Two Brothers Hop Juice

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

Beautiful dark orange copper color with small head and great lacing. One of the strongest hop packed beers I’ve tasted. Both aroma and flavor completely dominated by hops. Great label design too.

Bottle. Pours an orangey amber with limited head. The nose was mostly malt if anything. This was pretty poor. Very funky, off-flavors that I would not be able to tell if it were a IIPA if I did not read it on the bottle. No clue what this was and it was clearly the last place finisher in the 6 bottle IIPA tasting. Thanks to Sprinkle for the bottle.

bomber. color is a a nice orange hue with an amber glow. pours with a nice creamy/frothy head. the nose is piney with lots of grapefruit aromas. it leaves lots of heavy rings on the glass. bright hop flavor that is well balanced but thin. some nutty malt provides the balance. easy to drink because its watery but has a strong overpowering alcohol finish.

of course the smell and taste are dominated by pine and resin hops. there is enough malt and fruit sweetness to balance some of the hops. very drinkable for something so strongly flavored.

Bottle sampled from Capones. Pours cloudy amber with a small light tan head. Aroma of citrusy hops (go figure), caramel malts, ans slight fruit. The flavor is slightly sweet upfront, fruit, caramel, citrus, and bitter undertones through-out this brew, and a strong hop finish. Very nice.

Pours a nice light amber color with a very small head. The lacing was minimal at best. The smell was very soapy and citursy. Hops rush the palate, as was expected with this one. There was a nice sweetness in the finish and the beer had an excellent hoppy effect on the palate. This was a crowd pleaser.

22oz. Bomber $5.99 Binny’s Willowbrook 100.1 IBUs Hop Juice poured a beautiful clear dark ruby red. The body absolutely glows when held up toward the light. There was a 1 finger creamy white head upon the pour that faded to a swirling but left lacing on the drop. For the head dying down like it did every sip leaves sheet upon sheet of lacing. The smell is jam packed full of resiny hops. Smells to me like tar made from hops. Maybe that’s though to comprehend but it is what it is. There is a hint of dark fruits that give the malt backbone. Cherries and overripe plum interesting scents to say the least for a IIPA. There’s even a leather and tobacco aroma in there if you keep searching. Unique and interesting. The taste goes right along with the scent in uniqueness. It’s dominated by big resiny hops that coat the entire mouth. A mild sweetness keeps the hops in check. There is tobacco and an earthiness in the flavor that go perfectly with the resiny hops. There are definately rough edges in the taste but it somehow fits the flavors perfectly. I have never had a IIPA that was so resiny before and I’m liking it. Mouthfeel is almost perfect. It’s medium bodied and in no way viscous like some IIPAs tend to be. Mild carbonation lets the brew ease along on it’s own. The strong dose of hops leave a moderate bitterness on the swallow that multiplies with each drink. This one will punish your tongue. I can even feel my bottom lip going numb. Drinkability for a beer of this weight is good. I can find myself getting lost in the earthy flavors and big hops with each sip. I probably wouldn’t drink more than one bomber at a time because of the palate destroying but it is easy to enjoy. I have sampled some of Two Bothers offerings, and to be totally honest, wasn’t expecting a whole lot from this. I’ve never been happier to have been wrong. This is a really unique and interesting beer. There isn’t much like this out there right now. I don’t think it’s something everyone would enjoy but it’s definately worth a try if you see it. 12/16/06

Large 22-oz bottle shared by brewfiend. Poours a hazy yellowish orange brew with a thin, fluffy white head. Aroma has scents of grapefruit, piney and floral hops and something of Lipton’s Iced Tea. Flavor is medium body, some hoppiness and grass taste with a dry bitter aftertaste. This is the first IPA that tasted like an iced tea.