January 27, 2012
Twirly...
Two Brothers Brewing in Warrenville, Illinois, is geographically the closest “major” production brewery to my suburban Chicago hometown, so when they announce big news, I’m always quite excited for them. Throw in the fact that the brewery’s founding brothers Jim and Jason Ebel share my alma mater, and you get a brewery that I’ve tried to support whenever possible ever since I first got into craft beer. This has included a number of trips to the brewery-adjoining tap house and special events like the yearly release of their DIPA “Hop Juice.”
I was excited, then, to see the brewery announce via its Facebook page* Tuesday afternoon that it would officially begin releasing canned brews. And surprisingly, it’s not even one of their year-round brews or a flagship beer like Domaine DuPage that they’re releasing! Instead, it’s an entirely new beer called Outlaw IPA. It’s something quite unexpected from a brewery that already makes a few different IPAs, but indicative of Two Brothers’ obvious confidence in their product and in their fans.
*The brewery mostly uses its Facebook page for all news, because its site is horrifically out of date, as I have pointed out at length before. Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | 
Ale Factories | Tagged: Craft Cans, two brothers, two brothers brewing, two brothers outlaw | 
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Posted by Kid Carboy Jr.
July 30, 2011
I really enjoy schwarzbiers, but they’re definitely not a style you see all that often, even in this age of increasing craft beer enlightenment. I imagine that’s because they’re kind of a relic and caught stylistically inbetween a bunch of other places–a dark beer that is also crisp, not as powerfully flavored as your porters and stouts. It’s easy to see how a lot of drinkers getting into craft beer might go straight for bigger and badder dark beers, but there’s a certain schwarzbier quality I like very much.
The best ones combine the aspects of a continental European pilsner and a drier, roastier version of a Vienna lager. There should be fairly low sweetness, a dry, roasty character and a good charge of noble hops. I like some spiciness in them, like you would get in a Czech pils. Unfortunately, that’s not quite what I got from this particular schwarzbier. Read the rest of this entry »
6 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: Schwarzbier, two brothers, two brothers brewing, two brothers reprieve | Permalink
Posted by Kid Carboy Jr.
May 21, 2011
Happy Craft Beer Week! Last night, Herr Direktor and I hit up the 2nd Annual Columbus (Ohio) Beer Fest. At 210 beers, it’s a microcosm of its bigger cousins. And there were plenty of breweries notably missing, some because they don’t distribute to Ohio, others for no apparent reason (DFH WTF?).
The atmosphere was… very Ohio. It was in a small ballroom at the convention center. The music was terrible. It was a 4-1/2 hour long beer festival, yet the band took at least an hour long break in the middle–giving way to a crappy radio station. Also, the band sucked. It was like Smashing Pumpkins but with no talent. The food was overpriced and downright bad. And why was the ceiling covered in red and blue neon lights? I don’t know.
I was pumped for the beer list, though. Read the rest of this entry »
8 Comments | Beer Festivals | Tagged: Avery, barley brewing company, beer festivals, Bell's, Boulder, Breckenridge, Brooklyn, columbus brewing, elevator, flying dog, Founders, Goose Island, Gordon Biersch, Great Divide, Harpoon, ithaca, Jolly Pumpkin, Lagunitas, Left Hand, maumee bay brewing, moerlein, mt. carmel, North Coast, north peak, Ohio, Ommegang, rivertown, Rogue, Sierra Nevada, Smuttynose, Southern Star, Southern Tier, steven's point, Stone, tall grass, Thirsty Dog, Troegs, two brothers, Victory, widmer | Permalink
Posted by Commander Pint O. Chug
