Chicagoland IPA Releases (2024)

Where are people going for their haze nowadays?

 

I don't generally love P3's hoppy offerings, but I had the new Tonal Range and it's bonkers. I loved the original Tonal as well, just so juicy and fruity. This latest one has a super tropical, almost coconut-like vibe to it.

In past, Roaring Table's Tuba Solo also didn't disappoint. But Hop Butcher is probably the mainstay for my hazy beers. Double Grid, Jewels, Green Moss, Unwind, Showers, etc.

 

It doesn’t seem that Saint Errant gets mentioned very much, but if I don’t get HB I’ll almost always get whatever hazy SE is offering…mostly because I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed in their hoppy offerings.

 

I mentioned this in the P3 thread but I think Pixel is one of the best flagship beers Chicagoland has to offer.

 

Riverlands and HB are always my go to

 

Adding Brothership as they make some really solid haze.

 

What happens to places like Hop Butcher when the haze craze goes away? There are a lot of breweries solely patronized for their hazies- that’s going to be a shock when the haze bubble finishes bursting.

 

Maybe the level of hype will go away and so will taprooms having 10+ hazies on tap, but hazy IPAs will stick around for a while. And if you brew them well (like HB), it shouldn't be an issue staying in business.

I'll still say that HB have been putting out some bangin' WC IPAs recently and The Grid is a solid pale ale, so that's always a nice fallback.

 

Yeah, I wasn't sure if the "haze craze goes away" was facetious or not, but I'd be willing to bet "hazy" is pretty much a foundational style at this point. I know plenty of people for whom it's hazy or nothing in terms of IPAs, and I'd imagine that the better brewers of the style will always see some success brewing them.

 

I think they're killing it lately with their clear pale ales and IPA's, I don't think of them as strictly a Haze Merchant

 

And it’s telling that the one beer being constantly brewed is Grid. Apart from that, there were two new clear releases last week plus Kiwi Coast still in stock (I thought this one was phenomenal).

 

Was gonna shoutout Kiwi Coast as a recent fav of mine. But yeah, Grid kicks ass. Glad it’s around often

 

Thanks! Seems like it's the usual suspects still. I haven't really been keeping up with the scene the past few years. I've had a California hookup which has been nice, but the shipping is murder.

Are there no new places because the style isn't as hot, or have people tried and just can't compete?

 

I can't speak to whether there are newer/better places because I don't branch out a ton for hazies, but that's also because I find the "usual" suspects more than adequate. Hop Butcher has a ton of go-tos that really work for me (Green Moss, Tavern Cut, etc.) and I've always enjoyed P3 and HA's hazy beers as well. We get a lot more one-off drops from out of state so I've had those to compare (Trillium, Other Half, The Veil, etc.), and while I always like having them as a change of pace, none of the ones I've had have given me the impression that I'm missing out by mostly drinking local hops.

I think the main thing is that like BA stouts, it feels like the gap between the best in the area and the average has closed significantly, so pulling a random hazy off the shelf from a "good" brewery isn't a risk at all.

 

I need to go back through some of the local offerings. My last impression of those guys was that they dialed in the recipes and removed the crazy swings in quality, but whatever they had to do to get that working brought up the lows and brought down the highs.

 

I'm not as high on it as you, but NG's IPA is a real nice "whenever" IPA imo. Kinda touches enough bases that you can just drink it whenever. Haven't had this year's batch though, so I'm curious if it's the same as last year's.

I definitely feel that way about Galaxy Bowl, but I assume that's a galaxy hop issue more than anything. I feel like the quality of the better HB offerings is as good as ever (I can't tell you if that's true about P3 since I didn't drink much of them until recently). And HA's issue is that they refuse to distribute most of the beers of theirs I want most!