Two Brothers Heavy Handed India Pale Ale

Brewed by Two Brothers Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Warrenville, Illinois USA

Pours a rich copper with a cream colored head. The aroma is hoppish with pine and citrus. Pleasent hoppish flavors of citrus with a mild amount of caramel coat the tongue and the finish is quick and snappy.

Pours clear rich dark copper with a sudsy tan head that gives pretty nice lacing. Aroma is hoppy with citrus and pine with some caramel malt backing things up. Medium body with some prickly carbonation. Starts with a small amount of malt and a good amount of resiny pine / woody hops. The finish has prickly carbonation adding intensity to the hops. A nice solid IPA.

Tasted on 9/29/2006 from bottle (2006 vintage) at River’s Bend - Thanks Matt! According to JCW and the Two Brothers web site, there are two versions of this tasty brew for 2006: Lot 2556 is made with Willamette hops and Lot 2706 is made with Galena hops. Color is a very clear and vibrant copper color. Aroma and flavor is of tart citrus. Pleasing hop bitterness, almost soft. Don’t get me wrong, the bitterness is definitely there all the way through, but it isn’t overpowering or unbalanced. Some of the malt and pine hop flavor comes through. Moderate carbonation with a fair ivory head. Good mouthfeel and overall quite enjoyable. It would be really interesting to find a bottle from each lot and try them side by side to compare the aroma and flavor of the two hop varieties... 12 oz bottle (Lot 2706 - Galena Hops).
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UPDATE from 10/16/2006: On 10/14/2006 I sampled some of the Lot 2556 (Willamette hops) version of this beer on draught at McQuiston’s Malthouse in Madison, Indiana. Color was copper and clear. Moderate carbonation with a huge, creamy, ivory-colored head. Aroma was sweet, citrus (orange) hops. The flavor was like candied oranges and was very hoppy, but had a very even bitterness. The finish left a lingering, grassy bitterness in the throat, but was not repulsive. Overall I felt that the bitterness of the Willamette-hopped version was a bit more overwhelming, more sharp, and less citrusy than the Galena-hopped version.
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2007 ~ Lot 2617 ~ Cluster Hops

10/21/2007 and 10/22/2007: This batch of Heavy-Handed India Pale Ale has an lustrous copper color with gentle carbonation. It has a nice sweet aroma of caramel malt and some delicate floral qualities. The flavor is well balanced with some good toffee-like maltiness up front that transitions to a nice floral bitterness. The pine and floral bitterness is gentle at first, but then the 62 IBUs can be tasted in the finish and aftertaste as it clings to the top and back of the mouth. The bitterness is smooth as is the palate. This batch seems a bit more malty and less citrusy than other batches that I’ve had, but that’s okay as the differences are clearly due to the variety of hops used. Overall Heavy-Handed is a really good IPA that delivers a nice appearance and a clean flavor that really showcases the individual hop varieties well. Highly recommended!

12 fl. oz. bottles shared by Rob. Thanks Rob! 15.5° Plato, 62 IBU, 5.7% A/V.

Bottle. Small ivory head with poor lacing, transparent, no visible carbonation, and an orange hue with some gold peeking through. Malty, hoppy and notes of grapefruit in the nose. Flavor was some maltiness, hoppy and dry. Not overly hoppy. Mildly tingly and dry mouthfeel. Quaffable, but nothing outstanding.

My first beer from Two Brothers Brewing Company. The back label says "Two Brothers specializes in rare and seldom-brewed beer styles. Ah yes, the much ignored IPA. It is good to finally see a brewer pay some attention to this "seldom-brewed" style! 12oz single bottle purchased from Charles Street Liquors in Boston. Lot 2525 - no freshness date found. Pours a gorgeous deep cloudy copper with no head. Medium to strong aroma of hops. First taste is full, hoppy and warm. Further tastes continue in a rich vein. Nice brew, but perhaps a bit one-dimensional. A good beer for when you’re just having one.

This was the first IPA that I had after having the amazing Three Floyds Dreadnaught a few days prior. The beer pours a nice cloudy copper hue with a small off white head. Aroma is a piney hops and citrus. Flavor is immediate and strong grapefruit, followed by a nice bittering hop bite, with an almost chalky finish.

This bottled brew from a bottle shop poured a small sized head of foamy fine to medium sized off-white colored bubbles that was and left behind a transparent softly carbonated caramel brown colored body and a good lacing. The aroma was mild hop and caramel malt. The mouth feel was tingly at the start and at the finish. The flavor contained notes of malt hops and caramel. An OK brew just nothing special.

aroma of dish soap and green apples with some grapefruit and oranges and lemon highlights. Flavor is bitter and astringent with lots of citrus and some perfume/floral aromas. excellent.