Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

Dang, this stuff is on fire now, and for good reason.

 

I just came from the Beer Temple about 30 min ago and at that point they still had about 3 cases left of JIL. If I was a betting man though, my wager would be it won't last past 1pm today, so anyone who can get there ASAP, should do so.

 

I agree with Beer Belly Mike, although I would add Morning Fog into the front runner category. My top 3-

JIL
Morning Fog
Reply Hazy/Hubbard's Cave V4

The beauty is the quality of NE style Pale's and IPA'S being pumped out of Chicagoland presently. Our "rankings" are all subjective as we all know, and one individuals pallet could prefer a certain hop varietal over another. To each is own and let's all be thankful we get to sip on quality as the calendar turns to 2017. Happy New year everyone! Have a safe/blessed one....

 

Thanks man. I was able to get a four pack as well. Now to see if it lives up to @SeanBond hype.

 

I'm actually going to change my list since I forgot about Juice Pants:

#1 - Juicy
#2 - Juice Pants
#3 - Morning Fog

I thoroughly enjoyed Juice Pants, and thought it was amazing. I personally feel it was the closest thing to Juicy that came out of this area this year...but that's just one man's opinion!

 

Well your opinion is WRONG!!!! Haha jk. Juice Pants was pretty good.

 

1 - Juice is Loose
2 - Special Sauce Batch #7 and #2
3 - Reply Hazy

 

Juice is Loose
Special Sauce
Juicy

 

Which SS? Kind of varies

 

1. Lunches Brunches Interviews
2. Galaxy Bowl
3. Special Sauce #2

If we are expanding this to the midwest, I'd have OJ Run from Narrow Gauge in there as well. Narrow Gauge makes the best NE IPAs I've had outside of the Trillium/Treehouse stuff IMO.

 

Yeah that was there most recent batch Stratus. Not quite Morning Fog but very tasty in its own right.

Also have to add Morning Fog to the list of Chicagoland NE style Ipa's.

Cheers and Happy New Year

 

Batch #1 and #4, sucker for Citra, and I think #6 was also really awesome.

 

Would you consider Get Fresh Flow as a NE DIPA?

Cause that was probably my favorite hop beer from Mikerphone this year. I liked it better than any of the Special Sauces.

Not sure it would crack my top 3 NE IPA, but thought I would throw out a honorable mention.

 

Was wondering the same thing because it was my favorite Ipa release from Mikerphone this year.

Based on the chicagoland releases I got to try (Ram,Mikerphone,HBOTW,Hailstorm and HA)
1) Juicy
2) Beer Hates Astronauts (Tap room version because it was so cloudy and dank) if this qualifies
3) Morning fog

 

Woah. Someone is speaking my language. Beer Hates Astronaut had to be one of my favorite Chicago hop beers of the year. I couldn't believe it lasted on tap so long, I had my growler filled at least three times. I wasn't sure this qualified either.

Also just had JiL for the first time and I am reconsidering my list. May have to revise sometime in the new year.

What a great time to be alive! Happy New Year everyone.

 

I believe you mean Hoppy New Year

 

Yeah BHA in the taproom was similar to Stone Enjoy By Unfiltered to me. Whatever category that is

 

GB and Reply Hazy are decent offerings but aren't quite in the same class. They're solid beers in their own right, but there is a sweetness to these beers (and Special Sauce) that is missing from the best beers of the style. Not to take anything away from them - they're very good beers, but Juice is Loose, Juicy, and Morning Fog are on a slightly different level (and thus, closer to the best of the style from the east/Monkish).

That does not mean people can't enjoy Hop Butcher and others more, but there's a reason Juicy and Juice is Loose have real trade value outside of Chicagoland. Mikerphone is a whole different animal, as his beers have great trade value too - part of that was the first to go this route and part of that is that some of his beers have just been so damn good (LBI, Imp Bean, etc.).