Corridor Brewery & Provisions (2020)

I still go there once a week on average ... my view is they don't go straight hazy as much as they used to ... more often than not they go more experimental even with the IPAs ... but the overall quality of beer is still solid even though they aren't making the beers I want. It does drive me nuts i can only get Squeezit or CJB for like 4 days every 3 months.

 

And I think this speaks to an issue i have overall with the current beer scene ... breweries aren't focusing enough on perfecting their recipes ... they want new batches with new hop/malt/yeast recipes which leads to inconsistent quality (looking at you, Hop Butcher and Phase Three!). Make your best beers more often! (pretty please)

 

But how can they drive their own hazy IPA hype if they do that?! Y'all thought DDH stood for "double dry hop", when in fact, it stands for "drive dat hype"!

They can just do what Old Nation did with M43: dial in a solid recipe, and mass produce it. Then again, how can we expect them to create their own hype if their hazies are being sold at Meijer?!

All kidding aside, I really don't mind the one-off IPAs(hazy or not), as they tend to be the brewery's better, and frankly more expensive to make, offerings - like how Half Acre does them along side their regular lineup as well.

 

Yeah, I think the general consensus is that we're the assholes who have made this happen (and taking myself as an example, it's very true). A lot of people are chasing new beers all the time, so experimentation makes the most sense for breweries. I also agree that it would be nice if most of these guys would take the couple beers they do best/are their most popular, refine them, and crank them out more. I love Squeezit, but I'd be more likely to buy it if it were around more often.

 

Wow, this is really interesting to hear (decline in quality of Corridor haze). Although, I was starting to wonder if something was up when they had zero haze options on my last visit. I do have to laugh at the reference to ‘heyday’ as they were still being considered best Chicago haze at the beginning of last year (along with Forbidden Root). Not criticizing, just observing how comically fast the craft scene changes. Does anyone know who replaced Eric, and what their background was prior? Did they learn under Eric and/or Roger? I feel like somebody from DryHop took over, but not sure.

I was there in mid-May for their P3 Craft Beer Week event, and don’t remember feeling like Corridor’s hazies had dropped in quality. That would have been 2 months after Eric left for More. However, I'm now questioning if I actually had a non-collab Corridor hazy on that visit (SqueezIt was on tap), and may have just stuck with the Corridor-P3 collab Set Phazers to Stun! & P3’s Orange Chantilly. Also, it sounds like people are mainly referring to the quality drop in Corridor’s new hazy releases, as opposed to ‘repeat’ hazies like SqueezIt & Cosmic Juicebox.

On the other hand, I visited again 6 months later on a Friday night in mid-Nov, and was shocked when no hazies were on. Online draft list had shown at least two being available... Was kind of annoyed because that was one of the main reasons I went there. I settled for a belgium coffee stout (Freaky Deaky) that was just okay. The rest of the options were completely underwhelming. Only ipa was Wizard Fight. Pucker Sunch sour ipa was on, but seems more sour than ipa (if at all). Only lager was some light lager made for BMC swill drinkers. There was a saison (a style they do quite well), an apple kettle sour that was decent (Johnny Sourseed), and some type of session (sour?) ale I can’t recall. In Corridor’s defense, they’re trying to provide a well-rounded list with the restaurant being their main focus. I was just in the mood for other (aka trendy) options that evening.

Fortunately, after dinner, I went to Local Option and satisfied my haze craving with a WeldWerks Juicy Bits & Phase Three Watercolor Painted Sky, both hit the spot! First non-milkshake (non-Chantilly) P3 hazy that impressed me.

 

I should've really clarified when I said that. By "heyday" I meant when you'd stop in and they'd have three to five top-notch hazies on tap. In my recent experiences, the hazy options have been: one really great IPA, and one very subpar IPA.

I honestly don't feel like their quality has declined a ton, although it has dipped. They just aren't in the consideration for best hazies in the city anymore after enduring (successfully, I may add) two head brewer changes in a small amount of time

 

I give them credit for taking their own path (draft focus supporting the restaurant concept, no distribution, varied beer offerings, not getting suckered into the haze craze as much) but I think it's a tactical miss for them to have turned away from their cash cow beers ... how about some middle ground where they always have one of their 'known' beers like Squeezit, CJB, Van Hazen, etc and any number of other-styled beers that will last a lot longer. I still think they possess the best hazies in Chicago ... they just hardly ever brew them.

