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. 

Pipeworks Brother Blue Beardo

Brewed By: Pipeworks Brewing in Chicago, IL  

Purchased: 750ml bottle (Batch #227/228) bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2013 (bottled 10.23.2013)

Style/ABV: Abbey Dubbel, 10.0%
Reported IBUs: ?

Happy mother-fucking-new-year!!! About Pipeworks:

Pipeworks has humble roots. The brewery was founded in Chicago in 2011 by Beejay Oslon and Gerrit Lewis. The duo were both homebrewers that met while while working at West Lakeview Liquors. In 2011, they began to raise money for their brewery using the online Internet site, Kickstarter. Olson and Lewis were both educated at De Struise Brewery in Oostvleteren, Belgium. With that knowledge, and the money from their kickstarter, Olson and Lewis created a unique brewery that is smaller in size, and intended to brew smaller batches of beer. The company's motto is "small batches, big beers." And indeed, since the brewery has been around, they've been releasing a lot of one-offs and small batch releases. The goal is to release a new beer every week. You can read more about the brewery at their website HERE.

Tonight's beer is a bit of a redemption review for me, after I was underwhelmed with Pipework's Date Sugar Yeast Magik. Although that beer was super sugary, there is no sugar coating that it wasn't a very good beer. Tonight's beer is brewed in a very similar fashion, only it features blueberries instead of dates. Punching in at 10.0% and featuring some nifty bottle art, here's to hoping that this one goes a little better. The back of the bottle states:

Pipeworks Brother Blue Beardo...beer from heaven? Nope. Shitty picture.

"Brother Blue Beardo has run amonk within the confines of his monastery adding blueberries to his Belgian Dubble brewed with dark sugars and a warm, spicy Trappist ale yeast, just in stein for the end of the berry season. This blue brother is surely full of cheers."

This one is already doing a lot better than the Date Sugar Yeast Magik. The beer pours into a murky, dark orange/red/purple/brown body, and kicks up a finger or two of Belgian Dubbel-esque tan head. This one appears to be appropriately carbonated, and looks the part in the glass.

Ah...the aroma on here is very nice. This reminds me of Solemn Oath's Big Box Make Magic, and smells a lot more refined than the Date Sugar Yeast Magik. I'm getting tons of Belgian candi sugar, perfume, and suggestive dark fruits: plums, Smucker's Grape Jelly, and perfume/sugar fruits. I wouldn't peg blueberries on the aroma in a blind tasting, so I'll leave that one be. I'm also getting some caramel-malt and some hop kick on the aroma, which is welcomed layer of complexity.

The hops and intense caramel sugars show up in the taste. The malt complexity in this beer is a huge improvement over the Date Sugar Yeast Magik. I'm getting a dark grain character in the taste, along with caramel, and some darker sugars. There's some Belgian candi sugar, brown sugar, and a little turbinado in the mix. The yeast character here has some nice light spice, and I'm getting big plums, figs, and suggestive dark fruits. Again...like the aroma, I wouldn't be able to peg blueberries in this. But the profile of the blueberries works with the Belgian Dubbel style. There's some bready notes in the mix as well.

This one is two months old at this point...I don't know if the extra time to condition in the bottle is a factor here, or if this beer had better success in fermentation. This is a MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better beer than the #167 batch of the Date Sugar Yeast Magik. This is medium-full bodied, and is appropriately carbonated for the style. It could even be more carbonated, I think, but what is present is in line with the style. Palate depth is good, and the complexity is moderate. There's some intriguing depth to this beer if you search for it. The 10.0% ABV is totally hidden, and this beer drinks way easier than it should. I'm getting sweet Belgian candi sugars and dark fruits up front, with some hops and dark sugars; that rolls into bready malts, brown sugar, turbinado sugar, and other complex sugars; that rolls into some spice and dark fruits, and the finish is mostly dry and mostly attenuated. 

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average on this. This beer has surprising depth, with a nice range of dark sugar flavors, some good malt complexity, dark fruits, and a little hoppy balance to boot. The completely hidden alcohol is a plus as well. It's a good beer. It's also a huge improvement over the Date Sugar Yeast Magik. It's proof that Pipeworks cares about their beer, and that they consistently improve from batch to batch. You can pair this with strong cheeses, meats, red meats, steak...anything that goes with those dark fruit flavors. This style is often slightly vinous, but this beer is a little more sweet and carbonated. It's not dusty either. Still, this beer will hold up to steak, red meats, and maybe even a light pasta dish with red sauce. Good stuff, I recommend this.

Random Thought: So I was talking to someone from Pipeworks, and they implied that they are still dealing with some growing pains, which might explain why there is some variance between batches. It's to be expected with a growing brewery, and I have only good things to say about Pipeworks. They do a good job fixing issues in future batches, and I'm confident that these guys are going to continue to be doing awesome things with future batches. Cheers to Pipeworks in 2014, and happy new year everyone!