Happy as always to find another offering from my favorite brewery from the Western Suburbs, Two Brothers. They have been pretty consistent with their beer-good ales: pales and IPAs, as well as consistent quality in their seasonals as well as Domaine Dupage which I haven't found anyone matching in flavor and uniqueness. But now for Christmas I found this, at Binny's, and was looking forward to seeing what all the fuss was about (the fuss was a 14.99 six-pack price).Labeled as an Imperial Red Ale, and boasting a 9.5% ABV, I had a feeling this was going to be a rocking strong brew, and quite unique. It certainly turned out to be exactly that. Not surprising, I suppose, since besides DD, Two Brothers also have Cane and Abel on their resume, which is also a unique flavor I have not experienced elsewhere either.
I didn't want to go too much into the other beers listed on the 15 for the 15th anniversary this year, and not because I was only really fond of a couple- the Old 1713 was awesome plus the 91 Shilling was also very tasty (OK, I love those Wee Heavies).
But I will give them credit for introducing these beers this year, because I think they wanted to show their versatility and give something to the loyal fans, although a bunch of them I had no taste for.But it was the 15th of the list, as they were saying all along, that would be something that has never been introduced before and would be substantial, and I think it definitely is that.
Now how can I describe it? Really sweet and malty, but with enough hops to make it bold in the bitterness too. There is, no doubt, a large amount of alcohol here, a liquor smack in the head.
Now, I come to a problem here. I have to rate it, which I am willing to do, because looking at the categories normally used to describe beer this one hits them all very well. But the problem here is what I often see with many High Alcohol beers-it is just not my thing. Yes, I may try one again, but it would be my first of the night and I would follow it with a bunch of 6% beers, because that is what I like the most.
CBC Rating: 4. Again, it is worthy, but I just don't give it a lot higher than that because it is very limited in its uses.
