I had stopped at Bavarian Lodge on Sunday in hopes of tracking down the Goose Island Keller Bier, available only on tap. But I missed the firkin they had just tapped the day before. So I shifted to my ongoing goal of “popping the cap” on all the brewers in the Chicago area for review. It’s slow work, but I am up to the task.
WarPigs Brewing is a collaboration between Three Floyds of Munster, and Danish brewer Mikkeller. The ongoing collaboration has resulted in a brewpub in Copenhagen, and a line of American-brewed WarPigs beers here in the States. Beer fans have anticipated that soon a Three Floyds/WarPigs brewpub might open in Chicago, perhaps in a property in Humboldt Park owned by Nic Floyd (according to Time Out Chicago). Nothing definite on that front, but in the meantime, we have WarPigs brews popping up sparodically on taps all over town.
Foggy Geezer is what’s called a “New England IPA,” a recently developed style that’s flavor of the day. First popularized by The Alchemist’s Heady Topper out of Vermont, it’s a strong pale ale with extra malts and a hop selection intended to impart a “juicy” flavor, rather the palate burn of extreme hops. They’re also known as “Hazy IPAs,” since they’re lightly filtered, leaving a nearly opaque orange juice like body.
This draft starts off with a big citrus nose, but there’s also the pine of the usual Northwestern pale ale. The beer is pretty hazy, though; a light slightly brassy color, with a fluffy IPA head. The beer is actually served as bit too chilled for a craft brew, which usually a mistake that the Lodge doesn’t make.
It does immediately show a “thicker” palate than usual, owing to its 8% alcohol by volume. But “juicy?” I think it’s still in the same highly bittered style as a NorthWEST IPA, definitely showing some Citra or similar hop. Very likeable in a hophead way, but I guess I need some more beers in this style to determine my baseline for “juicyness.”
