Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

FFF just bottled Lazersnake. Please try it as I'm eager to hear how it stacks up. I thought it met many of the criteria for NE Style (they brand it as Indiana Style) IPAs when I had it last month- smooth, juicy, etc. just wasn't hazy....

 

Had the Hubbards Cave V4 last night and it was REALLY good, the best version yet in my opinion. The haze, mouthfeel, and juiciness were all there. It had a bit more bitterness than I remember from the Treehouse and Trillium beers Ive had if I remember correctly, but it didnt detract from the beer. I need to grab another bottle!

 

So...the carbonation problems I keep hearing about were NOT present in this batch?

 

Yep! Like SeanBond said, carb was spot on this batch. I'd personally put this one up there with the Special Sauce series as far as hitting the mark goes!

 

It's not from Chicago but I travel to St. Louis quite a bit for work. If anyone is in St Louis, be sure to hit up Narrow Gauge. I had two NE IPAs there last night (OJ and Fallen Flag) and both are downright nasty. Probably better than any NE IPA I've had from Chicago outside of LBI.

 

You got me so amped I grabbed two bottles. I'm invoicing you if I don't like it!!! (just kidding of course)

 

Please elaborate on this nastiness.

 

I figured, but I'm curious as to the qualities that make these particular beers so good. We have agreed in this thread there are different styles of NE style IPAs. Are these ones Treehouse hazy or barely hazy? Juicy? Or just smooth?

 

I don't drink Treehouse and/or Trillium because when I get "whalez" I drink them, so I cannot really compare to those breweries. I have had a bunch of the "older" breweries out there (Alchemist, Hill Farmstead, Lawsons) but I don't think they are considered the "NE IPA WHALEZ" like the two Ts are.

Anyway, both the ones I had last night were very hazy (hazier than even SS for comparison sake). OJ in particular was a juice bomb whereas FF had a lot of juice but more of a bitter finish.

Both were awesome. I've been lucky enough to try a lot of amazing hoppy beers this year (Loopy Lynn, Scorpius Morchella, Mikerphone, etc.) and these were both right there with them.

 

I had Lazersnake last night and while it isn't hazy, I thought it was very good - maybe even great. All hop, very little malt backbone, juicy, etc. More drinkable than their normal over-the-top (but also very good) IPA/DIPAs. The group that tends to post here would probably enjoy this beer.

I picked up a Hubbard's as well - excited to try it after hearing the carb issue was fixed.

 

It's crazy...we're heading towards dark beer season but every time I go buy beer it's still tons of fresh IPA's.

Not the worst problem to have!!

 

There is no more dark beer season, there is only good beer and great beer seasons.

 

I liked the days when all you had to worry about was Dark Lord Day and Fobab. Now there is something great every week. This should be cool. Considering they've made special beers for Delilah's anniversary parties, I wonder what new stuff they'll have: http://www.hideoutchicago.com/event/1336471-hideout-3-floyds-20th-chicago/

 

^^I'll be refreshing my screen for tix to that, mostly for Bongripper though. 3F is an added bonus^^