Chicagoland NE IPAs (2019)

Glitter in beer is stupid...really stupid, and "copper NEIPA" seems like code for "We got the color wrong, but we are gonna package it anyway." Also, Scorched Earth has never impressed me (Hickster is okay, though, as far as cream ales go).

 

Late February (2/26 maybe?) boss tweed in the wild.

 

I don't know if it's me, or this beer, or this batch, or the particular can, but I'm getting a really unpleasant metallic astringency on the finish. To be honest, I've always found M-43 to be kinda "meh" but everybody said "No, dude, you gotta try Boss Tweed, It's soooooo much better." Sh*t, I think I might have fallen victim to some hype here.

Cheap-a** dummy that I am, I'm gonna power through, but I am really not looking forward to another 48 oz of this.

 

The Boss Tweed that I had last night was “fire dawg.” Seriously, straight juice.

 

No matter how good a beer is to most people, there will always be someone that doesn't like it. Unfortunately, the only way to know this is to taste/buy the beer. I don't know that I'd say you fell victim to hype...it's just not your preference.

If you need those Boss Tweed taken off your hands, I'm sure someone else will step up (normally I'd volunteer myself, but I'm mostly abstaining from acquiring new beers).

 

Subtle self-deprecation based on what I've been posting in the MoRE thread.

But I really was going to pass on it until some random dudes at Binny's were like "Oh man, that stuff is straight-up fire!" "Yeah, M-43 is garbage compared to this stuff." Their exuberance tipped the scales against my better judgment, plus it's received plenty of praise on these boards.

Human interaction? That's what got me into this mess! Eh, I'll try one more and if I don't like it I'll just give the others to someone at my work.

 

I’d give it a couple weeks, perhaps. I had one and thought it was a thermonuclear hop bomb. I enjoyed it as it warmed up, but I literally choked on it at one point because of how crazy it hit my palate.

It was also really cold on the shelf, which made me vaguely concerned it became frozen at one point.

Anyway, very intense and hoping this batch will balance out. I have hope!

 

I'd concur with Quilentro. I was unimpressed when I had M-43 when it first hit Chicago distro but, by a week or two later the end of the 4 pack was much better than the 1st cans.

 

Le Jus could be Illinois’ m-43. Becoming a go to for me. There is something about that little dose of lactose.

 

Now I wonder if I need to try Le Jus again. It was unimpressionable the first time I had it, and nowhere near M-43.

 

feel like we've been in a rut.

while there are solid options in PW, Marz, HC, etc, Hop Butcher is the only haze that is consistently in my fridge.

looking forward to the long overdue return of Radio Swan though

 

I wasn't blown away by M-43 (although I liked it a lot), but Le Jus struck me as a "pretty good" beer, not great.

Also, I've been meaning to ask, have you finally been converted to an NE IPA lover?

I keep dreaming that FR will one day brew the OG Power Trip again, and can that. Still one of my faves from the style.

 

I had the 2-13 Le Jus a few days after it was canned and I think the beer is improving (or I had never had it that fresh and cold stored before). I had Boss Tweed for the first time every last night and quite liked it

 

I love both Boss and M-43. But I will say, I have had sooo much inconsistency in cans between batches in the past. One time they are some of the best NEIPAs I've ever had, another time the very mediocre (and not old cans either). I don't get them very often, so who knows if its more consistent nowadays.

 

I love the good ones.

 

That's really all anyone can ask for.

 

We should probably shut this thread down. Tree House brewed a barleywine, so NE IPAs aren’t gonna be popular any more.

3 years from now:

“I don’t want to put any brewery or styles down, but we’ve got these quality hazy IPAs and Barrel Aged pastry stouts, and people are drinking amber, raisiny barleywines that weren’t even aged in bourbon barrels! The younger generation needs to experience what their older brothers experienced”

 

Having a Boss Tweed right now; it seems a little green/bitter at the moment, but it's good. I'm guessing a week or two will do it some good as others have said.

 

Enjoyed an unexpected draft of Bell's BA Third Coast with dinner tonight. Does that make me old and lame or young and cool? I'm so confused. Looks in fridge for help, sees mostly hazy hops and BA beers. Pretty sure that makes me old.

 

It’s a Barleywine. Don’t worry, your still “Hip”