Hop Butcher (2019)

Binny's Grand had a couple 4 packs left about 20 minutes ago.

 

Loophole Technicality - Amarillo, Strata & Galaxy DIPA on deck for Thursday

 

Thanks for the offer--I appreciate it! But on @BuffaloBill12 's tip I was able to snag what appeared to be the last 4-pack at Grand. (It was a lucky find on the shelves somewhere between Saint Errant and Founders--not where HB stuff usually is.)

 

My wallet says "FU".

 

Quietly, @forrestbetts best troll job.

 

Soul Coughing fans! Love it!

 

That would be a great name for a pastry stout.

 

Yeah, sorry if my Family Guy reference missed the mark...it was all in good fun!

Had Waveburst yesterday and I agree with most in here. The flavor profile is really well done, but the sweetness detracts from it, in my opinion. If they would be able to dial it back, then I think this recipe would be a good one to repeat at some point.

 

I'm very interested to try Waveburst. My knock on the last few 5.75%s (Grid) from HB were they were too dry or carbonated tasting and that they needed sweetness to balance them out like their 7.5%s have.

 

Loophole Technicality is excellent. Strata appears to be a very interesting hop, which brings with it a bunch of herbaceous notes, dank, almost minty in a way, like a strong, fresh Thai basil. Additionally, I'm getting boatloads of tropical fruit, especially those funky little champagne mangoes, juicy peaches, and ample grapefruit (in a sort of bitter but not unpleasant way, balancing even). Mouthfeel is, of course, dialed-in (I assume that they use the same mash bill for every imperial, so this isn't a shock).

This is an outrageous beer, and if I can find a second four-pack, this will be my first re-buy of the same batch (mainly possible because I caught this one very quickly; wish I could've gotten another pack of Wave Burst).

 

I'm not as good at describing, but yeh, that beer is awesome (as is picking up the train from Ovie with those beers as a pick-up option). Nearly as importantly as the flavors - Hop Butcher just really has the mouthfeel down.

 

I'm genuinely curious as to how they are nailing the mouthfeel so well compared to other Chicago hazies (could just be they are the only ones going for the syrupy style). Are they using lactose or have they just perfected it solely with the grain bill and water conditioning?

 

It's lactose. Straight from the brewer's mouth. Almost all of their beers have some. I kinda wish they didn't. Their beers have been running little sweet for me lately.
Ldhd

 

If this is true and they don't list it on the label or at the very least mention it's an ingredient (when applicable) in their release announcements, it's poor form on the part of the brewery or any brewery imo.

 

That’s quite surprising, I swear they had it down pretty well before their beers started drifting towards the sweeter end of the spectrum.

 

It is true. I am a little shocked they haven't come out and addressed it. Waiting for someone to make a fuss bout it.

 

Yeah, if that's the case I'm a little disappointed, and it also explains why so many of their beers (at least the ones I've had) run on the sweeter side.

 

huh. the lactose bit is interesting. Can someone explain why that helps mouthfeel?

 

Lactose is a sugar that yeast can’t ferment... so it stays in the beer throughout the fermentation process.

The final product is sweeter.

The tricky part is finding the balance of lactose. Sometimes lactose beers taste artificially sweet to me... like milkshake beers