DIPA March Gladness Tourney – Final Four Revealed

Announcing the “FINAL FOUR” of B&B’s 1^st Annual “March Gladness” Double India Pale Ale (DIPA) Bomber Tourney!

A "Cinderella" brewery is still alive.  Are they this year's "Wichita State" of breweries? We'll see.  Thankfully no bottles were broken during the Tourney tasting.  Tune in Sunday morning April 7th for the Championship match-up and Monday afternoon April 8th for the crowning of "DIPA King". 

DIPA March Gladness Tourney – Elite 8 Revealed

DRUMROLL please…

 

Announcing the “Elite 8” of B&B’s 1^st Annual “March Gladness” Double India Pale Ale (DIPA) Bomber Tourney!  The B&B team and an elite group of tasters will embark on a tasting tournament of epic IBUs.   

  

Double the hop, double the pleasure…may the best DIPA win! 

These DIPAs are considered staples of each local brewer in the Chicagoland area, extending from the shores of Lake Michigan in beautiful Gary, Indiana to the hipster alleys of Chicago.  Matchups were determined based on a systematic random selection process involving small pieces of paper and a hat.

The B&B team will be blindly drinking through the first round this week to determine which DIPA's will make it to the Final 4.  Check back next week as the Final 4 Artisans will be proclaimed.      

Review: Two Brothers Brown Fox

Brewery:  Two Brothers Brewing Company

Locale:  Warrenville, IL

Craft Circa:  1997

Style:  Brown Session Ale ~ Hybrid

ABV:  3.4%

IBUs:  14

Notables:  For Two Brothers 15^th anniversary summer long celebration, “15 Beers for 15 Years”, this Artisan brew represents #7 of 15, released in July of 2012. 

Label:   Average. Does have an English vintage feel though.

Overall:   I have missed the ball on the other anniversary brews, but the majority I have seen seem to be inappropriate for the summer.   Unappetizing if you will.  I mean I really want to try a good portion of these below, and I’m hoping some, including the Scotch Ale is still around when fall climate creeps in.  It’s tough to experiment with these when it’s 90 some degrees.  Sorry, but a Dark Mild, Coffee Porter, Black Saison are not the quenching type.

The Pahoehoe not pictured was released August 6^th 2012.  The Pahoehoe is a coconut ale.  Hmmm.

OK, back to Brown Fox.  Number 7 of the anniversary ales, comes in as a hybrid of sorts, I believe between a Brown Ale and a Session Ale.  Session Ale if you recall from our very first review, is lower in alcohol enabling you to drink more of them in a longer session of time.  It’s definitely more a Brown or Amber type of beer, but just comes off much weaker.  It’s flavorful in a sense that the malt and nut characteristics of a Brown Ale shine through beautifully, but it’s much too weak for my liking.

Brown Fox is a clever name as it is Brown Ale which is sly in the fact that it will not get you drunk.  This is a lot of beer to work on for little or no ROI.  Return on Investment you say?  Very good, but this in fact is B&B’s take on the scenario.  ROI, or the “Return on Influence” as we will call it, is the rate of return you get out of your beer using ABV, Quantity and Quality of the brew.

The beer is fine, tastes pretty good, but not enough bang for my buck.

Acquisition:  22 oz.  $5

~gY

Review: Two Brothers Dog Days Lager

Brewery:  Two Brothers Brewing Company
Locale:  Warrenville, IL

Craft Circa:  1997

Style:  Lager – Dortmunder Style

ABV:  5.1%

IBUs:  17

Notables:  Seasonal between April & August

Label:  Appropriate for dog lovers and beer lovers alike.  

Overall:   Brings back memories of my first sip of dad’s MGD way back when…. only much better.   I usually do not drink too many lagers unless it’s an Iron City during a Stillers playoff game.  The lager is a crisp, refreshing beer.  It’s full of flavor, has slight caramel, and a hint of hops… overall a very good, quality lager.  The beer has stamina, and keeps delivering the goods.  I believe Two Brothers nailed this style.   

I rarely purchase lagers, but I would definitely drink this beer under the right circumstances.  For example, if Gooner was having a bash, and had some in the cooler, I’d be enthralled to drink a few or twelve.  If there are lager drinkers who are not accustomed to branching off from their MGD’s, get them a six pack to try.  They’ll love it.

