Try?
One of the undeniable truths of the craft
beer renaissance is that it is the smaller, less well known brewers who
produce some of the most interesting beers and are worth going out of one’s
way to discover. Perhaps it is the fact that their beers are often very hard
to find, and thus much sought after by those of us constantly seeking out
new and different brews, that makes this so.
Two Brothers was established in 1996 as a small micro with a goal of selling its beer in the nearby Chicago market. The company was founded by two brothers, Jim and Jason Ebel, hence the name. They started their brewing business with lots of work and some old dairy equipment (fairly common practice in the business), and today have built the business into a well-respected company producing some very, very good beers.
One of my favorites is Brown Fox Session Ale, an English-styled mild ale that is eminently drinkable. Mild ale is a sweet, malty, low-strength brown ale meant to be consumed in fairly large quantities. Beer enthusiasts will often refer to such a moderate beer as a session ale, a beer that you can drink a lot of without getting plastered, usually in a social setting. The lower alcohol strength makes this possible. Personally, I think you can have a session with most any beer, regardless of the strength. You just need to pace yourself.
Brown Fox is one of two brown ales Two Brothers produces, the other being a slightly more potent Best Brown. Brown Fox is a beer that disproves the popular misconception that dark beers are higher in alcohol content than light colored ones. Despite its rich, delicious malty body, Brown Fox has an alcohol strength of only 3.2% by volume, just a little over half the strength of Budweiser.
Brown Fox Session Ale pours to a dark brown color with almost no head formation and a very sweet, sticky malt nose. The palate is rich, incredibly malty, with a wonderfully luxuriant mouthfeel from caramel malts. The low attenuation, or level of fermentation, makes this all the more apparent. There are strong suggestions here of sweet malt, caramel, chocolate, toasty notes, and molasses. Eight different malts are used to produce this outstanding brew. A hint of hops and roasty bitterness emerge in the finish. This is definitely a malt-dominated beer, with only 13 IBUs of hop bitterness according to the label.
This is a jewel, to be sure, and one you can drink a lot of quite easily. I like it by itself, but the inherent sweetness of the brew would lend it to pairing with desserts. Not to be missed.
Two Brothers was established in 1996 as a small micro with a goal of selling its beer in the nearby Chicago market. The company was founded by two brothers, Jim and Jason Ebel, hence the name. They started their brewing business with lots of work and some old dairy equipment (fairly common practice in the business), and today have built the business into a well-respected company producing some very, very good beers.
One of my favorites is Brown Fox Session Ale, an English-styled mild ale that is eminently drinkable. Mild ale is a sweet, malty, low-strength brown ale meant to be consumed in fairly large quantities. Beer enthusiasts will often refer to such a moderate beer as a session ale, a beer that you can drink a lot of without getting plastered, usually in a social setting. The lower alcohol strength makes this possible. Personally, I think you can have a session with most any beer, regardless of the strength. You just need to pace yourself.
Brown Fox is one of two brown ales Two Brothers produces, the other being a slightly more potent Best Brown. Brown Fox is a beer that disproves the popular misconception that dark beers are higher in alcohol content than light colored ones. Despite its rich, delicious malty body, Brown Fox has an alcohol strength of only 3.2% by volume, just a little over half the strength of Budweiser.
Brown Fox Session Ale pours to a dark brown color with almost no head formation and a very sweet, sticky malt nose. The palate is rich, incredibly malty, with a wonderfully luxuriant mouthfeel from caramel malts. The low attenuation, or level of fermentation, makes this all the more apparent. There are strong suggestions here of sweet malt, caramel, chocolate, toasty notes, and molasses. Eight different malts are used to produce this outstanding brew. A hint of hops and roasty bitterness emerge in the finish. This is definitely a malt-dominated beer, with only 13 IBUs of hop bitterness according to the label.
This is a jewel, to be sure, and one you can drink a lot of quite easily. I like it by itself, but the inherent sweetness of the brew would lend it to pairing with desserts. Not to be missed.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
