Evil Twin Hipster Ale Review

Name: Evil Twin Hipster Ale
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 5.5%
IBUs: N/A

Hipsters, they've been the butt of many jokes for the past few years. Whether you love them or despise them, there is no doubt that they have, to some extent, promoted the image of craft beer. As to whether that image is positive or negative is a matter of opinion.

So leave it to Evil Twin Brewing to create the Hipster Ale, a tribute ale to hipsters, and by hipsters, I mean us......or something. I'll show you the label and let that do the talking:

Perhaps you heard of a worldwide beer-movement that tributes favorite hipster neighbourhoods across the globe. If you feel excluded because you’re hip but your city is not, this cutting-edge, ‘hip without border’ pale ale is an homage to you - the global hipster. Cheers!

Funny because I wouldn't even consider myself to be a hipster, in fact the most hipster thing I would consider part of myself would be the music I listen to. Also the hipster neighborhood here in Minneapolis-St. Paul would be Northeast Minneapolis but whenever I go there to visit one of the many taprooms, there's always more non-hipsters there than hipsters. Anyways, I'm not drawing it out any further so let's look at the beer.

Appearance - Cloudy dark yellow color with a mild amount of visible carbonation. The head is quite foamy with some great retention. There is also a good amount of lacing that also has pretty good retention as well.

Aroma - Pungent bready biscuit yeastiness dominates the front of the nose and is backed up by some moderate flora hops, mild bitter resiny hops and some light toffee maltiness.

Taste - Floral and resin hops upfront, followed by a mild toffee malt backbone with a bitter hop and light yeast aftertaste.

The flavor lacks the vibrancy that is in the nose and that hurts it some. That said, it possesses a decent flavor but given the higher-than-normal price I paid for it ($2.39 for a single can) and the available number of better tasting beers of the same style, this wouldn't be my first choice. You make great beers, Evil Twin, but this one is merely okay.

Evil Twin Hipster Ale - 7/10

Evil Twin Yin Review

Name: Evil Twin Yin
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 10%

I've got a couple more beers from Evil Twin Brewing that I have been meaning to get around to review and the first one is another Imperial Stout simply called Yin. According to the label, it is suggested that you mix it with Yang, which is an Imperial IPA also made by Evil Twin and will be my next review.

The brewery refers to Yin as an Imperial Taiji Stout, so of course I had to find out what Taiji meant. According to my research, Taiji is a small town located on the southern-southeast coast of Japan

Yin pours a pitch black color with a dark brown head. The lacing left behind is pretty good and the head has some pretty good retention.

The aroma starts out with a strong chocolate malt profile with mild bitter hoppiness, roasted barley and a marshmallow-like sweetness. Compared to I Love You, this one smells more like a traditional Imperial Stout.

Flavor is very roasty upfront followed up with some chocolate malt notes before ending with a bitter hop and roasted barley aftertaste. It's unusual to see the flavor isn't as complex as the nose leads me to believe, nor as vibrant in terms of taste.

The body is surprisingly light and this, which is unusual for an Imperial Stout. The carbonation is also fairly light too.

If the flavor were as complex and robust as the nose, this would be an excellent Imperial Stout. As it stands right now, it's an okay Imperial Stout but my overall thoughts on this beer are that it leaves something more to be desired.

Evil Twin Yin - 7.5/10

Evil Twin I Love You With My Stout Review

Name: Evil Twin I Love You With My Stout
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 12%

It's time to look at another offering from Evil Twin Brewing. This time around I'm reviewing their I Love You With My Stout, which is one of their Imperial Stout offerings. As for the long winded, oddball name, your guess is as good as mine.

The head pours a dark tan color with a thin appearance out along with a pitch black body. There is some visible carbonation on top and sides of the glass with some mild lacing

The aroma is quite roasty with some roasted barley and chocolate malt notes along with some strong bitter hoppy notes in the back

Flavor has some strong roasted barley notes with some chocolate malts along with a strong citrus hop sweetness and bitter hoppiness on the back end of the palate. The aftertaste is a mixture of bitter citrus hops and some chocolate malts. The flavor almost reminds me of a chocolate orange!

Body is moderate in terms weight and the carbonation is light. It also has a very smooth texture so it feels quite creamy.

The strong citrus hop profile is definitely something out of the ordinary for the style yet it works in synchronicity with the chocolate and roasty aspects of the flavor. While some traditionalists may not be a fan the sheer citrus hoppiness of the flavor, I enjoyed this a lot and would easily recommend this to anyone.

Evil Twin I Love You With My Stout - 9/10