NE IPAs in Michigan?

Had a fresh Full Earth today, had never had this beer before, it was great in my opinion.

 

Arvon delivered to Lansing again yesterday. Picked up four of the six available. Tried the Citra Drops last night. Great beer. Very similar to Jurassic Haze and M43.

 

Springs Eternal is another great DIPA from Ferndale Project, this one is Sabro heavy, a lot like This One Sparks Joy from Foundation/Old Nation.

Den of Joy from Wax Wings another big winner from them, love the explosion in use of Michigan Copper hops for dank bittering.

HOMES Intersect and Collateral both great as usual.

 

Picked up a Full Earth from Vine and Brew in Okemos today. It was in the cooler at a nicely cold temperature. It's excellent. This one's on par with Treehouse's that I've had.

 

Vine and Brew is my favorite bottle shop. Those guys are the best. They’ve been on board with Old Nation from the beginning. Old Nation is only in the cooler there.

 

Did a blind side by side with Arvon’s Citra Drops and M43 tonight. The aroma from the M43 was much more pronounced. The citrus flavor was brighter as well. The M43 poured with a frothier head. Citra Drops was very murky and flat compared to M43. IMO M43 was more balanced and easier to drink. Side By side M43 was the clear winner. I was very surprised by the result.

The M43 was 4 weeks old. 10 days for the Citra Drops.

 

Side by side with HOMES Collateral and Old Nations M43.

The two are pretty even in my opinion. Collateral had a bit more of a bitter finish. Collateral had a more golden pale color. M43 was a little murkier. Both great beers. This one was too close to call.

 

Keep the side by sides going!

Cracking into some fresh Wax Wings haze...

 

I need to get some Wax Wings to try. I’m gonna be in MI Wed-Sun this week but the hours I’m going through K-zoo didn’t sync up with their pickup times. Hopefully I can order some HOMES and pick it up on the way.

 

Arvon is doing a drop in my area this week so I am super excited to grab that.

The last two HOMES's releases were fantastic in my opinion. They also dropped a ton of Same Same Different and seem like they will have it for a few weeks. If anyone has not had it, it is their flagship IPA and has been on tap since the beginning. I absolutely love this beer and this batch money, I love that I can pop in and grab some whenever (until supplies last).

 

I was holding out hope Arvon might go further towards the northern Detroit suburbs for this week’s delivery and I’d be able to grab some of this week’s drop but oh well. I hope to get to their taproom sometime this year.

It would also be nice if we start seeing Arvon beers popping up on tap at certain places since they have their own spot now with more production. I know I had some at 7 Monks in TC a couple years ago but then hadn’t seen them on tap again since during my visits.

 

There were a few places in the A2 area that had them on tap, it always is the same two places though. I know Wax Wings and Arvon were starting to do self distro into the A2 area as well. With Wax Wings, I think it was one of a very few spots they did distro of cans too. This was all pre-Covid though...

 

That m43 is looking like some nice pond water!
Nonic pint glasses for new england ipas? For shame!

 

It is one of the recommended glasswares for the style listed on Beer Advocate (I just learned this today). Plus, it's the perfect size for pouring a 16 oz can.

 

Had Arvon delivered last week, really enjoying their beer, am finding a week to 10 days old is when to start drinking them. Otherwise they seem, at least in my experience, too abrasive, green, and bitter. Had a Slow Roller last night, canned on 5/28, and it was just perfect. Mosaic Drops, canned last week, was a bit much for me when I tried one last Friday. They held back one of their releases last week to give it some more time. I really appreciate that they are doing things that way. It will be nice when the COVID numbers drop and I feel confident enough to visit their taproom.

 

Arvon should get back into distributing to Plato and Holiday Market, amongst other places!

 

I swear I read that they are planning to start back up in distro and then also still do the deliveries but now I can't find that anywhere in their posts so I think I misread. Interested to see what they do on that front, I swear they were doing self distro to the stores themselves. I know with Ann Arbor area they had like 90 some orders and then 80 in the Royal Oak area. Wonder which of those scenarios actually is better for them profit wise, doing all that driving has to be expensive while losing margin in stores is a thing as well. But then you are losing sales in regions when you are not delivering to them.

 

Finished my last planned side by side today. M43 vs HOMES Intersect. As you can see the Intersect is more pale, not quite as murky. It also has a brighter aroma, cleaner finish, and a softer, fuller feel. As I describe these, I must say the differences are slight but noticeable. As I finish these, the differences in taste and feel begin to fade. Obviously both are great, but the decision goes to Intersect.

 

This one is pretty tasty IMO!

 

Why sell through a retailer when you can sell everything you brew direct to the public?

The extra 5 days in the can for the Mosaic Drops made the difference, was much better today.