Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

Yeah that’s right. Same cost as at the brewery

 

***Disclaimer: not discussing quality here. Mentioning Trillium and Tree House only because those seem to be benchmarks in New England for pricing and demand***

That's along the lines of the more expensive Trillium's PA/IPA/DIPA (like DDH Fort Point, Vicinity, etc). and it's more expensive than Tree House's standard line-up offerings of Julius, Alter Ego, Green, which are $3.80/can. But I suppose if Transient wants to charge that and people are still buying it, more power to them.

 

20 dollars for 4 packs is the new going rate for the hoppy craft guys here in Indiana too. I'm not sure if anyone has heard of them (yet) but Bare Hands here in Northern Indiana charges 16-18 for single hop NEIPA's and 20-24 for DDH and their Milkshakes. I THINK last time I was at Transient I paid 24 for Mind to Devour 4 pack.

 

To be fair, it was frequently priced in the Chicago market around $22-24 with tax which is silly.

 

Yea, unfortunately it is. It's really good, but not something I want to spend $23 on regularly.

 

It is a DIPA which does tend to carry a higher tag. One other thing to think about is that TH can sell their IPA's out their front door and doesn't have the retail account to consider. While Transient also sells out their front door, they have the Michigan aluminum tax baked into the price.

 

That's 10 cents per can, right, so not a big portion of a $20 4-pack.

Also, I believe Massachusetts has a 5 cents aluminum container tax.

 

I've heard of Bare Hands from buddies of mine in South Bend. How is their stuff?

 

I think they're the best thing going in Indiana. Their IPAs are all crushers. They have a dependable traditional west coast IPA in Westy, a unique one in ThaiPA (chilis in secondary, crazy smooth, no heat, just a bit of taste) and they have a few pilot series they do. One of which "A Ton Load" is a single hop hazy series. They have had Citra, Simcoe and Mosaic so far and they were all out of this world. Their shakes are great as well but I'm not much of a shake guy myself, too sweet but I have been there on can release days where people come in one after another taking to-gos home. You even get the moms "I'm here for my son, he told me I had to pick it up" crowd. They do a lot of cool things for their regulars, for instance last week they released a NEIPA called Mom and Dad after two older patrons that are often at the bar and have supported them from day one. They were even printed on the can haha

They have a great everyday stout in Mail Order Bride and they have over the last year really picked up their barrel aging stuff. They do a lot of local collabs with coffee bean roasters and chocolate makers here in town with their stouts.

 

Mail Order Bride is the only beer I had from them, but I really liked it.

 

Looks like I'll be keeping an eye on their releases

 

This is kind of their current issue, they don't distro anything besides their regular stuff (Westy, Mail Order Bride, ThaiPA) very far from South Bend as far as I know. I think the last Ton Load Mosaic and their last few NEIPAs were distro'd to like Indy and Ft. Wayne but as far as I know they don't send their great stuff out west. You might have to make a drive for their best stuff

They had an Insta post today about their new equipment, I can't remember off of the top of my head but I think they just got some new 15bbl stuff in, might have only been 7bbl before.

 

Oh yeah, I assumed I'd have to drive out there. Even the places around here that do distro usually don't do it in large enough quantities. I usually hit up the brewery itself.

 

Pretty good shot I'll see you there then Just shout out KRAZ.

Tonight they're having a barrel aged stouts and locally made chocolate pairing night for Valentines. I tried to go but the misses was not exactly stoked. Sad.

 

I've been visiting Bare Hands for the past 4+ years now (my old office was based out of South Bend). Mail Order Bride is an excellent RIS (as well as all of the variations...with Peanut Butter Chocolate being my favorite). But I also don't think that any of their DIPAs and NEIPAs/Shakes are that good. Their single IPAs are much better imo. The people there are great though, and its an awesome vibe to hang out for a few drinks and a sandwich.

However, I rarely purchase anything to go (outside of the stouts) as I think the prices are extremely high for the product (and I live in Chicago). I understand they use a lot of local ingredients from friends/farmers in the area, so I'm sure its in line with costs. But I just can't bring myself to do it unless its something I really enjoy.

 

Is it kid friendly and are football weekends crazy busy?