Two Brothers 16th Anniversary Ale

Brewed By: Two Brothers Brewing Company in Warrenville, Illinois

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2013

Style/ABV: Belgian-style Ale, Allegedly 16.0%
Reported IBUs: 34

In celebration of their 16th year anniversary, Two Brothers released a special beer as they are wont to do. I believe this one was priced at around 6 or 7 bucks, making this 22oz bomber of sweet, boozy, Belgian Ale an appealing offer. Obviously I grabbed a bottle. And here we are. About Two Brothers:

Two Brothers are based out of Warrenville, Illinois, a town not far from Chicago. Two brothers was founded in 1996 by brother Jason and Jim Ebel. Their brewery and Tap House Restaurant are both located in Warrenville. Their distribution and production seems to be increasing with each year, and along with their beer you can buy home brewing equipment and supplies at the Tap House Restaurant.  

This is a ridiculous beer, clocking in at an alleged 16%. I say alleged, because word on the street is that this is actually around 12%, but the bottle labels were printed prior to the beer being finished. The back of the bottle reads:

"On March 16th of 1997 Jim and Jason spent 18 hours brewing the first 15 barrel batch of Two Brothers Brewing Company's beer, with a smile on their face the whole time. This labor of love continues today as the company celebrates its golden birthday. Our 16th Anniversary Ale is a larger than life Belgian style Golden Ale. This golden color beer is full bodied with a malty start and a spicy hop balance that is complimented with subtle clove-like characters. To our labor of love...Cheers."

Let's just assume this is pushing 12%, and clocking in at 34 IBUs. No matter how you look at this, this is a big beer. This is entering extreme beer territory, especially for a Belgian. So let's glass 'er up and see if this is going to be a sweet 16 with a BMW, or just another Honda. 

Two Brothers 16th Anniversary Ale

This one pours a golden straw color, with two fingers of white, foamy head. The head is surprisingly enduring, and it's pretty creamy/foamy, with lots of lacing. I'm kicking up head as I swirl this as well. In bright light this beer is a transparent straw/yellow color. The head is white, and still holding up...there's a nice stream of carbonation in the center of the glass. Swirling this one in the glass reveals some pretty glossy alcohol legs.

The aroma on this is really spicy, with funky clove, giant pepper, pink peppercorns, medicinal phenols, rotting fruit, and underlying booze. There's some banana, vanilla, clove, white sugar/candi sugar, and Wheat Wine-esque notes on the nose as well. It's like a Quad clashing with a wheat beer, or something. There is unmistakable candy sweetness on the nose, which I'm thinking is the booze. I should add that I'm maybe pulling apricots off the nose as well. The nose on this is intriguing...here's to hoping that so is the taste!

Hmmm...my initial impression upon my first two sips is that this is more hoppy than I was expecting, and has a much denser mouthfeel than I was expecting. Also, this one isn't as attenuated/dry as I was expecting. In a lot of ways, this reminds me of the Dogfish Head Fort and the Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. I'm getting some wheat, bread, murky hop flavors, spicy phenols, tons of candy sugar coating, faded citrus, and a ton of smoothness. The booze is hidden well in this, with no heat or alcohol in the taste. You do get it in your belly/throat. There's also a bit of peach in the taste, weeeerrrrddd.

I don't care if this is 12% or 16%, that's a huge ABV to dial a beer up to. Right now...to be perfectly honest...I'm wishing this had a bit more going on with the flavors. The flavors aren't bringing much complexity, despite the great palate depth and drinkability for a high-ABV beer. I am impressed with how drinkable this is, and how well it hides the alcohol. But that doesn't make a great beer. Maybe bourbon-barrel aging this would have imparted some much needed flavor? Mouthfeel is medium-full to full, but super smooth, with nice carbonation pulling things along. Up front you get sweet malts, bread and wheat, candy sugar, booze, hints of rotting fruits, light banana; this rolls into more of the same, with some spicy phenols, pepper, and clove; the back end is lingering spice, boozy smoothness...fade to a boozy finish.

Rating: Average (3/5 Untappd)

This one gets a Light Average from me. I love big, boozy beers. I really do. Get me drunk. Get me drunk on a Tuesday night and I'll be even happier. But dialing up the ABV is like getting out a hammer. Sometimes hammering the shit out of something isn't the answer. Here is a beer flirting with a Belgian Ale, a Wheat Wine, and maybe even an Americanized Strong Ale-type beer...unfortunately, a lot of the subtleties are just that: subtleties. It's possible this one will improve with some age, but I bet it would be even better aged in oak. It has moments where it reminds me of a good Quad, so I don't hate it or anything like that. I'm going to pair the second half of this bomber with some quesadillas...the huge ABV could probably stand up to spicy foods, strong cheeses, wings, and maybe even hot sauce. For 6 or 7 bucks this is at least worth checking out, especially if you're a Two Brothers fan. Worth buying, probably not worth trading for. #YOLO

Random Thought: One thing that always made me wonder was the line, "Til death do us part." I always thought this was a pretty cryptic line. Forever together...until death. I suppose at a certain point in marriage you might start counting your outs. I'm kidding! Have another drink.