Ram Brewery Side Note Releases

Assuming theirs- looked as though they had plenty of glassware and they were pre-filling growlers. That said, I didn't try to use my own

 

Five minutes before opening there were about two dozen of us in what I deemed the "nerd pen" just inside the entrance. Then we were seated.

 

A family friend grabbed me a growler of Juicy. I've never had any of Shaun's IPAs, but holy cow is it good! I had TH, Narrow Gauges, and Trillium to compare it to and it can definitely hang with the big boys. Can't wait for More Brewing!

 

The popular opinion (which I also share) is that Juicy is the best NE Style IPA to come out of the Chicagoland area. NE Slapper was extremely good as well, but IMO Juicy was the only one to really compete with the brews coming from the East coast. I'm glad you were able to grab some!

 

I haven't had Shaun's stuff, but I'd put the Juice is Loose up against the stuff in the NE. It had a very similar feel to a Trillium beer. Not saying you're wrong about Juicy, just adding in JIL.

 

I agree with this, I actually just popped a crowler of the NES on Friday and held pretty well. Lost some of its bitterness but still hazy and tastey!

 

Juice is Loose was very good, but from one man's opinion to the other, it wasn't able to compete with Juicy. JiL is definitely close to the top of the list of the NE Style brews that came from around here, but Juicy was the only one that actually made me say, "wow" after taking a sip.

 

It's also fair to point out that what I'm looking for in an NE might not be what everyone else is. I still have to try some Treehouse to really figure out what I like, though...

 

Absolutely, to each his own. I myself just had my first Treehouse offering Saturday night (Alter Ego) and I was completely floored by how much better it was. The flavors that came through just before the bite on the end of it were insane - I also had a crowler of Juicy Bits from WeldWerks and I gotta say, most of the Chicagoland breweries pumping out this style definitely still have a lot of work to do.

 

Yeah, that seems to be the consensus. I'm fairly confident that Chicago should catch up pretty quick, as long as these guys actually try.

 

Alter Ego is an exceptional Mosaic hopped IPA. Now get yourself a Tree House DIPA and completely ruin your perspective on most, if not all, NE style beers from Chicagoland or midwest.

 

I opened my last can of the latest batch of Stratus last night, and I sort of just looked at it after the first sip and decided that I didn't want it. Stupid Treehouse

 

I personally was very let down by Juicy. It was fine, but definitely felt like a step below.

Now Hop slush, I totally feel the other way. That beer is great and I think it's up there with some of the big boys - if not quite on the same level.

 

NE IPAs

The GOAT of divisive BA topics. (and if you disagree on them being the most divisive, that just furthers my point )

 

I'm partial to Hops On Hops myself....

 

I can't speak for Juice Is Loose because I haven't had it yet (ayyyy?) but I've had plenty of TH and Juicy definitely hangs up there with it. It's no King Julius (my favorite IPA I've ever had), but I like it more than regular Julius. I would say I like most of TH offerings a little more at this point though. To me, it's TH > Narrow Gauges IPA > Juicy > Trillium

 

I don't want to paint the picture that everybody agrees about Juicy. As stated previously in the thread, different people could all be looking for something else in a certain style. Personally, I liked Morning Fog more than Juice is Loose, it just did more for me than JiL.

Juicy was the only one coming out of the Chicago area that blew me away - and anybody who says otherwise is just wrong and has horrible taste buds (kidding ). To each his own, and here's to looking forward to the ever-expanding NE Style IPA craze in the Chicagoland area!

 

Jeez, Shaun isn't even gone a week and the RAM thread has devolved into a Game of Thronesesque chaos to see which NE IPA will sit up in the iron chalice....

 

Juicy is still on if anyone was wondering

 

Still doing growler fills?