Evil Twin Lil' B - Evil Twin Brewing

zac16125

South Carolina

4.2/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Evil Twin Lil B
750mL bottle into a snifter
No born on date

A: Pours a thick looking, opaque jet black with 1 fingers width of dark mocha colored head, which dissipates down fairly quickly to only an outer ring. Leaves effectively no lacing.  

S: Dark fruits and rich dark chocolate, anise, a nutty almond-like character, sweet bread.  Actually smells like a biscotti, not as much as IBB, but definitely reminiscent of the cookie.  A hint of booze. Excellent.  

T: Herbaceous, roasted malt, dark fruits, sweet apple,a nutty character, chocolate syrup, the faintest hint of booze.  A lot of subtleties add to the complexity of the palate profile, but dont be fooled, roasted malt and an earthy/herbaceous character are the most prominent players here.  

M/D: Moderately thick.  Smooth, but slightly syrupy.   ABV is very well hidden.  I would have liked it to be a touch thicker and chewier.  Not a bad mouthfeel though, and drinkability is good.    

O: Overall, this is a really good beer.  Honestly, my expectations were through the roof, as my last couple of Evil Twin beers were just spectacular.  Ive heard this is the "base beer" to Imperial Biscotti.  Im not exactly sure what that means, and dont know if its true or not.  There are definitely similarities, but there are differences as well.  It doesnt live up to IBB, but then again most nothing does as thats one of my favorite beers, but this one is very good in its own right.  My limited experience with Imperial/Baltic Porters has me rating them as if they were IS's, which may not be fair.  Either way, certainly an enjoyable beer, that I recommend and gladly would drink again.  I wont be running to the store to buy up the rest of the supply like I did for Imperial Biscotti though.  

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2012 00:43:59 | More by zac16125

cvm4

Mississippi

4.38/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A - Pours thick & black with a light chocolate head. We sure this is a porter? Could be a stout from the pour.

S - At first it's sweet milk chocolate & malts. Some black licorice lingering then a tinge of black coffee.

T - Sweet malts, dark chocolate & a bit of dark fruit. This is good!

M - Creamy, smooth, medium body & low carbonation. Abv is well hidden.

O - Seriously impressed, but this is a stout or borderline RIS. Either way, I dug it!

Serving type: bottle

02-09-2013 01:16:34 | More by cvm4

TheRealBigC

Nevada

3.83/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Looks like one would expect. Notes of chocolate and dark fruit in the aroma. Taste has a little more of a charred malt taste along with chocolate, figs and a little raisin. Feel medium-heavy with little carbonation. All in all, it's got some taste, but I can't help comparing it to this year's Black Butte XXIV and favoring that one. This isn't quite as good and costs more. However, this one isn't a one-and-done brew, so there's that.

Serving type: on-tap

10-14-2012 02:02:24 | More by TheRealBigC

mfnmbvp

Illinois

4.28/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

12 oz. bottle, bottled on 03/20/2013. My first beer from Evil Twin Brewing, and a big one at that. Poured into a Firestone Walker pint glass.

A - Pours an opaque oily jet black body with a half finger of creamy mocha colored froth for a head. Looks pretty nice. Thin wispy tan lacing.

S - As the others have said, initial blast of soy sauce, followed by big roasted malts and creamy milk chocolate and roasted coffee bean.

T - Taste is big bold and rich. Velvety chocolate cake, bitter coffee bean roast, some boozy characteristics, but hides it's high abv well. Crisp & smooth with some alcohol warmth in the finish.

M - Feel is sticky and moist with an underlying chocolate / coffee bean bitterness.

Overall, a big intense & complex brew. A nice introduction to this brewery for me, if I do say so myself. I got this bottle from a friend, and I've veered away from Evil Twin beers in the past because they tend to be pricey. However, after this I think I might risk it next time. A very nice beer, one well worth trying.

Evil Twin Lil' B ---4/5.

Serving type: bottle

05-20-2013 22:09:47 | More by mfnmbvp

kemoarps

Washington

4.3/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Absolutely beautiful pour. Black coffee black, with a creamy deep brown head. Dissipates leaving just a ring around the edges and a little swirl in the middle. Enticing.

The nose is kind of disappointing. almost a soy sauce twinge, and some dry cocoa. roasted coconut husk as it warms

Once it hits your lips, though....
Before I can even start appreciating the flavours (which are tasty), The silky satin smoothe... The only analogies I can think of are not particularly appropriate for a public forum, but let's just say it would be the kind to make you want to put a ring on it...
But back to flavours. Roasty chocolate. Chocolate somewhere between silky milk chocolate and dry cocoa, some of that coconut, a tinge of candied dark fruits: mainly on the sweeter side, with the bit of bitterness there is mainly being of the cocoa variety.