It’s the best thing to come out of Germany since Indiana and Henry Jones on a zeppelin. 

Acquisition:  6 pack - $10

Windfall:  Dortmunder means something or someone from Dortmund, Germany.  In this case, it refers to the style of Lager.  Lagers are interesting in that it is one of the few basic brews that cannot be made by the amateur home brewer because it is a type of beer that is fermented and conditioned at low temperatures, which are difficult to control and mandate for the amateur brewer.

~gY

Review: Two Brothers Hop Juice

Brewery:  Two Brothers Brewing Company

Locale:  Warrenville, IL

Craft Circa:  1997

Style:  Double IPA

ABV:  9.9%

IBUs:  100.1

Notables:  An artisan beer crafted with a limited release in June of each year. 

Label:  Wonderful bottle.  A hop squeezed into a glass.  Sigh…. if it only were that easy.   

Overall:   I hyped this one up in my mind due to the favorable beers and consistency I’ve consumed through Two Brothers.  Across the board they are one of the more unswerving breweries out there.  Hop Juice did not disappoint.  This is an extraordinary brew.  No wonder this brew has its own festival.   That’s right, its own festival.  The Hop Juice Festival takes place the first weekend of June each year, to kick off the release I imagine.   They also have a home brew competition, so start working on yours this year. 

Double IPAs, also referred to as Imperial IPAs are an extra hopped version of an IPA. They typically have alcohol content above 7.5% volume according to Wiki. 

This is an extra hopped version of their Resistance IPA, with full citrus and a balanced blend of caramel that works nicely.  A little heavier than I would have imagined, making it difficult to drink another in the midst of a heat wave, but an excellent beer.  Very smooth, very bold, and it’s a very good choice for just about any occasion.  Just make that occasion a June event to take advantage of the fresh hops.  Hovering around 10% alcohol, a few of these and you’ll be doing stunts like Mrs. Featherbottom in no time! 

Acquisition:  22 oz.  $8 - $9

Tidbits:  The Hop Juice festival takes place outside of Naperville, IL.  If you plan on attending in the near future, play it safe!  Naperville and the surrounding area are continuously in the top tier for DUI arrests in Illinois and are infamous for making busts constantly. 

~gY

Review: Two Brothers Prairie Path Golden Ale

Brewery: Two Brothers Brewing Company
Locale: Warrenville, IL
Craft Circa: 1997
Style: Golden Ale
ABV: 5.1%
IBUs: 25


Notables: Available year-round; Gluten Free

Label: Nice and simple. There’s a path through what looks to be a prairie with a partly sunny sky above. No “Little House on the Prairie” depicted here.


Overall: Very good. Ales are usually not my beer of choice. However, I thought, “Hey it’s from Two Brothers so I have to give it a shot.” I follow my own two sip rule. I usually know by the second sip whether I like the beer or not. It could be psychological but I think the first sip kind of prepares your mouth or, to be fancy, cleanses your palate. And by the second sip I knew I liked this beer. Prairie Path had a slight bitterness to it but was very smooth and bubbly. It’s refreshing, not a strong flavor, but not lacking in flavor either. With the heat wave hitting Chicago this beer was welcome refreshment. It felt like I was at a ballpark enjoying America’s pastime but actually enjoying the beer too for once.


Acquisition: 6 pack $8.99


Tidbits: What does IBU mean?


Per Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_measurement The International Bittering Units scale, or simply IBU scale, provides a measure of the bitterness of beer, which is provided by the hops used during brewing. Bittering units are measured through the use of a spectrophotometer and solvent extraction.


The bittering effect is less noticeable in beers with a high quantity of malt, so a higher IBU is needed in heavier beers to balance the flavor. For example, an Imperial Stout may have an IBU of 50, but will taste less bitter than an English Bitter with an IBU of 30, because the latter beer uses much less malt than the former. The technical limit for IBU's is around 100; some have tried to surpass this number, but there is no real gauge after 100 IBUs when it comes to taste threshold. Light lagers without much bitterness will generally have 5 IBUs, while an India Pale Ale may have 100 IBUs or more.


In case you didn’t get enough on gluten, here’s a Wikipedia page on gluten-free diets.


Got it? Good!


~Gy