Purchased: 375ml/12.7oz bottle (corked & caged) bought at Andersonville Wine & Spirits in Chicago, IL; 2014 (2014 vintage)
Style/ABV: American Wild Ale, 6.5%
Reported IBUs: 50.3
After the super disappointing Tangent, I promised sweet, sweet (and much needed) redemption. Well redemption is here, craft crazies. About Two Brothers:
The Fathom has a simple and sexy bottle. The cork was wedged in tightly, but came out without much of a pop. I do have concerns about aging these Two Brothers sours, but c'est la vie. This one pours into a hazy, light amber/copper color in lower light. The beer produces a finger or two of sizzling, crackling, off-white head. Surprisingly, there's some sea foam head retention. In bright light, this beer takes on a golden-amber/bronze appearance. There's A LOT of active carbonation, which is great to see. And the head retention is still impressive.
Much like the Tangent, this has a banging aroma. Right away I'm getting a lot of oak, woody barrel, lactic funk, and HUGE lemon character. The lemon character veers into the land of apple cider vinegar, tart apples, vinegar, pickled foods, and aggressive sourness. This doesn't even play around, with just the lightest hints of candy sweetness. I'm getting glimpses of Black Cherry Warheads, but this has aggressive sourness on the aroma. The wood and oak really comes out though, and I like that a lot.
And...unlike the Tangent...this actually tastes good. This actually tastes substantial, and sour. This is kind of what you should expect when you crack into a Flanders Red-type beer. Now, this still isn't at the punishing levels of sourness...this is kind of in that Duchesse De Bourgogne range. I'm getting really nice oak and woody tartness, lots of lactic character, some lemon, big apple cider vinegar, pickled vegetables, and some bready sweetness towards the back end. The bready sweetness hints at biscuit and honey, and then takes a turn towards super dry as the oaky wood and tart sour character dries your mouth out. There's some interesting fruit character in this beer, coming from the interplay between the malts and the lactic notes. I'm getting hints of tart peaches, citrus, and mild berry character. This is actually fairly complex, and has good depth.
The real question is: what the hell happened with the Tangent? Why is that beer so bad? It's a very underwhelming beer. Thankfully, there's sweet redemption. The Fathom is really enjoyable. This is my second bottle of this beer, and I am smitten. This has a medium-full mouthfeel, with plenty of carbonation, acidity, and lactic funk. Palate depth is phenomenal; really, divine stuff. This one lingers on your palate for quite a while, and goes from sweet to sour to malty sweet to dry. Two things hold this back from being world-class: the slightly subdued sourness, and the moderate complexity for the style. I think this one has room to mature in the bottle...I'd like to get my hands on a few more bottles of this to age. I'm not sure if this is pasteurized though...the pour was fairly clean with no dregs. Up front: a wave of malty sweetness, followed by immense lactic funk, lemon tartness, red cider vinegar, oaky wood, and barrel; the mids roll into buttery lactic character, big oak, more barrel, suggestive fruits (peach, berries, etc.); the back end hits some nice malty notes with bread and honey, and then the beer finishes dry with barrel in your face. Super nice stuff.
Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)
Random Thought: I think the Askew is even better than the Fathom...I had it on tap and I'm pretty impressed. If Two Brothers continues to release sour beers on the regular, they are going to reassert themselves as one of Illinois' most important breweries. Illinois has a lot of beer these days, but is really lacking in terms of sour/wild ales.
Reported IBUs: 50.3
After the super disappointing Tangent, I promised sweet, sweet (and much needed) redemption. Well redemption is here, craft crazies. 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. If you get the chance, swing by and check out their Roundhouse. It's an awesome joint, and needs all the love it can get. For more information, check out their about page/website.Like the Tangent, the Fathom is part of Two Brothers "Project Opus." The Fathom is a golden-color sour ale that has been aged in oak foudres for two years. Punching in at 6.5% and 50.3 IBUs, this bottle comes corked and caged, and would be impressive from the onset if not for the extremely disappointing Tangent that preceded it. I promise nothing but good things, so let's glass this one up.
 |
| Two Brothers Fathom |
The Fathom has a simple and sexy bottle. The cork was wedged in tightly, but came out without much of a pop. I do have concerns about aging these Two Brothers sours, but c'est la vie. This one pours into a hazy, light amber/copper color in lower light. The beer produces a finger or two of sizzling, crackling, off-white head. Surprisingly, there's some sea foam head retention. In bright light, this beer takes on a golden-amber/bronze appearance. There's A LOT of active carbonation, which is great to see. And the head retention is still impressive.
Much like the Tangent, this has a banging aroma. Right away I'm getting a lot of oak, woody barrel, lactic funk, and HUGE lemon character. The lemon character veers into the land of apple cider vinegar, tart apples, vinegar, pickled foods, and aggressive sourness. This doesn't even play around, with just the lightest hints of candy sweetness. I'm getting glimpses of Black Cherry Warheads, but this has aggressive sourness on the aroma. The wood and oak really comes out though, and I like that a lot.
And...unlike the Tangent...this actually tastes good. This actually tastes substantial, and sour. This is kind of what you should expect when you crack into a Flanders Red-type beer. Now, this still isn't at the punishing levels of sourness...this is kind of in that Duchesse De Bourgogne range. I'm getting really nice oak and woody tartness, lots of lactic character, some lemon, big apple cider vinegar, pickled vegetables, and some bready sweetness towards the back end. The bready sweetness hints at biscuit and honey, and then takes a turn towards super dry as the oaky wood and tart sour character dries your mouth out. There's some interesting fruit character in this beer, coming from the interplay between the malts and the lactic notes. I'm getting hints of tart peaches, citrus, and mild berry character. This is actually fairly complex, and has good depth.
The real question is: what the hell happened with the Tangent? Why is that beer so bad? It's a very underwhelming beer. Thankfully, there's sweet redemption. The Fathom is really enjoyable. This is my second bottle of this beer, and I am smitten. This has a medium-full mouthfeel, with plenty of carbonation, acidity, and lactic funk. Palate depth is phenomenal; really, divine stuff. This one lingers on your palate for quite a while, and goes from sweet to sour to malty sweet to dry. Two things hold this back from being world-class: the slightly subdued sourness, and the moderate complexity for the style. I think this one has room to mature in the bottle...I'd like to get my hands on a few more bottles of this to age. I'm not sure if this is pasteurized though...the pour was fairly clean with no dregs. Up front: a wave of malty sweetness, followed by immense lactic funk, lemon tartness, red cider vinegar, oaky wood, and barrel; the mids roll into buttery lactic character, big oak, more barrel, suggestive fruits (peach, berries, etc.); the back end hits some nice malty notes with bread and honey, and then the beer finishes dry with barrel in your face. Super nice stuff.
Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)
I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average here. This is a fantastic sour/wild ale. You'd never expect this after drinking the Tangent. What's even more exciting is that the rest of the Two Brothers sours seem to be on point...their Hoodwink and Askew are both great. I'm gonna track another bottle of this down to age, and see if this continues to funk up in the bottle. Food pairings here include sweet cheeses, fruit salads, fruit slaw, fatty/oily foods, poutine, and mussels in white wine sauce.
Random Thought: I think the Askew is even better than the Fathom...I had it on tap and I'm pretty impressed. If Two Brothers continues to release sour beers on the regular, they are going to reassert themselves as one of Illinois' most important breweries. Illinois has a lot of beer these days, but is really lacking in terms of sour/wild ales.
No comments:
Post a Comment