Two Brothers Hop Juice

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

Tosa Tasting ala BBB63. Dark gold to amber in color. Smaller white head and a few specks of lace. Mild pale dry malt aromas taken over completely by the usual hop suspects, pine and grapefruit. Some mild earthy fruit as well in the nose. thinner hoppy flavors that are not backed up by the malt. Only a dry malt presence, when the hops are needing a thick juicy malt squeeze. Another IIPA that for me seems to gasp the thought of hops but leaves the malt in the background just for Et-OH kicks.

Nice brown clear color. Thin head with a light but pleasant aroma. Taste is mainly hops with a slight malt back. Bitter, but not too bitter. The sweetness needs to be bumped up to make the score on this one go up. Pretty good, but there is room to improve.

22 oz bottle: hazy fire-engine orange with a full, rocky ivory head. Piney, grapefruit rind aroma with fresh vanilla bean skins, pine cone sap, hop flowers and honey suckle. Extraordinarily dry mouth feel – due to both the massive amounts of hops and incredible alcohol, I wonder if they used a champagne yeast? Hop belches quickly ensue right along side of the astringent hop bitterness and is backed up by minimal bits of table sugar and traces of alcohol. Much smoother as it warms, but there is a poor balance of flavours throughout, too much bitterness and not enough depth of caramel malts, grain and fruits (beside the rinds of lemons and grapefruits). Anyway, this was incredibly drinkable (especially as it warmed) considering the alcohol and I think that I would drink another, though it is pretty one dimensional.

Any first impressions?
-A big-bubbled ring of head sits over a heavily sedimented orange pond.
-Wooden, sandy hops soar over the biscuity malts.
-Some caramel exists within the citrusy and resinous hoppiness.
-Mouthfeel is airy but bulked up to support the ambitious ingredients.

What if you dig deeper?
-A tree bark bitterness lingers agreeably.
-It does achieve some sort of balance, which is appreciable for a beer this size.
-Alcohol is well-positioned, never bothersome, and only accordingly warming.
-This is a competent Double IPA which won’t wow the traveling tastebuds, but which will satisfy most hop cravings.

Bottle; no date.

Golden amber with a small white head. Malty and piney in the aroma. Body is piney and grapefruit with a malt backbone that is weaker than is needed. It doesn’t blow me away with the hop profile and then fails to make it up with a malty balance. Good but not great.

from the bottle. poured a cloudy orange with a small of white head that didn’t last very long with lots of floaties. aroma when I 1st popped the cap the hops jump right out of the bottle, nice blend of caramel, orange, malts and grapefruit. flavor not as hoppy as I was hoping for but not to bad. did get a hint of malt and grapefruit. with a touch of alcohol. not to bad took care of the hop craving I was having

Looks almost like apple juice, but for the wisp of a head. Earthy, musky somewhat herbal caramel malt aroma. Not very carbonated. Quite smooth in flavor, though a little watery for the style. Floral, clean, soft hop flavor. Nice finishing bitterness. Easy to drink with no apparent alcohol.

Amber/orange color with a medium off-white head. Aroma dominated by hops. Pine needles. Virtually no trace of malt, and surprisingly little hint of alcohol given the strength. Taste is still more hops, but there is just enough malt in the background to offer a bit of contrast. Again the alcohol is very subdued. A nice beer, but it could use a little more malt backbone to move up a few notches.