Two Brothers Heavier Handed India Pale Ale

Brewed by Two Brothers Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Warrenville, Illinois USA

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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22oz bottle. Pours a mostly clear, deep ruby, amber-brown colored body with a creamy, finger-width, off-white head that dissipates slowly and leaves a nice lacing. Aroma is deeper grapefruit pines with a light, dry oak. An underlying caramel and toffee sweetness as well as a bit of an earthy resin. Flavor is similar, but packs a little more of a punch than the aroma. Sweet pines with a light resin greet the tongue before a malty caramel sweetness rounds out the big hop flavors. A subtle earthy oakiness throughout as well as some grapefruit and orange citrus. Finishes very dry with an assertive bitterness and leaves a heavy hop extract taste that lingers for a long duration. Medium body and very smooth with just a tickle of carbonation. Overall, a very tasty beer. Lots of sweet and piney hops, a solid malt balance, and a light oak made this quite enjoyable. Good one.

Bomber rating. Pretty nice aroma of pine, citrus, and floral hops with just a touch of sweetness. Pour is copper red, with a nice pillowy white head. Great lacing and good legs. Flavor is citrus with just a touch of oak and caramel malts. Somewhat simple, but this is put together well. Not a beer that will blow you away, but good nonetheless.

Tap at jerry’s on division. Nice little taplist here... Pours a medium hazy amber brown with a thin soapy white head... Aroma of light citrusy hops and subtle woody oak notes...Flavors are very smooth and creamy with a great big oak presence upfront that give way to a grassy bitterness that sticks to the palate a bit. A sweetness evolves in the beginning that is quite persistent all the way through even with the bitterness in the finish. Some herbal tea like notes are also apparent.

Draft at Jerry’s. Amber with big, foamy beige head / Nose of dry hops, brown sugar, and grapefruit / Medium body, somewhat sweet and creamy, with potent hops balanced by enough malts, and with long, biting finish / Flavors of grapefruit, orange, cut pine, burnt sugar, violets, and oak / Outstanding stuff, and the touch of oak works.

Hazy copper with a medium head. Strong aroma of oranges, fresh cut grass, and straw. Fairly malty flavor. Bitterness starts coming out a bit more after a few sips. The hop flavor is more wet hop and vinous than orange. Dry. Full bodied. The oak is not there at all, sadly.

22 oz bottle from Binny’s, Naperville. Fresh hop, almost fruity flavor. Fantastic aroma and appearance. Whatever I received was incredibly fresh, and absolutely delicious. Although, I don’t find it tastes a whole lot like heavy handed ipa.

Snifter on tap at Bavarian Lodge (Lisle, IL). Pours a darker hazy amber, shows some light, but darker transluncent, with a nice offwhite head that laces well. Aromas are some nice citrusy hops, more muted than anticipated, still a goose dose of citrusy grapefruit and florals, caramel malts, subtle pine, gumball and lemon, with a nice thicker feel. Initial is a bit sweet, followed by floral and grapefruit hops heavy, caramel malts compliment a solid DIPA. Florals, a touch of resinous pine, but maltier thicker caramel comes into play. Citrusy hop, thicker malts, a touch of barrel that doesn’t really do much at all. A solid DIPA, howver the BA kills a bit out overall. Sweet, hoppy, not tremedously balanced.

On tap at the Two Bros. Pours a deep golden amber color with a small white froth. Aroma is very nice fresh hop oils blended with sweet but soft citric tangerine and nectarine. A little bit of cheesiness and a mellow caramel sweetness softens the sharpness of the hops. Flavor starts with a punch of hops, a bit green and sharp but not wholly unpleasant, just needs to mellow out a bit. A little of the cheesiness creeps in at the middle and the finish is bitter and a bit harsh and unbalanced. Medium to full sticky body and a soft carbonation. I was disappointed that the citric hop fruitiness didn’t translate to the flavor.

22oz bottle 11/20/09 (Binny’s Naperville)-Pours a medium orangish amber with a big tight off white head. Aroma of hops, citrus, caramel, and a little sweetness. Taste of sweetness, hops, caramel, and not much oak. This medium bodied brew is very well balanced and quite tasty. Nice job.

On tap at the Bavarian Lodge, Lisle, IL. and served to a BL logo snifter. The color was a clear, deep amber, and the head was generous, off white foam with curtainy, web-like lacing. The aroma was pleasant mid-toned fruit, citrus, lesser hints of pine, a little malt sweetness, and a touch of grain. The flavor added an oak mellowed, well rounded combination of smooth malt and firm hop bitterness. Alcohol warmth was noticeable as the beer warmed. A very nice, amped up IPA.