Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

I'll definitely be heading to Imperial Oak, but I didn't know about Pollyanna. Maybe I'll end up at both

 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1400231873331830

So hazy

 

Just picked up a couple bottles at Pollyanna. $10 each. Pretty busy because they are having a little fest, but the bottles are outside at a tent. In and out pretty fast

 

I dunno if the tired hands milkshake style counts as a "pure" NE IPA (whatever the fuck that might be) but this was legit, stopped and had 2 yesterday.

 

Yo guys, checking in. Just went through the offerings at Lupulin Carnival. I tried the stuff from Narrow Gauge. Hop Water was a cool take on a 3-4% PA. Super easy drinking and refreshing. Definitely don't drink it with another IPA or IIPA...otherwise, it will taste like "water". Love this direction though. Cloud City was good as well. Right amount of residual sweetness. Finally had the chance to taste Flightless from Transient. Gotta say, this was, to me, is the best NEPA I've had in the region. Perfect balance. I could easily put back a 6 pack of this in an afternoon. (Hint Chris! 6-pack 12oz!) This offering would kill any other chicago 6-pack option at the moment. New batch of Snu Snu is coming up this week. IMO, it's the best yet. Still working achieving the ideal final gravity to get a bit of sweetness to sell the fresh juice aspect that the hop bill is delivering. I'm close ...

 

Looking forward to trying it! A few questions for you out of curiosity:
1) Does this batch have the grape juice in it?
2) What yeast are you using for your NE IPAs? Have you tried different yeasts that are currently on the market, and if so have you noted much of a difference between how they perform?
3) At a high level, what is your hopping schedule? Any hops in the boil? All whirlpool? Any first wort?
4) What's your general approach to dry hopping these beers? Single stage or multiple stages? Are you adding dry hops while the yeast are still active to leverage some of the biotransformation that may occur when the yeast are more active or in the typical post-fermentation fashion?
5) At a high level, how much water treatment are you using in these brews?

Appreciate the response. Feel free to DM me if you don't want to share everything on here, and if you're not open to sharing or don't have the time, I completely understand.

Cheers!

 

Here a pic of Pollyanna Do You Even Juice, Bro? It's a decent first attempt. Still a pretty bitter finish and not too hazy.

As an IPA I find it pretty enjoyable, but comparing it to top NEIPAs is tough.

 

Cool Label!

 

Just finished up at Imperial Oak. Crank it Hype was a good beer, but not much of an entry into the NE style. It reminded me of the Hailstorm ones, good flavor but not as juicy as I'd like and missing the haze/body. I'd recommend it in general because it's a nice IPA, but not if you're specifically hunting this style.

I agree somewhat with galos11 about Do You Even Juice, Bro? At the start I thought it was too bitter without enough flavor. But after I let it sit a little but I thought it really opened up with the juiciness and mellowed some of that bitterness. I need to try it again, but at the moment I'd put it in the upper tier of NE style IPAs out of Chicagoland.

 

I'd actually agree with this. The first pour I had from the bomber compared to the last was a lot more bitter. As I got towards the end I was telling digging it.

 

Forbidden Root:
Snooze Juice sample was amazing. Howler of it was meh. Wonder if there was an age difference that impacted flavor since sample came from bar keg and howler came from keg at filling station. Sample was perfect NE, howler was like drinking bland alcohol with a pillow mouthfeel.

That being said, the Yayo is for real. Not hazy like an NE IPA and I don't think they bill it as such, but mouthfeel and flavor are killing it and spot on for NE. Probably my favorite so far from them and I usually avoid DIPAs....

 

I agree. Is it a hazy, NE style IPA? Not really. Is it a tasty, citrusy, hoppy IPA? Absolutely.

 

Was at Forbidden Root last weekend. I thought Snooze Juice was pretty fantastic. Same with Snu Snu, not to mention it spawned a pretty entertaining, drunken discussion about Zap Brannigan quotes.

I'll admit, this was my last beer after a very long day/night. It was good. Recall a decent amount of coconut notes. Was easy drinking. I'd definitely like to try it again with a fresh palate.

 

Anyone know anything about Riverlands Brewing in Aurora?

Have a New England Imperial called Silt that looks legit, I can only find their stuff on Untappd. Can't find a Facebook page or website.

 

Maybe it's homebrew?

 

Totally agree with this. Love the NE Style but had Yayo last week and it is fantastic. Better than their Snu's IMO, which are solid.

Also, their food is incredible.

 

After having a second, it definitely isn't translucent so maybe it should be classified as a NE. Hits all the right notes.

 

Interesting. I visit that area pretty often on the weekends, I'll have to try it out. I'm not sure about the nitro though - when Ram had NE Slapper on regular and nitro taps, the regular was MUCH better

 

Thats me! Right now I'm just basically glorified home brewing pilot batches and sending samples to some people we know, but we are in the process of getting a place. We have a company formed and our financials sorted, but we're still at least a year off. We're meeting with a few towns around the Western burbs and are looking around St Charles, Aurora, Oswego etc. NE style pales will be our primary focus with stouts/sours/other fun ales making up the rest