Reviewed by Ron DeGregorio

One style of beer that I tend to ignore in the winter time is the always magnificent IPA. I’m not sure why, but in the cold season, I just gravitate towards hearty stouts and porters. IPA, at least in my mind is reserved for warmer weather. I know that I am depriving myself of all that hoppy goodness, so every so often, I’ll crack open an IPA just so I can get my fix. This offering comes from my pal, Greg, who surprised me on a recent visit with a custom four-pack, of which, included Two Brothers Brewing – Heavy Handed IPA. Though I’ve seen this bottle before in my own local bottle shop, I never stopped and picked it up; so I was ecstatic to find that my buddy brought one along.

Two Brothers, out of Warrenville, Illinois, is a 100% family owned brewery that found its beginnings in the humble hobby of homebrewing. The brothers, Jason and Jim Ebel, who were on different career paths, opened a homebrewing supply store, which, at the nudging of their mother, turned into what is now Two Brothers Brewing Company. Cory and I have heard many “origin-stories” from brewers, and they almost always have the same inception; homebrewing. It is pretty uncommon to find brewers that operated a brewing supply store prior to their adventure into opening a brewery. I think it’s pretty cool!

Let’s see what Two Brothers has to say about Heavy Handed: “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 thoroughly enjoyable manner.”

I was very much intrigued and excited to try a beer that took a different spin on the IPA style. The usage of “wet hops” rather than dried hop pellets really had me anticipating the different flavors that were sure to come from Heavy Handed. Let’s take a look at what I thought about Two Brothers Heavy Handed.

APPEARANCE:

Heavy Handed, poured into my official IPA glass, is absolutely stunning. The beer is full of rich, deep copper toned orange and red hues. The beer is perfectly clear, but has such a beautiful tone to it. Heavy Handed has a big, fluffy white head that leaves behind some killer lacing. It is every bit as beautiful as an IPA comes.

AROMA:

Every time I open an IPA such as this, I wonder why I deprive myself of one of humanity’s best and purest pleasures during the winter. Smelling a fresh IPA is one of the most refreshing, “ah” moments one can have, and this beer provides that experience to the fullest. The aroma is EXACTLY what it smells like when you add hops to your homebrew boil. It is really THAT fresh. Heavy Handed is so aromatic it is hard to pick individual smells to describe to you. The aroma is sweet and juicy like fresh tropical fruits, specifically a big, juicy pineapple or strawberry. There is a pine smell, but subdued to the other, sweeter aromas. I could leave my nose in this beer all. day. long.

TASTE:

Guys, if the taste is ANYTHING like the aroma, this is one of the better IPAs I’ve had. I have to say, after tasting Heavy Handed, I was not disappointed. Heavy Handed has a juicy orange taste that made my mouth water for more. It had that fruity taste to compliment the nose, and while it is bitter like an IPA should be, the bittering wasn’t a tongue-scraping hop-bomb. It was just about as perfectly bitter as I’d like. The beer is very much in balance with the malt profile, which leaves this beer light, bitter, but full and satisfying, with a very nice breadiness in the middle.

I will say, there are way more bitter IPAs out there. I don’t think that was the goal of Heavy Handed, though. I think their aim was to create a well balanced IPA that is full of flavor without doing “too much”. I think they succeeded. At the backend, there are grassy notes as well.

Basically, I thin kthe wet hopping is really adding a new dimension to this beer that is uncommon in a lot of IPAs. While I don’t think that not wet hopping will make your IPA bad, I do enjoy this maybe n0t-so-common twist!

The beer ends with a slight grapefruit character and while it does finish dry, there is a sweetness that comes through on the aftertaste that I really enjoyed.

CONCLUSION:

Overall, I give Two Brothers Heavy Handed a 95, or a solid A. I have to say, I am a bit ashamed of passing up Two Brothers so often in my own local bottle shop. I am guilty of being a label-shopper, and Two Brothers always strikes me as very….rural. Shopping by label is a horrible habit that I am working hard to overcome. It is beers like this one that help in that endeavor, because what it lacks (in my opinion, of course) in label, it makes up for in fantastic beer. I will absolutely be trying more of their stuff, and absolutely will be picking this up again when I need my mid-Winter IPA fix.

Cheers!