Evil Twin Even More Jesus

Brewed By: Evil Twin Brewing (Westbrook Brewing) in Copenhagen/Brooklyn, Denmark (Brewed: Fanø Bryghus, Denmark)

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at Fischman Liquors and Tavern in Chicago, IL; 2013

Style/ABV: Imperial Stout, 12.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

We all could use a little more Jesus in our life. Tonight's beer should fill all sorts of holes in my soul...something something Catholicism! Woo. About Evil Twin. 

Evil Twin is a Gypsy Brewery founded by founded by Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø (brother of Mikkel Borg Bjergsø) in 2010. Like his twin brother Mikkel, Jeppe is a teacher, and a homebrewer who was tired of the mainstream offerings. In 2004, Mikkel went off to pursue brewing, while Jeppe opened up a bottle shop. In 2010, while teaching a homebrewing, Jeppe decided to sell and distribute the beer he was brewing via his bottle shop. Jeppe moved to New York in 2012. For more info, check out this interview/history here. 

Even More Jesus is a highly rated, highly praised beer that features aromas/flavors of chocolate, dark fruits, and muscovado sugar. Clocking in at an aggressive 12.0%, let's get this beer into a glass and heal our soul. 

Evil Twin Even More Jesus

Holy shit at this beer's pour...this beer pours out a squid-ink black color, with motor-oil-thick, obsidian black beer oozing out of the bottle. The beer kicks up three fingers of SUPER DARK, dense/thick/bready head. The head is starts out the same shade of the beer, and slowly turns into a dark brown color. At one point, the head was the same shade of color as Cocoa Crispies. The beer looks much the same in bright light. This beer has a PITCH BLACK, opaque body...a centimeter of dark brown head is hanging around, and this beer leaves glossy alcohol tears on the side of the glass.

The aroma on this beer is super dense...I'm pulling out big molasses, melted brown sugar, and fruity sweetness (ala raisins, plums, prunes). I'm getting big chocolate/brownie, and roast with some hints of meaty smoke. There's also some peppery spice and hints of booze. I'm not getting a ton of coffee.

While I wasn't getting a lot of coffee in the aroma, it's definitely coming out in the taste. This beer is motor-oil thick, and coats your mouth for that long duration. This reminds me of Bourbon County, without the Bourbon...you get some dark fruits (raisins/plums/figs) and molasses up front; that rolls into big roast, spicy booze, and some hoppy kick; that rolls into big boozy complexity, with big duration and a trailing, sticky finish. Coffee and chocolate both make an appearance, and the boozy punch this beer has is a welcomed layer of awesomeness.

You don't even need to unpack this winrar. The mouthfeel is full-bodied, sticky, and dense. Palate depth/duration is outstanding, and this beer has average complexity for the style. At 12.0%, this is surprisingly drinkable...you get lots of fruit sweetness, molasses, and chocolate/brownie up front; that rolls into chocolate, brownie, roast, spicy complexity, some booze, and some hops; the back end trails off with more roast, hops, and booze. Great duration, great finish...I wouldn't even barrel-age this.

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew on this. This is pretty much perfect...but the cynic in me wonders if this could have a little more complexity. Either way, the thick mouthfeel and palate duration is what makes this beer. This is my type of Stout, and something you could sip on for an hour over the course of an evening. This is a great beer, and I would pair it only with dessert or a snifter to be sipped on for dessert. Fantastic stuff...try it if you can find it.

Random Thought: A small minority of critics are calling the Breaking Bad finale "soft," going as far as to say that Vince Gilligan portrayed Walter White as a hero. I strongly disagree with these claims. 

I think these claims and sentiments are due to the mood shift in the final two episodes, and can be attributed to the shortsighted nature of watching TV shows. It's easy to get caught up in mood changes from episode to episode, but it is important to keep the context of the entire show in mind. 

There was no redemption for Walter White. The dude has screwed over countless people due to his ego. When Jesse escaped in the final scene...the look on his face...he was so happy to be escaping, but you can tell his entire life is ruined. The final exchange between Skyler and Walt was harldy Walt finding redemption or making peace with Sklyer. Rather, it was Walt confessing his ego.

Redemption would be sitting in exile in the middle of a snowy hell, inside a cabin, all alone, with your big tun of money, waiting to die from cancer while you contemplate all the horrible things you have done. That would be redemption. 

The irony and tragedy (aside from the irony that people think that Walt is a hero based on the finale's mood swing) is that in one final move, Walt let his ego get the best of him after calling his son, and then after seeing Gretchen and Elliott on TV. Remember: Walt was instructed to stay in that cabin. Against common sense and better judgement, Walt let his ego and pride get the best of him one last time.

Only Walt and his big ego could successfully roll back into town, evade the police, "get even" with Gretchen and Elliott, go against his son's wishes in a sneaky and Walt-esque way, and then go and exact revenge against the Nazis that screwed him over and took his money.

That's classic Walt. And in the final shot...the real irony and tragedy is that Walt looked happy. Or maybe that was his ego. Just for those brief seconds before he died and the police showed up, I think Walt was truly happy.

Of course, you know who isn't happy? Everyone else. Including Jesse...who may have escaped by the skin of his teeth...but we all know Jesse's life is ruined. Skyler's life is ruined. Marie's life is ruined. And who knows who else got fucked over by Walt. Actually...we have a pretty good idea. Aside from Jane and Andrea and Drew Sharp, Walt is responsible for Hank and Gomie's death, he's responsible for the plane crash in Season 2, he's responsible for the destruction of a retirement home, et al.

I don't really view this last episode as redemption at all, and I don't think you should either. Walt's final plan wasn't last minute heroics to save Jesse, it was to wire his son money against his son's will and to collide his ego with Gray Matter. You could even argue that his motivation to get Skyler off the hook was so she could get his money. And he needed to kill the Nazis to save Skyler. I think a lot of what motivated Walt in the finale was based on his ego, and was certainly not the actions of someone who is selfless and mindful of others. And I really don't think it was the actions of a hero.

These are just my 2 cents, of course. I think the weight of the series clearly supports this and people are getting caught up in the week-by-week thing that comes with any TV show.