Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1624450747613769

 

Looks like draft next few weeks, with cans to follow soon after.

 

i thought it was quite nice. Not milkshake consistency, but certainly not thin relative to most other beers around here.

 

Same here. I'd love to see Lazurite as a shelf beer all the time.

 

i think you will

 

Finally got caught up on this thread. Woo-hoo!

Just had a Focal last night. It's great, I have to agree with you there. But I personally like Heady better, and Focal seems to fall off much quicker from my experience. Both top notch IPAs.

I picked up a 4-pack of these - I really get a ton of the mango, but it's like underripe mango. Maybe I gets something of the salt and graham crackers, but that combination is so weird it's hard to tell. The mangos were the main thing to me. A good beer overall.

 

Just had an M-43 and Bendy Straw by Corridor back to back. Bendy Straw in my opinion is better. Granted the M-43 is from 6/29 so it has a bit more age on it, so not apples to apples

 

Any feedback on this newest batch of Stratus from last week?

 

Yep. Had one last night. I'll preface this with the fact that I have not had Stratus previously, so this is my baseline. I have had Cumulus which I thought was very good. Shared some beers with a friend in from CA who home brews, has regular access to Modern Times, etc. He had never had amy of these beers and was pretty impressed. Our unanimous favs in order were Stratus, Wake Up Neo, Bearded Iris' Ever Clever and then Homestyle, Mikkeller Windy Hill, then OS Dirty Dank Juice was a steep drop off for last. Again, not a bad beer, just not up to par with the others.

While on Windy Hill, I'm not sure this is really a NE IPA. It's a fine IPA. Decent mouthfeel, but fairly clear and to be honest just kinda meh. It drank nicely and I'm not disappointed I bought it or anything, but had a little higher hopes for it. Any other opinions on this one?

 

Windy Hill is clear? Do you know what date your cans were from?
The cans I recently picked up from Binny's on Grand are completely opaque and beautiful yellowish orange color:


I think it's a bit too bitter for the style, has a bit of that chalky bitterness which I don't appreciate too much in NE IPAs, but overall I think it's pretty nice for a four pack I can grab off the shelf and will grab another four pack if I see it again.

 

So after having about a week on them, I'm really enjoying these new 18th Street IPAs. Hopefully they can keep up this quality it'll put them back on the main stage.

 

Maybe if they lowered their prices

 

Well it's Transient prices, and I'd say these are Transient quality so it's not too nuts to me.

 

Just got back from Transient. Mind to Devour was so good but no cans. Picked up some Refraction Galaxy hopped 4 packs - only $12. They're releasing another batch of JIL next week. Was also able to grab some M43 as well. I would definitely recommend a day trip to Bridgeman to any of you if you haven't been. The beaches alone make it worth it.

 

Tried some of those mikkeller San Diego NE IPAs. Didn't think they were that great. Not sure if they are that fresh, recommend checking out the dates before you purchase.

Radio Swan imo was the best release of the summer in the Chicagoland area.

 

Interesting. Mine were not that color at all. More of the classic golden/yellow color of your standard IPA with a slight cloudiness to it. Translucent at best, certainly not opaque. I even poured another for my wife earlier today (before reading this) and it was the same color as mine from yesterday. I'll take a pic and post when I crack my next one. For the record, I did pour the entire can, these were bought at Open Bottle on Sat, and from what I can tell are not date stamped - I've triple checked.

I agree on the slightly bitter/chalky part. The taste on mine, for lack of a better term, was a fairly flat flavor profile. It was fine, and I'd buy again if I didn't have other options in front of me. Decent, easy drinking IPA. I'm just not sure that this fits into the NE IPA/PA category of what I've been drinking all summer (e.g. Forbidden Root, Bearded Iris, Hailstorm, Triptych, Old Nation, TG, Narrow Gauge, Hop Butcher, Mike, etc.). Then again, maybe my ass is just getting spoiled...

 

Sounds like you may be drinking Waves Bloger (also at TOB). It has a similar label to Windy Hill.

 

No, I most certainly have cans of Windy Hill. The bottom of the cans say:
"Southern
Cross
Wakatu"

 

Huh, interesting. The bottom of my Windy Hill cans say Simcoe Amarillo.