Two Brothers Northwind

Two Brothers Brewing Co.   Warrenville, IL

Notes:

Imperial Stout

12oz Bottle

9.1% ABV

45 IBU

Appearance:  Pours the darkest brown to black…a pinky finger of dark mocha head formed and remained…looks a bit watery, the head swirls around faster than normal and thins a little quicker than I woulda liked…(3.5/5)

Smell:  Roasted malts, oatmeal, chocolate, coffee, lactose…a very nice aroma, fairly straight forward…with deeper inspection, I get a hint of citrus…not overly pungent or diverse, but nice…(4/5)

Taste:  Deep roasted malts, chocolate, oatmeal, very much like the nose…I don’t get as strong of a milk flavor as the nose had, but it does have a creaminess to it…roasted coffee and coffee bitterness stand out and really become the dominant flavors as the beer warms…there’s some sweet candy toffee taste that is very mild, but apparent…I do get a light citrus freshness with each sip after I swallow that rounds everything off…there is some alcohol apparent in the flavor, but it blends well and only adds to the overall package…this is a somewhat robust roasted malt/coffee heavy imperial stout…(4.5/5)

Mouthfeel:  Light to medium body, light to medium carbonation…it does fluff up a bit, bringing some chocolate milkshake to the palate, but it’s super thin and wears out quickly…it’s a little watery for what I would expect and that is this brew’s  only flaw…roasted malt, oatmeal and coffee bitterness in the after taste…(3.5/5)

Overall:  This is maybe my favorite Two Brothers beer, I seek it out when I come to Chicago during the winter months and take some home with me to share…the flavor is strong and very tasty, but unfortunately it’s a bit watery and that rushes the mouthfeel away…I do find that after 15 minutes out of the fridge, the coffee aroma and flavor awake, taking the flavor to another level…in the future, I’ll set the bottle aside a few minutes before opening…while all it’s components may not be “world class”, the flavor is outstanding, making this one of my favorite stouts to drink...overall, I couldn’t recommend this brew more, if you see it at the store (or me with one), give it a try…(4.5/5)

Score:

(4.05/5)