I've said it here before but I keep getting amazed at how good Transient Artisan Ales is. Buddy brought me 3 different NEIPAs and they were all incredible.


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Does Transient distribute in Chicago, or for that matter really anywhere? Or do you have to go out to Michigan to pick up?

Deezy would know if they distribute in Michigan, but, I think it's making the 2hr trip there to pick things up. That's what my friends have done to get their hands on Juice is Loose and other beers

I live in mid-Michigan and pretty sure you have to go to Bridgman to pick up Transient.I think it's hit or miss at what you get at the brewery too. Have you guys tried M-43? very good and is distributed all over Mi anyway.

I got some M-43 and boss tweed from hoagie a while ago, both were excellent, better than standard treehouse imo.

NE guys,

Do you guys have good NE IPAs on your grocery store shelves? We have a few local places that make some good ones to drink at the taproom (and occasionally they can some you can buy there) but there's nothing distributed to stores.

Do these have an extra short shelf-life compared to other IPAs? Or is it just that nobody with big distribution is making them and they're just not making it this far?

The shelf life is the big issue, they start fading 1-2 months in. NE people have a good amount of access to trillium, alchemist, Lawsons, which is awesome.

Well not grocery store, cuz laws, but yes, we are seeing more "neipas" on the shelves, though many are of dubious quality, and some aren't really in that TH/trill/monkish vein of super hazy, creamy beers, though some are.

Trillium very occasionally distributes. They did more so when they were 22oz bottling before they started canning. It's been very rare since then.

Night Shift is very well distributed at this point and pretty much always on shelves and usually relatively fresh. Think they enforce that their beers will always be shelved in coolers as I've never seen them not (they run their own distro company, and they even distribute Pipeworks stuff locally now). Some of their regular offerings like Whirlpool and Santilli can be overstocked and get some age on them, though I also bought a 4-pack of Santilli not too long ago that was 5 days old.

Oh, Lawson's distributes Sip Of Sunshine and Super Session #2 and #8 pretty regularly now. Goes quick. Personally not a huge fan and not worth the hustle.

Grey Sail's Captain Daughter semi-regular in plenty of places.

Bunch of smaller/lesser known joints trying to get in on the tallboy hype.

My personal favorite shelf IPA is Fort Hill Brewing's Fresh Pick IPA. I think it rivals TH and especially Trill AND it's sold for $10/6 pack of 12oz cans. It's an absurdly good and reliable offering in a world of pretty mediocre breweries selling 4 tallboys for $14.

Note that all these places are fairly local and don't have wide distro networks, we just happen to be in the center of it.

Kc, malice:

Thanks. Speaking of super hazy, creamy beers, just had a great one.

https://www.brewbound.com/news/marin...-milkshake-ipa

No shame apricot milkshake ipa from marin brewing company. Man was that great. Hope to see more places here trying stuff like this.

@TDA I might just hate you for that update - by the time I found out about the Beavertown thing a few weeks ago it was sold out.

Incidentally I had one of their collabs with Trillium and it was pretty good - although not too different to Humuloid.

What on earth is a "milkshake IPA"? Sounds like a bizarre mix of flavors.

LG has a "guava milkshake IPA" on tap from Humble Sea in Santa Cruz if I want to try one I guess...

The "milkshake IPAs" I've seen (Tired Hands and this one) both use Lactose.

I'm pretty new to this. Is that considered a bad thing?

Not at all imo.

Here in the Denver area we have a few places making and distributing NEIPAs, but I think mostly (if not exclusively) within Colorado's Front Range. The most popular being Weldwerks Alpha Bits, Odd13's Codename: Superfan. A few others distribute around town as well. I always hear that distribution is limited due to the very short shelf life. Flavors disappear and the particulates settle, etc.

I had an alpha bits a few weeks ago that was 80 days old. It was an ok beer but from the reviews I've seen on it I'm guessing it had lost a lot of its flavor.

El D,

Modern Times' fall seasonal is a NE style IPA (or looks like it at least), and should be easy to find this week/next super fresh. Barebottle has also bottled a few, which are pretty good though I have had a few off bottles.

Had a few great NE IPAs from Narrow Guage out of St Louis recently. Had both OJ Run and DDH Fallen flag. Both were excellent examples of the style with Fallen Flag being my favorite. Have 1 more crowler for Monday.

Mitch,

Critical band? http://www.moderntimesbeer.com/beer/critical-band

Doesn't sound NE style to me, but does sound v good!

Modern times opening in Portland, in place of one of our ****ty breweries!

Mass bros,

You probably won't find yourself in Lakeville by chance, but if you do, there's a pizza joint called Baldie's. Very impressive tap list. Had my first Fiddlehead there yesterday. Just the standard Fiddlehead IPA. Quite enjoyable.

Very likely so. I've had 3-4 month old Trillium and Tree House before that a friend had brought home and inexplicably avoided drinking for months, it's not great. Hell, even a west coast IPA isn't going to be great after 3 months.

All that dry hop, late hop aroma and flavor is just so much nicer when fresh.

Outer Range and New Image usually do a pretty good job with the style as well. OR just started limited canning, so not easy to take home, but worth a trip to the tap room. New Image usually has cans available (they also have it at liquor stores like Molly's, often cheaper than at the brewery oddly).

Weldwerks DDH Juicy Bits (original and recent Galaxy) have been my favorites in the state so far.

Probably won't find myself in lakeville very often, but I can usually get fiddlehead on tap at Five Horses in Davis Sq or Bukowski's in Inman

If there are "particulates" in the beer, it's not hazy, it's turbid. And poorly brewed.

I didn't express an opinion about it, and I'm not a brewer, but it's just a fact that some NEIPAs have suspended particles or something that settle over time and they become a little more clear. I've seen it. Maybe it's not technically "particulate" matter but it's something (yeast?) floating in there, that's just the way I've often heard it described. If they're "poorly brewed" ok, I'm not arguing.