Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

I really enjoyed the rye component of Radio Swan. It was a momentary bite that gave way to juiciness.

I need to give Snooze a try so I can give a full ranking, but I can dig what you're laying down.

 

Thursday 5pm at the pub
4pk/16oz $16. Limit 4

Limited distribution to follow...Probably hit select stores the week of the 19th

 

Thanks for the confirmation and further detail.

 

Just popped open my first crowler of Squeezit 2.0 - it's absolutely incredible. I've been a Juicy fan boy for quite some time, and it's still my #1 offering of this style from the area, but this is right up there with it. Dare I say that it's a little better than my #1?

 

Loving BOING, nice to drink a lower abv in this style.

 

I can't wait for Shaun to brew "Juicy" at More. I wasn't a huge fan the first time and I want to give it another shot

 

Folks in the city- boing is at bottle and cans

 

Have you had Dank Meme?

 

Nah, I'll be relegated back to my life south of I-80 drinking Dank Meme and Really Dank Meme. I thought about driving up for the can release, fill a few growlers, and make another stop at a different Chi brewery that is a conversation for a different thread. The later in the day release will probably keep me away as I don't want to deal with the traffic cluster.

More on topic, yesterday I got to have Galaxy Bowl, Gummypocolypse, and Nailed after my trip to Forbidden. Thought Radio Swan and Snoochie were definitely the top in in the style. My palate liked Radio a little better than Snoochie, but that's just a me thing.

 

Well I'm going to try and hit the Squishy Gummy and Snoochie release, I'll let you know if I have some extras

 

I avoided this all weekend due to the Cubs home games but I'm going to try to score some after work tomorrow.

Squeezit batch 1 blew me away, and your photo has me drooling.

 

There's a place out in the burbs where they are doing a NEIPA tap takeover next Friday, Iron & Glass in Romeoville. Squeezit is on the list.

 

Yes

 

How does it stack up against Boing? Dank is my current favorite lighter NEIPA (NEPA?).

 

yes please.

 

My feelings were the same. I prefer the particular hops of V1 but was pretty encouraged by how good this one was. Relieved to know this beer will stay great in different hop combos which was something I was concerned with.

Had Vinyl Frontier and Special Sauce Ella yesterday and was a bit disappointed in both even with lowered expectations. Excited for Squishy Gummy in Thursday as the Simcoe/Citra/Mosaic combo should be a hit

 

Blind Tasting:
Welp, looks like there is overwhelming interest in the blind tasting event. Is there another thread we should be taking the discussion to? As not to muck this one up too much? Is it worthy of it's own thread?
Next steps are to pick a date and begin to compile the beers.

Beer Updates:

Snooch -
The latest (can-bound) Snoochie Boochies batch is being moved over to the tank as I type and it's a modest improvement over the most recent batch.

Rather that retype the entire tasting notes, I'll just give you the highlights/differences from the last batch.

Aroma is more distinctly "orange". Last batch had a bit of generic pine/green hop aroma. V happy with where it's at.

Last batch had a bit of the old school piney flavor on the mid-palate. That's given way to the classic juice flavors of orange and citrus.

Mouthfeel is nearly identical...though I'm considering lowering the carb a tiny bit to help sell the "juice" aspect.

Bitterness has been dialed back a touch. Still completely in balance and pleasant. Wouldn't change a thing here.

Seems like it took forever to get this into a can but I don't regret the fact that the best batch ever is the one to find a shiny home.

Beach Body -
New DIPA (should be tapped on the 22nd). Hop blend (including Azacca) targeting tropical territory. Also playing around a bit with the base malt. Tasting notes coming next week.

Random thoughts -
I took home a growler of Radio Swan over the weekend and drank it over 2 days. The second day was pretty incredible. It's expected that the carb will drop ~.2 and I was blown away by the result of the lower carb and a couple weeks of conditioning on this beer. Took it to the pool (concealed container) and it didn't even taste like I was drinking a beer. Straight fucking juice. Interesting juice at that. Rye adds a layer of complexity that I feel I'm going to be missing in future non-rye beers. This one is can-fucking-ready.

 

Wherever your provide the details, we shall follow!

The note about the low carbonation is interesting, mostly because I have had some low carb NE IPAs before and have found them very off putting. Wonder if there's a difference between fresh NE IPAs low in carbonation and an opened growler.