Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

I'm very interested to hear reviews on the More NEIPA releases from yesterday. Please enthrall me with your acumen.

 

Loose Candies was not my thing. The rye IPA and the pale ale were both excellent. Im not why i'd be getting onions based on the hop concept, but it was my first beer of the day and thats what i was getting.

 

For sure. Clocking in at 2% or something like that. I'm a little old for this nonsense, but it's also a decent hair of the dog beverage in the rare event that this is necessary, and do-able for me.

 

Chemical Connection is blowing me away. Shaun definitely hasn't lost his touch, the mouth feel on this one is unreal. The nose is all tropical fruit, which comes through on the taste as well. I'm getting the rye and hop bitterness together on the end of each sip, making me want more (bad, unintended pun). All around knockout in my opinion, and I'm excited for Shaun to start pumping these out on a regular basis.

 

I was pretty underwhelmed by the three offerings. Dusty was pretty bland to me. Agreed that chemical connection was the best of the three though.

I'm sure they will get better as time goes on.

 

I put additional details on each one in the More thread earlier, but my general comments are similar to the responses you got. Like @beardown2489 I got green onion from Loose Candies. The worst of the three for me. Dusty needs a little something for me too, as @BeerPrince22 pointed out. Chemical Connection was easily the best of the three. And not that they're far off...maybe some tweaks. For the first batches on new equipment, I think overall they were solid beers.

 

Grabbed a growler of Atomic Child earlier. Pretty damn good, I get straight white grape juice. Better and better as it warmed.

 

I'm going to be a bit against the grain here but I think Maplewood Son of Juice is one of the best that Chicago has to offer in this style.

To me, many of these attempts create beers that have a finish that is less than desirable. I've heard it called "green" "raw" "aspirin" "not ready yet"

And I think that is silly, a beer should finish tasting delicious. To me... this is what mouthfeel means. What does your mouth feel like after you've finished your sip. Is it dry, does it linger? Many in this thread judge mouthfeel strictly on how full bodied the beer is, and leave out how it finished. Honestly, I don't care how full the mouthfeel is as long as the finish is delicious. After all, we aren't drinking dessert stouts. We are drinking IPAs, beers that are meant to be consumed ina at least some sort of quantity

With all that said, SoJ nails this. It is creamy, features a nice combo mosaic and nugget hops, and the finish just leaves me wanting more like a beer should.

It might not be as explosively aromatic like some of the more hyped beers we talked about from Mikerphone or whoever else, but it leaves me wanting more and never once have I been left saying "this beer would be amazing if..."

Oh, and it's distributored city wide and typically available once a month. I don't have to go to the source and get in line on a Thursday or Saturday morning, or fill a growler that may not hold up more than a few days.

....And it's $11.99. @HouseofWortship should be slobbering over the value of this beer

Haters bring it on, if you think I'm crazy, I'd like to hear your explanation

 

I've always found it to be cloying (think: watermelon Jolly Rancher) AND pine-y & dry; a lethal combination in my opinions and NOT what I'm looking for in this style.

Of course, you've set me up as a "hater" since i don't agree with your opinion, but I have no horse in the race; I know no one at Maplewood & hope any small local business succeeds.

I just think they don't make good NE-style IPA's. This includes Juice Pants, Double Husky, etc: they are all syrup-y & bitingly dry to me.

 

I hope that hater comment I made came off as playful. The best part about beer these days is that there are so many and that if you look hard enough, you'll find something you like. Wasn't trying to demean anyone's opinion

Edit: maybe the fact that I'm against the grain on this one makes me the hater

 

Although I don't understand how something can be cloying and piney dry.

I can see the dry part. It does finish less sweet, but I have always thought it was that it had a slightly higher carb level. Maybe it's a combo of both.

For all the info the can gives. It doesn't give final gravity

 

I don't know where that onion thing is coming from. Citra, El Dorado, and Vic Secret are all some of my favorite hops. Maybe this beer will be great in a few weeks but right now it's somewhat herbaceous and resinous. Maybe mashing a few degrees higher... idk. I'm not a professional, but this recipe theoretically should have been my favorite of the bunch

I don't want to sound like a dick. It's drinkable and pretty nice, just not what I imagined a beer with these hops tasting like.

 

If it has grape juice added and you get straight white grape juice, is that a good thing? Are you better off just getting grape juice at that point? This is one of those interesting things that splinters the NEIPA factions- do you go full juicy or do you try to keep some of that traditional IPA flavor (bitterness) in there...

 

Hah! I'm in agreement. SoJ is my accessible NEIPA(Even more so because the GF buys it for herself!). I prefer pales and IPAs to higher abv IPAs and DIPAs so it's more in line with my tastes. I would put it as a NE style pale hybrid- it's got a mouthfeel closer to NEIPA, but the flavor has the NEIPA hops while maintaining some of that traditional IPA bitterness and edge. I don't put it in the upper echelon with the NEIPAs from FR and Corridor, but I can get SoJ and it drinks well. FR's Jacob Goes to Juicetown reminded me of SoJ, but was closer to the NEIPA style on the "style meter." Maplewood's Charleton and SoJ are consistent go-to's because they are solid, well priced and most importantly available. The rest of the Juice Pants series hasn't impressed me.

 

Looks like Hailstorm Cumulus was canned last week hitting distro this week. I am hoping this batch doesn't disappoint like the last run of Stratus had!

 

I'm guessing this question got dropped but just wanted to point out - I went on vacation in late May and pretty much stopped following this thread temporarily. I seem to have lost the ability to catch up. I'm trying, but only on page 115.

 

You had the audacity to take a vacation from this thread??? You may be put on probation by the BA police.

 

In fairness, I went to Northwestern Vermont...

 

Now they're going to make you fill out some paperwork, with documentation and receipts.