Yin & Yang
Evil Twin Brewing

 

 

 

 

I had reviewed the two brews separately previously and was really waiting for a rainy day to make Black & Tans from the components. The PyeongChang Olympics seemed somehow appropriate.

Made with a 50/50 mixture of the two in two separate glasses. I could not achieve more than a short term separation even when using a pouring spoon. The yin seemed more or less as heavy as the yang, so while I did achieve a temporary layering of yin over yang in one glass, I had yang over yin in the other. Just a thought, refrigerating Yang, but not Yin might help by enhancing the density differential.

Decanted from the two 12 oz (355 ml) cans into a conical pint glass; I couldn't make out the bottom in Yin, but Yang was Batch 2.
A: Pours to a mahogany brown with a one half inch light tan head, good retention, and rings of webbed lacing all the way down the glass.
S: Struck by the floral aroma, particularly of honeysuckle, with a strong presence of grass, toast, and mocha, but moving more toward molasses and cocoa as it warms.
T: Tastes remarkably like a chocolate soda initially, although no more than semisweet with nice amount of bitterness offsetting that. As it warms a caramel and molasses flavor also becomes more evident.
M: Medium to full bodied with strong persistent carbonation and a rich, smooth, creamy mouth feel, as like a chocolate malt.
O: I am glad I review the Black & Tan version separately from the two components. Definitely a surprisingly distinct drinking experience from either component and certainly a winner. Kudos to the novel packaging strategy.

 

 

 

 

 

Very nice blend of ipa, not too bitter and not too sweet either .. Its a very fresh smelling stout basically with a clean dry finish ..

Hardly any head and quickly dissipated , dark copper color..

Made as a 66.6% DIPA, 33.3% Imp Stout mix with a can of each (per the bottle description from the old bomber) - measured out with a kitchen scale. Couldn't keep the separation despite pouring over a spoon. The darkness of the stout is cut only somewhat despite being a full 2/3 DIPA. The nose is dominated by the DIPAs malty notes, and the caramel sweetness of the DIPA takes the fore on the palate as well, though the stout rounds out the mouthfeel substantially.

I used the remainder of the beer that didn't fit in the teku to make a 50/50 mix, and despite the relatively small change in ratio, the Imp Stout really started to dominate. This was more to my palate (given the I prefer the base Imp Stout to the DIPA), but less of a true black and tan flavor profile.

Overall, the core concept here is awesome. Building a mixed 4 pack with the intent of providing black and tan mixing options is brilliant. Unfortunately, the base DIPA really *has* to be malty for the melange to work, and that makes for a relatively uninteresting standalone beer.

 

12oz cans of Yin and yang poured into a pint glass. 50/50 split. cans batch 001 instead of more helpful canned on date.

Great look. Jet black body, head is a nice tan and white swirl. good lacing from the tan.

nothing on the nose except some faint aromas of roasted malt.

the stout component is dominant here. roasted malt, slight booziness. DIPA shows up more in the finish and mouth.

mouth is right around medium. medium roasted malt, some alcohol, slightly bitter on the finish.

overall, I prefer Yin to this, and this to Yang. The more Yang I added to the pint, the more the roastiness evened out. So perhaps a 70/30 mix would be more appealing to this palate.

 

 

Dark brown colour, with no sediments and a medium head. Nice carbonation.
Chocolate, coffee, vanilla and bourbon on the nose.
Tastes at first a bit sweet-sour, very pleasant though. Then you can feel the coffee and some vanilla, and afterwards, the roasted malt. It finishes with a woody, bitter taste.
The IPA hops is in the background, dominated by the stout, which gives the general impression.
An interesting combination very well done by Evil Twin, as always.

 

**
04/22/2017

Cans to snifters, sampling Yin, Yang, and the combination black and tan simultaneously, while trying to achieve a higher state of consciousness.

(%) YIN
LOOK: dark black, pretty tan head that constantly reforms upon agitation.
AROMA: quite light, mineral, roasted malt, slightest touch of coffee.
TASTE: all malt, very simple but tasty.
FEEL: very light and airy, though not completely like a guinness. Was looking for the separation in the black-n-tan, but it just mixed right up with the IPA. Ok carbonation for a stout.

(%) YANG
LOOK: orange with light brown, above average off-white head, lacing lasts throughout a long sip session.
AROMA: light touches of fruit and pine...in a crazy fractal way of looking, the Yang itself has both the YIN (dank/resin/pine/wood) and YANG (fruit/citrus/grass) of the IPA dichotomy.
TASTE: pine, tea, unflavored syrup. Slight little hairspray.
FEEL: light to medium body. Subtle, but above average carbonation.

(%) YIN/YANG

Like a black IPA.
Nice mix of hoppy and malty.
Hops win out in the aroma, but the malt dominates the flavor.

Cool concept.
**