Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

Yes. Probably won't satisfy the Chicago locals who hit Forbidden Root and Corridor. I don't live out there, but I'd be excited for those that do. Tried a can and will say it is an excellent "base" neipa- in that it is fairly mild. The body, mouthfeel and flavors were all balanced, but now they just need to crank up the premium hops in the next batch to make it juicy and they'll have a world class beer. If they can get the hop fruit flavor into Hop Nawi, I'd say it would be similar to a TG beer, but with more of a NE body. That being said, the GF loves this stuff, probably because it is more mild that the Chicagoland NEIPA offerings.

Also, anyone grab a 4 pack of Le Jus from Alarmist?

Alarmist and Energy City are pretty close to nailing the NEIPAs and I would wager within a year will be comparable to FR and Corridor's offering.

 

I really liked it. Glad I got 4 packs

 

The 4pks of Hop Nawi are some stellar stuff, reminds me of some of the Narrow Gauge I've tried. Great dose of Southern Hemisphere hops! The Hop Nawi DIPA bomber was a completely different beast from the cans. Fell somewhere between east coast and west coast flavors.

I'm impressed with Energy City!

 

Thanks all. I think I'll have one or two before finishing off my growler of mosaic monsoon. Don't want my palate destroyed before I try this.

 

The Hop Nawi bomber was also a month older. I’ve had great experiences with their fresh stuff. But my 2 bombers of presumably leftover stock from the month before have not been good.

 

I can understand that. But the place I bought the cans and bombers from also had the DIPA variant on tap and was identical to what was in the bomber.

The self distro they started will help avoid stuff sitting around.

 

Are you out by hampshire IL, the reason I ask is that Tuscan liquors is the only place I’ve seen have them on tap as well as bottles and cans

 

Anyone who pays attention to my posts knows I’ve been singing hop butchers praise for a while now.

But they have really hit their stride in the last few months. I haven’t had a beer that even slightly dissapointed me in almost a year now. And the last few releases have been stellar in my opinion. Blazed Orange and Unwind Your Mind are some of the better beers in the market right now

 

Agreed on those two. I opened Alemerica tonight and thought it was a malty mess

 

Yup, that's the one indeed

 

Cheers to you sir, a close friend lives out that way and I hope he better part of a decade living in that area so I know it pretty well.

I like that store and the owner seems like a decent guy with a passion for beer and whiskey. There is definitely a mark up because of his overhead and being the only place like his in the area.

 

Wow - 213 pages of info about NEIPA's in Chicago. Hoping for some quick advice. I am visiting Chicago on Saturday June 16th for 5 days. Very into the Richmond, Va (Veil, Triple Crossing) NEIPAs and hoping to find something similar in downtown Chicago where the hotel is. I have read the past few pages and it sounds like Forbidden Root and Corridor (going to Cub's game on Tuesday) are good choices?

Any other breweries in downtown or a close Uber ride away? Any stores selling local beers to recommend that may have one in a can?

Thanks!

 

FR and Corridor should be your stops within a short drive from downtown. Maplewood and Marz might also be good stops Maplewood is close to FR and Corridor so that would make the most sense in my opinion with Marz being a bit out of the way compared to the other three.

Bottle shops: Binnys (google which one is closest) beer temple and Capone’s aren’t exactly the closest to downtown but would not be a bad drive in an Uber if you go when traffic isn’t in full swing.

 

Awesome, thanks. We failed miserably finding NEIPA downtown on our visit last year so hopefully a little research pays off.

 

My cousin works at TCB and honestly he hasn't found much here in Chicago that impresses him... (Snob!! lol) Corridor and DryHop he thought were OK, and Forbidden Root would be a skip in my opinion, but if you're in the area I'd recommend a pour of Freetown at Cruz Blanca. Ballast Point just opened a big space around the corner from there with 30+ taps.

Beer Temple is also a must, for bottle selection and tasting room. Take home some Saint Errant, Une Annee/Hubbard's Cave, Hop Butcher, and Hailstorm/Transient if they have any. Lastly, people tend to like Noon Whistle (although I personally don't), and it looks like Binny's South Loop has some on draft---they also have one of the biggest selections in the city.

 

Not sure if anyone posted but Hubbard's Cave is now doing cans. Just picked up some v4 at Grand Binny's. They had v7 on the shelf and a tag for v15. Picked some up for the first time since I can't really ever justify the bombers

 

Was just there too, just grabbed V4

 

What's the price on the cans? Any other new IPAs/NEIPAs there this week? Thinking of heading over.

 

Definitely go with FR and Corridor. Can't go wrong with those two and they should have a good amount of haze on.

 

4 pks are $17 at Binny's.