Une Année/Hubbard's Cave Releases

I'm currently working my way through the entire Le Seul series and I've really liked each one. They're not terribly complex but man are they sour! Also just picked up Coco Van that I'm looking forward to doing a "review" of (ha).

The only problems I've had are with the Hubbard's Cave side 1.) my v10 was oxidized. newspaper & brown sugar, awful. 2.) the maple stout I got was nothing but bitter coffee.

 

If you haven’t had coco van before, be warned - there may be coconut floating around in there! The one I had was delicious, but lots of sediment.

 

you should see some of the beers ive made
#chunkehhh

 

Brewing the most consistently good NE style IPAs out of all suburban breweries if you ask me.

I pick up each new V-series and their single hop series IPAs and have not had one that I'd consider below par. Some have been straight up incredible.

 

And while the format is nobody’s favorite, at least it’s just $9.99 which is a bargain by comparison to other 750’s of the style

 

I support this thread. Phenomenal sours, great stouts and great hazy IPA’s. Baffles me they aren’t more popular within the Chicago beer scene.

 

I'll be "that guy".

Cloying, undrinkable stouts & wildly inconsistent IPA's that are average at best.

Haven't had any of the sours so I can't comment on those.

 

I've had very hit-or-miss experiences with the Fresh IPA series, some that were fantastic and others that were nearly drainpours (still well within the recommended label dates).

I got to check out the taproom for the first time this past weekend and sampled 7-8 different beers. I didn't bother rating everything, since I usually get sensory overload at breweries with flights in front of me and people all around. But my favorite, far and away, was the La Grand Monde 2018-1. I didn't rate that one because it hadn't been added to BA yet and I couldn't do so on my phone, but I left with a few bottles of it that I'll rate when I crack one.

My least favorite was the BA Austere; I'm usually a sucker for brandy-aged beers, but this one was in a barrel for three years, and that was maybe two years too long.

 

“Haven’t had any of their sours” is all I needed to read here.

 

When you've plopped down $$ for two styles and they've been bad....why keep trying?

 

To be honest, it's the IPA's that have pissed me off the most.

I'll have one & think it's not good.

The next release comes out & people on here say "they nailed this one!"

I'll buy it & think it's not good.

Rinse & repeat.


BUT I'll grant you this.

If you sour-heads are saying that's their real strength...I'll give one a shot. Just b/c I like the folks on this forum & like giving money to a local business.

 

Go out to the brewery so you can try a bunch at once. Their wild program is great.

 

I'm 0/1 with their stouts, 1/2 with their IIPAs, and 4/4 with their sours. Like I said, not terribly complex, but all mouth puckering sours. Some balanced (black currant, oasis), some just pure warhead (blackberry lemon, cranberry and sour cherry). I've liked them all.

For that reason I keep giving the hubbard's cave side of things more opportunities. If the coco van doesn't turn out, I may be done with them. But the wild ales I can't quit on

 

Just found out recently that their sours actually have a small following on the East Coast already!

 

I second their sours/wilds. Great people working there and they’ll sell 1/6 barrels of the le seul series for your home kegerator. Very nice if you like having a sour draft option at home

 

I do think their sours are great, and wish I made it over there a little more often. Some are a bit too puckering for me, but in general the Le Grand Monde series has been my favorites.

@GuyFawkes I’d second the notion that it’s worth making a trip over there to try more than one of the sours in a draft format instead of committing to a 750. Plus it’s a cool vibe inside even if it is in a strip mall.

Haven’t had many of their IPAs lately - it’s just a crowded marketplace. I think I’ve said this before on a different thread, but I think more plain labels they’ve gone for probably hurts sales - particularly for IPAs in that larger format.

 

Do they kettle sour their sour beers or do they use the more traditional method with barrels, etc?