Chicago Hardway IPA

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

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

2008-09-08, draught at the brewpub, 7-4-7-5-15=38
Hazy amber color. It has a good hop aroma, not too strong, fruity and resiny. Medium body, with a strong toffee flavor and extreme hopping, very resiny, aggressive, a bit fruity too. Very good.

2007-10-02, draught at the brewpub, 7-4-8-5-16=40
Cloudy golden color; creamy head. Hop aroma, very grassy, wet field soil, manure. Good body strength, smooth mouthfeel, strong malt flavor (like a good Pils) overwhelmed by a powerful hopping, with a lot of hop oils and some resins. Extremely long and strong final. A bit strange but very good, midway between an American and English IPA: stronger hopping and body, but not so fruity. Fuggles touch too!

2006-03-26, draught at the brewpub, 7-4-7-4-15=37
Golden color. Fruity hoppy aroma. Good body, malty, sweet, round, and a good amount of aromatic and resiny hops. Good.

on tap-pours a retaining white head and gold/orange color. Aroma is herbal/pine hops, some medium malt-caramel. Taste is herbal/tannins/pine/some bitter citrus rinds, some medium malt. Dry.

Sampled from a growler courtesy of kp: Pours a slightly hazy dark golden with a clingy, well-lacing white head. Nice hoppy and fresh green pieny presence throughout the aroma. Good sweet light caramel malt flavor has a nice fresh, bittersweet hoppy balance. A nice IPA.

Pours copper with a thin white head. Smells of caramel, resiny. Tastes lightly bitter and resiny with a chewy caramel finish.

Sampled at the NABA 06 Fest: Excellent head and lacing. I never got a chance to see the color as the head never dispersed and these opaque white plastic tasting cups are certainly subpar. Nose is super hoppy, citrusy and fruity. Flavor is pleasant, nice dry hopped character. Full body, has that sweet candy cane like balance to complement the nice hop resins and oils floating on top of the beer.

Growler @ Kp’s Cellar. Slightly hazed amber with a medium off-white head. Moderate hop aroma with citrus and lemon flesh. Sweet sugar. Flavor of sweet lemon flesh and bitter lemon rind. Long bitterness on the finish. Dry with a medium body. My favorite out of the IPas on the KP growler night.

This draft brew from the brewery poured a head of foamy finely sized white colored bubbles that was very long lasting and left behind a transparent softly carbonated light copper colored body and an excellent lacing. The aroma was mild hop. The mouth feel was tingly at the start and at the finish hoppy aftertaste. The flavor contained nothing but notes of strong hops. A decent one that I would consider buying again.