This.
If you can get it, try it. I had high hopes coming in, and do not feel let down. Mainly due to that body. Silk. chewy. like a velour fog...
My least favourite aspect of this brew is mainly just that I feel compelled to listen to The Based God while drinking it, and, while I respect that he's doing his thing and trying to stay pure yadda yadda yadda... I don't find him to be a very good rapper. His songs just don't do anything for me. The beer is substantially better than the rapper.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2013 23:46:34 | More by kemoarps

mjtiernan

New York

3.68/5  rDev -13.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

12oz bottle poured into an oversized stemmed tulip

A: Can’t tell if this is black or if the lovely dark brown head is influencing me to think that the body is also brown. Either way, it’s dark as you would expect. Head faded away pretty quickly, leaving a thin ring around the edge. Not much lacing as it went down.

S: Sweet milk chocolate. Roasted chocolate malt. Cocoa. Some caramel. Slight floral hop presence.

T: Starts syrupy sweet and evolves into some nice roastiness. Fills your mouth with rich flavor then dries it out in the finish. Getting some soy sauce which isn't ideal. Some hop flavor shows up in the middle toward the end. Pretty intense flavor overall.

M: Full body, medium carb. Drinkability pretty low for me due to the sweetness and overall flavor intensity.

O: A well brewed beer, but most sweet porters/stouts just aren’t my cup of tea. I didn’t care for Imperial Biscotti Break and this isn’t different enough for me to like it more.

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2013 03:51:25 | More by mjtiernan

Rickythejeweler

Maryland

4.85/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

A - Pitch black, one finger dark mocha head, light lacing.

S - Smoked malts, vanilla, dark chocolate, roasty/grainy.

T - Amazing! Smoked malts, tobacco, chocolate wafers, walnuts, vanilla, espresso beans covered in Hershey's syrup!

M - Full body, viscous, low carbonation.

O - So very good! I have tried it both on tap and from a bottle; I actually prefer the bottle.

22 oz. @ Liquor Pump, Baltimore, MD $15.99

Serving type: bottle

10-08-2012 14:26:34 | More by Rickythejeweler

jtd1969

North Carolina

4/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - OIl can black, low carbonation. Slight lacing

S - some dark fruit and chocolate otherwise sweet malty

T - Syrupy chocolate, light coffee, dark fruit, creamy

M - heavy body with low carbonation lightly hopped

O - It was a pretty good imp porter (eventhough it felt like a stout), ABV really comes trough. Could have used a tad more carbonation for me and maybe a few more hops..

Serving type: bottle

10-05-2012 01:44:30 | More by jtd1969

vicsju1991

Pennsylvania

4.73/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

On tap at eulogoy in philadelphia
A - pours out of tap like motor oil, very dark beer, small head goes away quickly
S - dark frutis, choclatey and roasted malts, little bit of ether bourbon or just alcohol
T - follows the nose , veyr complex every moutful a little different
M - a little thin, but still very good
O - very cool beer, happy I had the chance to have it on tap

Serving type: on-tap

09-06-2012 09:57:34 | More by vicsju1991

Impfan

Washington

5/5  rDev +17.1%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

The best porter I’ve ever tasted, hands down. I’m not usually a big fan of Baltic style porters, only because I find them to be too sweet, but this Imperial version is deceptively complex. At first, I thought it was a bit flabby in texture, and totally straightforward in flavor. However, as I continued to sip this voluptuous monster, flavors other than chocolate, toffee, and vanilla began to emerge...leather, tobacco, plum, kumquat, raisin, sandalwood, smoke, Cabernet, and bourbon began to poke out their heads, seemingly out of nowhere. The richness continued to build, but the sweetness never became overbearing, and leveled out at just the right point. This may be the best Evil Twin I’ve tasted, which is even more surprising when one takes note of the fact that it’s a contract brew executed by Westbrook Brewing Co of Mount Pleasant, S.C. I’d never heard of them, but I’ll definitely be looking for any future nationally distributed beers of theirs.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2012 22:25:02 | More by Impfan

StuartCarter

Alabama

5/5  rDev +17.1%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Appearance: jet black - motor oil. Fluffy tan head that collapses to a thin ring.

Smell: chocolate, caramel, fruity, a little coffee. Much heavier on the chocolate/fruit than coffee.

Taste: revelatory. Chocolate, fruit, caramel, gentle coffee. This is a porter rather than a stout - the chocolate is up front and centre, the coffee is in the background, but still there.

Mouthfeel: for such a thick beer the mouthfeel is lovely - dense and creamy rather than viscous.

Aftertaste: rich caramel fruit, chocolate, light coffee.

As it warms: the coffee becomes more apparent in the nose, but the flavour leans to more chocolate and fruits.

This is a truly wonderful beer deserving of more recognition.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2012 15:20:14 | More by StuartCarter

Chadster

Alberta (Canada)

4.71/5  rDev +10.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

just a beautiful ing on tap, At Avenue Pub last Year in New Orleans
This Gem Tastedof Vanilla , chocolate and sweet molasses hint to it..
Better on tap then in bottle but still well worth the buy..

Also recommended, St Arnold Bourban stout, Old Rasputin bourban barrel stout,

Serving type: cask

12-24-2012 11:47:00 | More by Chadster