Evil Twin NYC (2021)

Great Northern Series 2 = my beer of the year perhaps.

 

My UPS just arrived. You two and @algebeeric_topology have raised my expectations to unfulfillable, sky high levels.

 

My buddy got a 4 pack, and I'm considering doing the 1 hour drive to drink one in his driveway just based off of what people here are saying about it.

 

Going in. Cover me.

 

Cracked one. Very good. If this was OH I would be like dayum! If it was Finback I would think of it as being a solid BA stout from them. But as far as 2020 NYC-area stout (beer in general would go to C+S, obviously) of the year goes, I would give that to Finback Absorb Pink which was an absolute treat. This is still really good though - really glad I got a 4 pack. I got a 4 of the series 3 as well so looking forward to trying that too and will report back.

 

You just let me know if you need one, pal

 

Big words after 5 days of the year have passed already! Haha

 

I took it to mean 2020, since the beer was released late last year. I feel like @patmcd is too seasoned to make a faux pas like that, but I may be wrong...

 

For those of you that tried the first release (no adjuncts), what did you think of liquid on its own? Preemptively asking the same for those of you who try the BA Barleywine we're releasing tomorrow.

 

Sweet but not cloyingly so. Great body, great aroma, very flavorful, and a strong maple character from the barrel (despite there being no adjuncts). I tried Series 2 (also great) at the brewery and I think I prefer Series 1.

I made a day trip into the city before the holidays to pick up Snowbirds, BQE, and pre-ordered this on a whim the night before. I think it's my favorite of the three "base" versions (and I LOVE BQE).

I also love the 8oz format, fwiw.

 

Of the first three, the non-adjunct was clearly my favorite. What I liked best was that it was incredibly well-balanced. The beer had great flavor, the maple was a good touch, and the barrel comes through (a big part of the balance). It was a little sweeter than expected (though not a criticism) and I wouldn't hate a little more barrel complexity. Still, I am pumped that I bought two 4-packs and can drink it several more times.

Overall, I'd highly recommend it, and I'm definitely going to buy the non-adjunct barleywine. Ahead of buying it, I'd be curious to know what the aim of the barleywine was versus the stout if you don't mind sharing.

 

Not entirely sure what you mean by "aim." They're two pretty different styles of beer. They were both blended to try to achieve what we feel are the optimal characteristics of each respective style. If you clarify a little more, I'm happy to answer more specifically.

 

Yeah, it was a poorly worded question. I'm no expert in these matters and just know the obvious differences in the two styles, but wondered what sort of characteristics of the barleywine we could expect to be highlighted with the BLiS barrels in comparison to the stout.

I think it's cool that you guys are doing both, but in my limited experience haven't seen a lot of breweries do a barleywine base and stout base in the same type of barrels, so it got me curious. Just trying to get a sense for what things get brought out more with the BLiS barrels themselves being a relative constant in this case.

 

I kid, I kid

 

Even More Hydra is amazing, as is Great Northern Series 3 (2 had already sold out). All the adjuncts really shining through to me.

 

I had 3 last night (pairs really well with an attempted coup FYI). Need to do a side by side but think I may prefer it slightly to 2.

 

Just cracked my first can of 3 and think it’s excellent

believe @algebeeric_topology mentioned in the 2020 thread a lack of balance w/r/t cinnamon - while the spice is certainly present I think the coconut comes through well in a supporting role, especially as it warms. Chocolate notes are solid - I haven’t had 1 (a 2020 regret) so not sure what is adjunct vs. base

lesson learned for me, not a series I’ll be sleeping on going forward

 

The base was really really good, I think I prefer it to the treated versions although they're both also very good. Also love the 8oz 4pk packaging, perfect amount for this sort of beer.