Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

I honestly don't get how people still get excited about Hop Butcher.

 

Not falling for this one again. Going to pass on them until I hear something positive about his "NE style" IPA's.

 

Huh?

 

I'm guessing the "Last Brewed" dates you see on Hop Butcher's website is the day they started brewing them. I believe these beers take about 1 month to make, usually, right? The dates on the can are 4/4/17, which I saw on the Open Bottles IG page yesterday.

 

Shouldn't take a month to brew these. Last batch of Snooze Juice was brew>glass in 8 days! That's a personal record

 

The Open Bottle also puts a sticker on the can/bottle of the date that they received it. However, they did say on their Twitter feed that it was canned hours ago.

 

I wonder if
A) Hop Butcher is looking for a home run and has held onto these since February waiting for the peak hop bloom of the NE IPA (that people say peak at a couple weeks, not fresh) or if it is just a new batch.
B) I don't know if these were brewed this month, since other places had Telescopic on draft a few weeks back which would point to it being the Feb. batch.

 

I still get excited about Hop Butchers releases. I guess I could be considered a sucker. They are making good IPAs and distributing in 16oz/4 packs, which is my favorite way to purchase beer these days. Some may not like them calling their recent releases NE style IPAs, which I get. A lot of their recent offering tasted more like traditional IPAs than NE style, which I understand could be annoying if you are looking for a Trillum/Treehouse look and taste. I still don't let it prevent me from buying their beer, because at this point I know what I'm getting. I also usually share their beers so I'm not on the hook to dome 4, which helps.

 

8 days is pretty badass. Do you think it affects the time to brew if you are contract brewing or is it all the same?

 

Beating a dead horse perhaps, but I think their recent IPA's resemble Sofie more than any Half Acre stuff I've had.

 

What I've learned from contract brewing is that you have no control. So, yes. It's very possible that there were unforeseen delays. Also, I wouldn't rule out a dumped batch/re-brew. Shit happens.

 

Wow, are you using 1318 in your NEIPAs?

 

Honestly, if they stop putting the "New England Style" label on their cans and just continue making brews like Destination Moon, I'm in. That stuff was delicious!

 

Not saying Hop Butcher deserves crazy whale hype, but they haven't abandoned social media. They posted on Instagram a little under 3 weeks ago saying Telehopic was coming, and posted it was on tap for Open Bottle's anniversary party. They said canning was happening this week in a reply on the latter post. Also - IIRC this is similar to what they did with the first Galaxy Bowl - sent it to Beer Cellar and maybe Open Bottle late one night and then post about it coming out the next day.