The Beeronaut
Craft Beer Review: Drekker Ectogasm IPA
Let’s give a welcome to Drekker Brewing Co., which made their debut in the Chicago market this past month. They’re the first brewer I’ve seen here from North Dakota; Fargo, to be precise.
By explanation, I’ve been tracking the beers I’ve had since 2003 on the Ratebeer.com site. Among the nearly 3,700 different beers I’ve had has been at least one from each of 45 United States. Illinois, of course, leads the state tally with 1,179. But for the longest time, there were six states (plus the District of Columbia). These states simply have not built enough of a beer scene to have brewers with a distribution footprint to carry them to Chicago.
North Dakota did not get much in the way of a beer scene until the 2010’s, with Fargo Brewing (and Bismarck’s Laughing Sun) starting up in 2011, and then Drekker in 2015 (Thrillist). The brewing pioneers had to lobby for changes in the state’s antiquated production and distribution laws.
Drekker has been the first to get out-of-state distribution. It’s a Viking-themed brewery, started in a locomotive repair facility. They’ve got a lot in common with our area beers. Drekker is best known for hazy New England IPAs and juicy ales. I picked up a four-pack of their basic beer, Ectogasm, from Leo’s Wines in Woodridge.
Despite the brewer’s “extreme” reputation, Drekker notes that its Ectogasm IPA has a simple hop bill of Citra & Mosaic, toasty malts and a touch of oats.
I picked up a big hoppy nose right under the pop tab. Hops brought me a sense of plenty of pine and stone fruit, yet a standard American Pale Ale smell.
It pours a very hazy yellow beer under a thick, but fizzy head. The first sip yieleded a big smack of hop bitterness. The taste slowly settled down to more apricot, a bit of vanilla and Bit O’Honey. There is also some nice malt sweetness that leaves a thin coating on the lips and palate. It’s a great beer for sipping.
I also note that this is one of the first beer cans I’ve seen packaged with cardboard beer packing ringers. These are said to be more environmentally friendly than even the plastic snap-on rings now being favored. The ringers did do a nice job of holding the cans together so far. My attempt to twist that first can off may have been made harder by my not wanting to rip up the whole thing.
Filed under:
Beer Review
Tags:
Drekker Brewing, North Dakota
Fresh Beer Events, occasional bacon, but always spam free, opt out any time.
Meet The Blogger
Mark McDermott
Writer, trivia maven, fan of many things. I thought to learn all there is to know about beer as a way to stay interested in learning. It is my pleasure to bring Chicago’s craft beer scene to you.
More Events, blogs and podcasts
I’ve been named one of the Top Chicago-based Bloggers to Follow by Flipkey.com, the vacation rental division of TripAdvisor.com!
Recent posts
Craft Beer Review: Drekker Ectogasm IPA »
Chicago Craft Beer Weekend, October 8-10 »
Guinness’ Planned Chicago Taproom: A Q & A with CMO Jay Sethi »
Week in Chicago Craft Beer, October 4-7 »
Chicago Craft Beer Weekend, October 1 – 3 »
Categories
Beer Calendar (755)
Beer Review (307)
Beer Business (78)
Beer News (75)
Beer Festivals (59)
Popular Beers Available in Chicago (37)
Beer Pairing (20)
Beer Competition (18)
Miscellaneous (13)
Brewpub/Bar Review (9)
Tags
Bourbon County Stout (160)
Beer review (86)
Oktoberfest (73)
Lagunitas (55)
Goose Island (53)
Craft Beer Review (41)
Kentucky Breakfast Stout (35)
Revolution Brewing (34)
Two Brothers (31)
COVID-19 (31)
Blogroll
Beer Download
A podcast pitting beers in head-to-head competition!
Afro.Beer.Chick
A POV on Chicago’s Beer world
My 3,400+ beers reviewed at RateBeer.com
Since 2003, I’ve tracked every new beer I’ve had here!
Good Beer Hunting
The überbiersite, with news, podcasts, and movies!
Latest on ChicagoNow
Craft Beer Review: Drekker Ectogasm IPA
posted today at 11:05 pm
What the hell has Joe Biden done to fix, well, anything?
posted today at 5:21 pm
Winnetka’s Private Lanes
posted today at 4:12 pm
ChicagoNow’s Best Posts of September 2021
posted today at 8:04 am
Can Salukis outrace Jackrabbits in Top 10 FCS road showdown?
posted today at 5:00 am
Posts from related blogs
Show Me Chicago
Most recent post: Wicker Park diner Dove’s to reopen
Just N
Most recent post: Christian KeyesDiscusses Producing All The Queen’s Men
Candid Candace
Most recent post: Chicago International Film Festival hosts sneak peek of “The Lost Leonardo” film
More from Entertainment: Nightlife
Read these ChicagoNow blogs
Cubs Den
Pets in need of homes
Hammervision
Read these ChicagoNow Bloggers
Carole Kuhrt Brewer
Dennis Byrne
LeaGrover
About ChicagoNow
•
FAQs
•
Advertise
•
Recent posts RSS
•
Privacy policy (Updated)
•
Comment policy
•
Terms of service
•
Chicago Tribune Archives
•
Do not sell my personal info
©2021 CTMG – A Chicago Tribune website –
Crafted by the News Apps team
Leave a comment