Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

Where?

 

I saw Beer on the Wall and Prestige, but I imagine it'll hit more

 

I was literally at Prestige only a few hours ago and they had no idea when it was going to drop. I bet you it was coming in the back door as I was walking out the front.

 

Could be, the tweet was sent out about an hour ago

 

Cracked into a Blazed Orange. I don't know if this will satisfy people hunting the haze (it looks nothing like those pictures, maybe I need to shake it up more), but it has a really nice clean orange taste. I like it a lot.

 

Another batch of JIL is releasing at Transient on Friday. How long does it usually takes for it to drop at The Beer Cellar?

 

Blazed orange is in cans, as well as on tap at Beer Cellar currently. Also saw the Craft Beer Store in libertyville got it today.

 

Picked up a 4 pack of Blazed Orange at Prestige tonight. My initial impression, not quite an NEIPA, closer in style to something like canned Foggy Geezer, medium haze , pretty muted nose, can't place either hop but orange smoothie and orange rind and alcohol presence, tastes about the same, light body, decently bitter finish. Will probably let the other cans sit for a bit to see if it mellows out. Definitely not a juice bomb and way more dry bitterness than I expected but my palette has been kinda off so YMMV. Strangely the empty can smells like a Gummy but it will probably not scratch that haze itch.

 

I had Energy City Brewing's Hop Nawi which was a Vic Secret/Galaxy NEIPA last night. This Batavia nanobrewery is only open for releases the first Saturday of the month (11am-3pm with bomber counts in the 150-175 range). It was more hazy IPA than the Corridor/Mikerphone style probably but it was really damn good. Those Australian hops really popped and make me curious about their future releases. It wasn't just "local" good either

 

Fuzzy Britches is tasting fantastic.

 

I’m in that area every now and then I’ll need to make a trip in a Saturday to check it out. Thanks for sharing.

 

Saw on an Instagram story that Galaxy Bowl is about to be brewed. I look forward to sharing in the disappointments and nostalgia

 

Maybe brewing in a less shady facility will bring Galaxy Bowl back to its previous glory. Who knows what corners the folks at Aquanaut cut....

 

Galaxy Bowl batch 1 was so long ago and during the time when Chicagoland was much more limites on quality and consistently produced NE IPAs that I'm not sure how it would hold up against some of the best offerings now. Same goes for original Ram-Juicy which has been my favorite (from memory) but now I wonder how that would also compare.

 

Both had galaxy hops and I think that’s why both would hold up well. Those hops have been rare enough that our palates haven’t been spoiled by 100 iterations like with common hops

 

That's true. I liked both Galaxy Bowl b1 and Juicy a good bit, and Galaxy hops are my favorite.