Two Brothers Northwind Imperial Stout

Brewed by Two Brothers Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Warrenville, Illinois USA

Bottle shared with Hogtown Harry and Blakboy, Harry’s bottle. Pitch black, small foamy head. Nice aroma - mild roast, boozy, milk chocolate. Boozy taste - too much. Silky mouthfeel. Lots of chocolate. Nice overall - just a little too thin and too boozy.

Sort of like Storm King’s baby brother. Nose of dark roasted malts and caramel. Reddish brown, almost black, with a little trace of a head ... like pollen floating on a pond. Taste is dark malts, sweet caramel, hints of chocolate and coffee but no intensity, and a finish that is more sour than bitter.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry & tupalev -- courtesy of HogTownHarry. Pours a very dark brown, almost black, with a spare diminishing light-brown head. Aroma of caramel malt, very lightly roasted with faint chocolate and faint hops -- good but disappointing. Flavour, roastier then the aroma but still quite subdued along with some chocolate and coffee. Alcohol’s well hidden. Average bodied. Doesn’t seem much like an Imperial Stout to me -- It’s still good but I expected much better.

Bottle (650ml). Shared with blankboy and tupalev, my bottle. Poured oily-looking red-black, opaque, nice creamy/frothy light brown head which quickly diminished. Aroma - weirdly, initially of sweet cherry popsicle, then decent roast chocolate malt and vague hops, no alcohol to speak of, roastier and more bitter on warming, with some oatmeal. Slightly sour roast coffee grounds, molasses and dry very bitter hops, hints of sour cherries in the finish, still not much alcohol character. Average body, acidc mouthfeel, slightly sour aftertatste - just decent.

22oz bottle-A black body with a tan head that dissipated quickly. Has an aroma of dark malt,coffee, and little chocolate. Taste of malt,raisins,coffee, and finishes a bit dry with some caramel. A nice tasting stout that could be drank in its entirety.

Sampled from 22 oz bottle at River’s Bend on 1/05/2007. Thanks Matt! -- Two Brothers Northwind Imperial Stout pours a dark brown color and is pretty near clear. The aroma is dark malts and weak chocolate. The flavor is roasted malt, weak chocolate, and a slight nuttiness. The flavor isn’t overly sweet and it has a slightly dry finish that contains some additional roasted malt flavor and a medium coffee-like bitterness. This beer just about medium bodied, but seems a bit thin for the style. Overall it is well balanced and the alcohol isn’t glaringly obvious in the taste. However, I was hoping for something a bit more rich, heavy, and creamy. Don’t get me wrong though, this is still a good beer that I enjoyed sampling, but it has the potential to be so much better!

Bottle. Pours black with a modest light-brown head. Dry coffee nose followed by slightly ashen cappucino flavors. Sweet notes toward the finish do not detract from the lingering bitterness. This is like an imperial dry stout, and personally I think it’s considerably underrated.

Pours dark brown with a nice tan head. Decent chocolate aroma, some smokiness. Overall a decent beer, but not a very exciting imperial stout.