Two Brothers Hop Juice

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

On draft at Sunset Grill in Allston, MA. Pours medium gold. The aroma is noticeably lacking for an IPA - especially for a DIPA. The flavour is decent and hoppy, but it’s far from "hop juice". The hops aren’t too piney and grapefruity. This was nice though, but I was surprised to find here that this is supposed to be a DIPA.

Bottle thanks to xnoxhatex poured a hazy orange color with a small off white head. The aroma was pungent citrus and caramel. The body was thick from all the hops and alcohol. Flavor started big and bitter with a strong malt backbone.

22 oz. bottle. Burnt orange pour under a medium ivory head that has decent staying power. Big hop aroma of of pine resins and grapefruit zest with a hint of being toffee underneath all the hops. Medium/full body that is rich, resinous, and satisfying. The bitterness in this is right up front, but is well supported by a substantial malt presence. Even so, the scales are tipped over to the bitter side throughout the long finish. Alcohol is not really a factor in the flavor or aroma, well concealed throughout.

Tap. Pours copper color with a quickly diminishing off-white head. Aroma is huge floral hops, citrus, light malt. Flavor is huge punch of floral hops and citrus, nicely balanced with some caramel malt. Palate is medium bodied, medium carbonation, starts sweet then finishes bitter. Very good IIPA. Surprising.

Bottle. Deep gold/copper, with a thick, tight off-white head. The aroma is an excellent mix of floral hops, resinous hops and sweet malt. Astringent hop bite up front. Second and later sips seem to be less intense, allowing the malt to come through. Fairly heavy but, the alcohol is well hidden.

Bottle. Enoooormous pleasant grapefruit and lychee aroma. Coppery color with a short foamy tanned head. Sticky, dry taste, a bit of resin and medium-strong bitterness. Finish and aftertaste are bone dry, almost brutally dry, and the citrus notes that marked the lovely aroma having disappeared. Dryness is actually kind of a shock to the palate. Emphasis is definitely on the hops here. Alcohol well-concealed. Medium-full body, sticky and heavy - hop juice indeed! Not top-shelf, but certainly very good.

Hugely underrated beer -- this one on cask is simple perfection. Drank at the Clark Street Ale House on a nicely cleaned and well-poured handpump. Not sure why this doesn’t get the ratings here, perhaps it’s not quite one-dimensional enough. Wonderful, dirty, and, well, unique.

2008 tasted at Jerry’s. Orange-amber with big, frothy off-white head / Fresh pine, floral, orange & grapefruit nose / Medium body with excellent balance between hops, alcohol and fruit / Complex flavors of fresh pine, violets, clover, grapefruit, orange, and burnt sugar / A tad overly sweet; otherwise, a terrific 2ipa - rivals 3 Floyd’s Dreadnaught.