Left Hand Twin Sisters Double IPA

Brewed by Left Hand Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Longmont, Colorado USA

Bottle. Clear amber with a modest froth. Potent and complex citrus and apples aroma. Some buttery caramel flavours meeting grapefruit and apples. Ful-bodied. Enjoyable, but a bit fat.

Transparent amber pour with fluffy white head. Faint citrus and tea like aroma. Piney hop flavor, Overly bitter finish. Way over priced....

Bottle at Millennium Hotel - thanks Jørgen. I just found out that the housekeeper stole my Cuvee de Tomme, so maybe I wasn’t concentrated enough. Clear amber - white head. Clear amber - white head. Resin, caramel, medium hoppy, knækbrød, swedish flatbread, roasted, fruity, peppery, amber malts, nice bitterness. OK.

2008 Vintange - Copper/Orange pour from 22 ounce conditioned bottle into a thick, yellow-white frothy head that mostly dissipates. Lacing hangs on the edge of the glass with each drink, melting into a full, clear body. Aroma of citrus (orange/apple/pineapple), pine with a heavy hoppiness and sweet malts. Initial peppery rye palate fading to a sweet then slightly bitter hoppiness that has an unexpected extra kick in the finish. Not a bad beer, but $9.98 was a bit overpriced for the single bottle.

I often get asked what makes an IPA an ever growing love of my beer life. It is hard to say, but I can say for sure that a few years ago IPAs were a foreign matter to me. It has only been through multiple tastings, experiences, chances to talk with other hop-heads and beer enthusiasts that I have developed an appreciation for the IPA and IIPA which continues to grow. It’s almost like one of those secret clubs or mysteries that once you get it, then there is no going back. This isn’t to say that if one doesn’t appreciate or enjoy either brew they are any less good than I am; beer love is, after all, a personal matter and each person is different. Thankfully, the world of beers, IPAs specifically, is vast and growing so there is always new and unexplored territory for me to look forward to.
Today I am exploring Left Hand Brewing’s Twin Sister, an Imperial/Double IPA and only available in large bomber size bottles. Thankfully, large bottles of beer are hardly a personal determent so it is with great relish that I pour her hazy golden orange brew into my glass. A thin head fades into soft pockets of clouds which float on top of a steady stream of bubbles. Lace marks the sides of my glass while a bouquet of wet sap, tart grapefruit, lemon, and kiwi juice seduce my senses. The first quaff is thick, frothy, and replete with hop oils which immediately coat all open and available surfaces of my mouth. An explosion of tart grapefruit makes my tastebuds tingle while wet pine needles and freshly cut grass finish second. Piney and sappy hop oils are a personal favorite of mine in IPAs so to revel in such is always bliss. The kiwi which whispered to me faintly in her nose mingles with sweet honey notes and sticky hop oils in a pleasantly refreshing way. Very little lingering bitterness, but instead I am left with a soft, clean, and smooth finish. For a big beer, my Twin Sisters is very quaffable and well-balanced, making her largesse far too easy to enjoy as I discover my glass is already empty.
Left Hand Brewing is one of those Colorado breweries which I feel isn’t appreciated nearly as much as it should be. Releasing crazy and experimental beers isn’t all that is required of a brewery to be both solid and avant-garde. Left Hand manages a beautiful balance between continually solid performance and the occasional ground-breaking beers which will continue to keep me coming back for more. As a hop-head and IPA fan, I am more than pleased with their Twin Sisters IIPA.

Bottle I bought at Sam’s for too much money. I’m going to type a few more words here so I can reach the 75 minimum character limit for the comment section of this rating. There, I think I did it.

2008 Bottle. Pours with a large, creamy, white heead and a clear orangee body. Good lacing. Aroma of orange and tangerine hops, something minerally and a bit of caramel. Taste is malt leaning with caramel, some nuts, a bit of citrus fruit. Too malty for my taste, but alcohol is well hidden. Syrupy mouthfeele with light bubbles.

Thanks to Turdferguson for sharing. Pours a soft pale hazy yellow with a one finger creamy yellow head. The nose had some earthy/herbal hop character, malty, sweet, very mild alcohol. The flavor was hoppy and bitter, malty, shows some mild alcohol, piny, mild citrus peel. Has a mildly waxy palate.