Evil Twin Justin Blåbær

Brewed By: Evil Twin Brewing (Westbrook Brewing) in Copenhagen/Brooklyn

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

Style/ABV: Berliner Weiss, 4.5%

Reported IBUs: ?

Tonight's beer is an abomination, which is why I had to pick it up. 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. 

There is no info for tonight's beer, because Evil Twin's website shit the bed. But the back of the bottle states:

"OMG! It's JUSTIN BLABAER!!! If you have "Blabaer fever," then this is the only cure. We stuffed so many blueberries into this beer--it's going to make you shout, "Oh, Baby!" This is dedicated to AVSB, A&F YFFL - EW, MW, RWM, BE, SS, RC"

Evil Twin Justin Blåbær. Hideous. 

The Blåbær pours into a hazy, vibrant, orange body...I guess it kind of has some streaky purple tones, but not really. The beer kicks up several fingers of white, wheat-fueled head. There's a storm of carbonation rising upwards on my glasses' nucleation point, and I'm seeing some yeast chunks floating around. Sexy. Head retention is good.

The aroma...the aroma on this beer is awesome, with jammy berry notes. I'm getting jammy blueberry/raspberry/blackberry...and then as you settle into the aroma a weird chalky aroma comes to the forefront. I'm also picking up tons of lactic funk, and lots of lactic tartness. The chalky note on the aroma is 100% Sweet Tarts and I have no idea what the fuck I'm smelling, but it is there. There's some grassy/straw and grassy funk on the aroma as well.

Oh man...I'm enjoying this. Did I mention Berliners are like one of my favorite styles of beer? This shit is cash, like Johnny Cash, except less dead and more blueberry. There's a ton of sour, aggressively tart, refreshing, wheat-forward lactic funk up front. You pick up big lemons, jammy berries, jammy apricots and peaches, enamel-crushing lactic sourness, and then the beer settles into a malty, wheaty finish. The actual finish is lingering tartness, super dry, lactic fun. 

I like this a lot. Someone I spoke to said they were picking up some butter/popcorn in their bottle, so maybe there is some batch variation or infections out there. This bottle is perfect. This is refreshing, drinkable, and features good palate depth and complexity for the style. It's light-bodied, super tart, and has tons of carbonation. It's well attenuated and finishes dry. There's a lot going on here too...You get aggressive lemon-lactic-tart and sourness up front; that rolls into jammy fruits, jammy berries, and big lactic funk; that rolls into wheat, some creamy lactic goodness, and a dry, lactic/sour/tart finish. This one will pull on your enamel and ride those molars like a Texas sorority girl on a bull at the bar.

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew on this...I think they have a version of this beer aged in wine barrels? Or maybe this one right here is that beer. I don't know, because the Evil Twin website is down. Ahem. For a beer like this, I would pair it with strong, dry cheeses, fruit salads, light vegetable salads, and fruit pies and fruit desserts. Good stuff and affordable at around 10 dollars a bomber.

Random Thought: I should buy novelty beers more regularly.