much wider than most people are giving it credit for. It's the same thing with West Coast IPAs. Modern Times is much different than Pliny which is much different than the stuff that's coming out of Oregon.

 

Not sure to be honest. I do know that you are right from the dry hopping aspect. That is the thing that Trillium/Treehouse seem to be so proficient on.....so much more then any other local brewery. There dry hopping process, specifically Trillium is second to none. Beers I have had from Veil are similar as well.

 

Just had some Veil beers recently, and they are definitely a legit 'NE IPA style' producing brewery. I still prefer the Tree House, Trillium and Hill Farmstead offerings but Veil isn't far behind in my book.

 

Gives new meaning to the beer farts...

 

Have had quite a bit of Veil and got to go to the brewery back in December. They're one of my favorite breweries in the country.

 

I disagree slightly. While the original turbid "juice bomb" beer may very well be Heady, the reason why there is this pseudo classification of NE Style is because of Tree House and to a much lesser extent Trillium. When Heady was #1 as you mention, the floaties (haze before it was known as haze) within that beer were simply a novelty, not the obsession it seems to have become today. In fact, many people would drink it from the can as instructed. I don't recall anyone begging their local brewery back in 2011 to brew an IPA with floaties.

Tree House comes along with their "hazy, juice bombs" and coupled with their brewery only release approach (essentially endless queues helping the hype level reach astronomical proportions), they are the reason there is this NE Style descriptor imo. And ever since, floaties/haze have never been hidden within a can and are proudly displayed across the interwebs by haze nation.

 

I had Horse Theif Hollow's 1st take on the NE style and it was one of the better ones I've had from the area. (First batch was in November IIRC)

I'm not one for making ratings, generally I just like to make counter points and move discussion along.

But I know people at Horse Thief and they are making some really nice beer. If it's the NE style that gets them attention, them so be it. If you're on the south side, their beer is worth your time. NE style or not

 

Saw someone mention Focal Banger

Anyone who can set up a blind taste test between Focal Banger and Todd the Axe man should do so.

Very similar beers. I've done this 2 times now and will happily advise people to avoid the shipping costs for Focal Banger.

I don't think Conan yeast makes that much difference between the two. The hop profile seems to be nearly identical in aroma and bitterness.

Also, while I'm playing deciles advocate, NvU certainly has some haze to it... i bet some would see a picture of that and want to call it NE style

This thread is fun. No definitions. No rules. Just opinions. No one is right or wrong. Just preference. That's why beer has 100s of styles and even more variation. What a time to be alive.

 

I'm not sure exactly how you meant this, but there are lines because a lot of people love the beer and not the other way around. Why bother with distribution when you can sell every ounce of beer you can make from your brewery? There weren't always massive lines at Tree House's new facility. The lines have gotten progressively worse over time because the beer has become more and more sought after.

 

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I'll agree to disagree on this, if it was a novelty why was it the highest rated beer for so long? Obviously you can't call something a regional style when there's only one example. But if you go back through this website, there are plenty of threads discussing trips at least 4 years ago to the Northeast to get NE Style beers - Heady, Hill Farmstead, Lawson's and NEBCO. It didn't just become a thing last year. Obviously the popularity of Tree House further expanded it.

 

There are lines when people want the beer. Whether it's to trade or to drink or whatever. Noon Whistle doesn't have a line for its beer. Neither does Forbidden Root.

Tree House doesn't do any scarcity marketing. They literally sell every single ounce of beer they make every single week.

Simply put, people line up for great beer. Shaun, for example, makes great beer so people line up for it. Any individual opinion of Tree House's beer is irrelevant. People around the country want the beer and it has nothing to do with them "creating" a line at their brewery.

 

People went to get beers in the NE, but when Trillium/Treehouse came along, people went to get NE Style IPAs. Is HF known for hazy beer? I never heard anyone associate haze craze or the term "juicy" from Vermont. Yes, they made great IPAs, but they weren't defined like they were by Trillium/Treehouse.