Heavy-handed IPA 2003 Harvest
Two Brothers Brewing Company + Tap House

A - Light copper hue, slighly hazy. This head dissipates quick leaving sticky lace.

S - Soft floral hop notes cover a light malt scent.

T - Smooth even bitterness (62 IBU) reveals solid but not too sweet malt backbone. Finishes with a slightly funky hop bite.

M - Medium bodied and slick.

D - Way drinkable West Coast - style IPA.

Not sure if there should be a fresh hop 2005 entry or not. Stats from the bottle are the same as noted above. The label looks the same as the other HH entry. Not much info on brewery web site regarding HH (type of hops, do they change each year, etc.). The label on this bottle was © 2005

Little confused as to which heavy-handed I am drinking but the alcohol % leads me to believe this one is correct. 12oz capped bottle, 5.7% Abv.

Pours out very think with little carbonation to speak of. The head is tiny and does not last at all. Color is brownish-yellow. Smell is bittter hoppy and sticky sweet, a little more than I expected. More burnt caramel than citrus hops.

Taste is lighter than the smell would have you believe. Maybe not lighter but more balanced. It still has that thick mouth feel but the taste blends better than expected. Floral and citrus hops dominate the middle and end with no sign of alcohol. Carbonation is low but the flavor is still there.

An intersting IPA and I wonder if I am really drinking the 2003 or if this is an error. If you think this is the wrong beer, please beer mail me. Gracias.

12 ounce bottle, in a tumbler glass.

Appearance: Medium-amber color, rather hazy, but with very good head retention. A minute after pouring and the head hasn't dropped any. Nice lacing as it goes down.

Aroma: Lemony-citrus hop aromas, very strong. Almost reminds me lemon-scented countertop cleaners.

Flavor/body: Citrus hop character follows through in the taste. Bitterness is high, and hop flavor is extremely high, tending towards lemon flavors, which is a little unusual. Not much tastes noticible besides the hops. Pleasantly spritzy mountfeel though, lightly acidic with a nice finish.

Not a very well-balanced beer, but I gave it a little higher rating than normal for the hop-flavor/aroma uniqueness that sets it apart from many other unbalanced American IPAs. I like the lower-than-usual body also. Would make a better session beer than most IPAs.

This beer pours a nice gold/orange color. Medium head that goes away but the lace is very nice. Nose is perfumy hoppy and a little sweet. Taste is hoppy and grapefruit. Very velvetty on the tongue but it does finish dry with a strong hop aftertaste. I found this very drinkable but not as over the top as the average American IPA. That is not all bad sometimes.

Appearance: Copper tinged amber wit a nice white head leaves speckled lace down the glass. Aroma: Extremely hoppy smells like a bag of hop pellets with piney but earthy like tone to it, not much malt sweetness here. Taste: One sided unbalanced two brothers overhopped this one, not much good to say abuses the palate with hops. I am a self-proclaimed hop head but this beer is too much no balance. Mouthfeel: Medium body with smooth carbonation and hop resins give it an oily texture. Drinkability: Not so much, it tastes like an herbal toothpaste too onesided to be a go to beer.

Appearance: Pours a medium copper, with a small, clingy white head.

Aroma: Good hop citrus with some rich maltiness giving balance.

Taste: Lots of malt covers up the muted hoppiness that only appears in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Dry, crisp, and refreshing. Carbonation is in check. Warming, bitter finish.

Drinkability: Would like to see more hop flavor up front and on the nose. Overall, a solid IPA. Will try again.

Smoggy golden-amber under an off-while pillow of foam.
Searingly hopping aromatics. Metallic and grapefruit and little else.
Toasty, lightly caramel malts provide base, but this is dominated by the hops. And they are here in abundance. Resinous, citric peel, steel-edged hops. Looking for nuance, but can't find any. This is pretty much a straight-ahead, unidimensional American IPA. Nice enough hop fix, though. Toasty malt resurfaces again late, but draws little interest against the bitterness. Traces of diacetyl.
A hair on the thin side, but this a worthwhile session-styled, yet bountifully hopped IPA.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable IPA in the American tradition of over hopping. The look is a red dark amber with a nice creamy head and great lacing. I found the hops to be very floral and in the nose early, but there is also nice caramel malt here as well.

The hops are quite heavy handed and a bit coarse, but still this is a beer that satisfies. The feel is medium to full and the finish is very nice and crisp. All around nice beer.

Two Brothers Heavy Handed IPA: Terrific aroma, very full and noticeable from several feet away. Some heavy malt syrup aromas coupled with flowery hops make the aroma very appetizing.

Good looking brew as well, thick off-white rocky top head, and a clear amber/orange appearance.

The taste is quite hoppy, emphasis on the snap of the hops rather than a floral taste. Mild malt flavor struggles to the surface, but does not quite make it. Long lasting hops aftertaste/somewhat bitter.

Slick mouth feel. Not a bad effort

Note this is a Fall seasonal and is from the current Hop Harvest (2003). Each year this beer is a treat to try. This year is no exception. The label tells it all-nicely! "Within moments of harvest, we add fresh-picked American Hops to this India Pale Ale. These wet hops play nicely against a crisp, complex malt character. This hop lover's dream lives up to its name in a throughly enjoyable manner." This really says it all. This beer just arrived today, and it poured a bright orange color. The aromas were of Humbolt County. The mouth feel was nice and buttery and the flavors wham bam hop hearty to the max! Loads of super fresh hop flavors nicely balanced by tasty sweet malt. Long bitter end in this baby as well. A fine Fall beverage. Get it while you can as it does move quickly here in the big city.