Chicago Hardway IPA

Brewed by Chicago Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Las Vegas, Nevada USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Name: Hardway IPA, aka Big IPA
Date: 12/15/2004
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub

clear dark amber, big fine white head leaving beautiful lace, sweet grapefruit cascade aroma that arives before you even pick up the glass, creamy velvet smooth body like a fine desert, sweet carmel malt flavor with tons of grapefruit cascade nectar, great sticky pine reson that will attach to your tongue for the next week, so fine it brings a tear to my eye (either that or the happy hour tripple kicked my ass), an instant four bagger classic,
-------- /> Name: Hardway IPA, aka Big IPA
Date: 12/18/2004

not quite the post-triple emotion, but still a mighty fine ipa with velvet body, lots of hop flavor, and a long bitter finish
-------- /> Name: Hardway IPA, aka Big IPA
Date: 06/23/2005
Words: 4 Queens

big sweet grapefruit hop aroma, lots of hop flavor, solid carmel sweetness, great piney resion character, perfect bitter finish, the tear may be coming back to my eye, and this is my breakfast beer
-------- /> Name: Hardway IPA, aka Big IPA
Date: 06/26/2005
Source: brewpub

wow again, great velvet body, huge citrus aroma and flavor, lots of hop flavor, perfect bitterness, emotion rides high especially during happy hour
-------- /> Name: Hardway IPA, aka Big IPA
Date: 01/02/2006
Score: iiii to iii
Words: 4 Queens
Words: renamed to Hardway IPA

opaque orange, thin white head, layers of nice lace all the way down the mug, fresh grassy hop aroma, touch of sweetness, touch of pine, bit of citrus that ripens into big orange character,lots of bitterness,flavor melds well upon warming, lots of good sweet malt well balanced by lots of hop bitterness, what more could you want?

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

Draught at Chicago Brewing Company. The strongest of the Chicago Brewing beers that I tried and probably the best. Good strong hop aroma without being overpowering. The flavour was similar and while you could taste the resinous hops flavours they weren’t so strong that you knocked you off your seat. Long finish and good creamy mouthfeel.

Draught. Cloudy orange-red. Huge aroma of pine, smells like a Christmas tree! Bitter bite in the taste, but nicely balanced with a bit of malt sweetness. The pine dominates, with some wood and caramel as well. Really enjoyable.

Hazy orange amber hue. Piney citrus hop aroma. Light grapefruit citrus palate, a little salty. Deecent IPA.

I had this beer a while back and from what I can remember I enjoyed it. I’ve had this at the pub/brewery so it was fresh. Nothing special about it is popping into my head at the moment.

Draught at the brewpub. Hazy amber, small head. Concentrated grapefruit aroma. Quite dry with above medium body. Intense flavour of sweaty grapefrut. Long resiny bitterness. A solid IPA.

My Bottom Line:
Caramel malts aplenty surround this IPA’s firm resinous hops, ending up in gripping bitterness.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam floats atop the cloudy dark amber.
-The aroma is not as brightly hoppy as I would have liked.
-The caramel malts are almost dominant until the hoppy finish, garnished by crumbly biscuit notes.
-The hops do promote citrusy tips once in a while.

On tap at the Four Queens location.

On tap at the brewpub. Clear dark gold with a white head. Big citrus and herbal hop nose, mild caramel. Big hop bite comes immediately, citrusy with a touch of pepper-like notes. Slightly resinous and orange. Amazingly drinkable and a solid brew all around!!

On tap at the Four Queens. Could swear that it was in a large shaker as a 20 oz. serving. Poured a hazy orange/amber color with a 1/2 " of off white foam to the head, and ribbony lacing. The aroma was lightly floral, with orange and grapefruit to follow. The flavor initially presented a pleasant but strong hop bitterness, and then, a good amount of rich malt to balance. The bitterness remained steady into the finish. A very decent IPA, and happy to try again since the WBC.

Hazy golden pour with small head. Aroma was citrus hops and grapefruit. Taste was malty and hoppy with nice bitterness. Frothy pallet. Very nice IPA. The best beer that I had here out of the 9 I tried.

Pours a medium gold/orange color. Aromas of citrus/grassy hops and light malts. Flavor light malt sweetness with a grassy hop.