 

Haha, I knew exactly what you meant! I miss those days of abundant new haze options every time I dropped by, colorful chalkboard full of hazy bliss... Now, here I go with the ‘heyday’ sentiment lol.

 

Would be awesome if their year round offering was SqueezeIt or CJB instead of Wizard Fight. Looking forward to checking out Crushed by Giants when it opens, tacos and craft beers downtown, I am sold.

 

I visited CBP when I was in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. I thought everything was solid. And while I like hazies, it's kind of a bummer to see a brewery get dinged for having a variety of styles on tap rather than 3 or 4 variations on the same style.
My local brewery (near my job) has almost become one-note with their beer list with nearly every beer haze or adjunct and over 8%. Kills my desire/ability to stop in after work for a couple of beers with friends before heading on my hour drive home.

 

As far as I know, they're well aware of the fact that 1) hazies are their cash cow and 2) they need to keep hazy options on tap; I have to think there's another reason if people aren't running into them that often.

With that said:

Agreed. Corridor has long been my favorite hazy IPA producer in the city, but if I'm going there to eat/drink, I generally want a variety of other stuff to try, especially because I really enjoy their other offerings. They've had fruited sours I've loved, a great grissette, good lagers, etc.; a couple hazy beers is good enough, after that I want to try something else.

 

I've definitely slowed down with going to Corridor and quality in their DDH IPA haze beers is one of the main reasons. Even though they have a nice variety of styles that they brew well, I predominantly sought out Corridor because their hazy offerings were the best in Chicagoland. There are plenty of other breweries that brew those 'other styles' just as well and better, but there aren't that many that brew (or brewed) the DDH NE IPAs as well. In my mind, they lost their competitive edge. But I'm one customer, so I don't expect them to cater to my preferences.

As for my quality comment, the DDH NE IPAs just taste and feel very chalky with the new recipes (since Eric Padilla left). Very unpleasant.

 

Hmm, I actually tend to like chalkiness in NE IPAs for whatever reason (assuming we're talking about the same quality), so maybe this is why I'm on the other side of a lot of people in this thread.

 

I'll just re-echo most of your sentiments.
1- It's to0 busy and too much of a pain in the butt to get a crowler quickly
2- I'd buy two crowler at like $13 each and get the stupid receipt to feel obligated to leave the filler a tip, I'm out at like $30 bucks for the equivalent of a 16oz 4 pack. Easy pass, especially with more competition prices have come down for other brewer's hazies.
3-Quality- whether its come down or not, I won't argue with. I will say the rest of the area is making high quality competition making it easier to pass on Corridor when I can easily walk into a liquor store, buy some fresh hazies for cheaper than Corridor with less hassle to buy and conveniently drink 4 cans at my leisure rather than having to polish off a 32oz crowler within 24 hours of opening it...
4- So in summation- Until Corridor has 4 packs at my local bottle shop, it isn't worth my time.

 

'Great' NE IPA is always in the palate of the beholder, so for me Old Nation and Toppling Goliath come to mind and catch my eye when I look for that style. Also seems like Pipeworks has one of their hazy offerings at Binny's at any time and Half-Acre's random, one-off hazy IPAs make it on the shelves relatively frequently these days.

 

I'm a pretty big fan of Burnt City's stuff and Beezer is very solid as @Jplachy mentioned in the OIB thread. HA can obviously do 'em, Maplewood (I know they don't distro the majority, but some hit distro), Phase 3 is good, etc.

 

I lived in the neighborhood when they opened, and they originally stated they would be focused on more traditional Belgian style beers. Maybe they are going back to their roots?

From the Tribune:

"The pub along the Southport Avenue corridor -- hence the name -- has been described by its operators as "an American farmhouse craft brewery" serving sandwiches and flatbreads fired in a clay hearth oven paired alongside Belgian-inspired beers with contemporary American twists."

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct-corridor-brewery-opening-chicago-20151005-story.html

 

Eppie82 and SeanBond have named a bunch. St. Errant, Alarmist, Forbidden Root, Hubbards Cave, Mikerphone to add more.

 

You were the kid on the block that ate play-doh, weren’t you!