Evil Cousin - Heretic Brewing Company

ESPNman

California

3.8/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a bomber into a Delirium Tremens snifter (not ideal, but I love this glass for DIPAs for some reason).

A - Hazy, straw-colored pour. A little lighter than what I was expecting... not that standard deep-orange that I normally associate with a DIPA. Fluffy, pure-white head that dissipates quickly leaving minimal lacing.

S - Hops, hops, and more delicious hops. More floral than citric or skunky. Some vanilla and mild malts round out the nose. I definitely like the smell of this brew.

T - Follows along with the nose, but without as much hop bite as I was expecting. Pretty balanced brew that is surprisingly less boozy than what I was expecting. Starts with hops, fades into sweet malts, and finishes with a clean bitter hop bite.

M - Thinner than I'd like. It sticks in your mouth for a brief moment before deteriorating into a kind of dry bitter finish. More along the lines of an amber ale to me in terms of mouthfeel / finish (not taste finish, which I quite enjoyed).

O - Good, not great. I'll probably pass this one over in favor of Firestone's Double Jack the next time I'm at this particular liquor store... but that's more due to the quality of Double Jack than it is an indictment of this beer. Solid, but not a go-to for me.

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2012 00:50:54 | More by ESPNman

magictacosinus

California

3.7/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a tulip glass from a 22oz bottle. Given to me as a gift with Evil Twin about 2 weeks ago. No freshness or bottling date on the bottle, nevertheless. Grrr!!

Pours a clear, amber orange color complete with a large, thickened white head. I split this (as I usually do with bombers) and ended up getting some of the remaining sediment at the bottom into my glass, which actually substantially clouded up the beer. Carbonation is barely visible within the glass, although the head lasts almost forever and leaves behind a good amount of lacing. Sticky and oily in appearance. Despite the cloudy surprise, pretty solid.

The initial aroma reveals initial fruity hoppy phenols, ranging from mangoes, oranges, and lime, but it quickly changes as it warms up. While the initial smell is quite pleasant and fruit-forward, it soon becomes replaced with a piney, dry hopped astringency nearly makes the nostrils tingle each time. There's a brief touch of toffee malts, and perhaps a bit of graininess that adds a solid backbone to all the hops, but as soon as the alcohol creeps in, it gets far stronger. They weren't joking on the label that this was "aggressively" dry hopped - it nearly numbs all of the other aspects of the beer, which is only forgivable with the resinous, fruity flavors it produces.

The flavor is immediately met with an astringent, zesty bitterness from the hops, as well a robust sticky, syrupy malty backbone. In the early stages, it appears to be a solid DIPA, but as soon the aftertaste comes around, it quickly turns out to be very astringent, almost to the point of assaulting the palate with acidic, bittered resin. The orange, grapefruit flavors are a classic profile here as far as West Coast IPAs go, and while I *should* be used to the highly astringent finish in these types of beers by now, something throws me off here. Is it too syrupy? Is the alcohol way too present, almost to the point of making this a difficult drinking experience? Not too sure, and while the hope profile is fully lively, it does throw off the other flavors. The syrupy character makes this an easy drinking experience, and the carbonation is great here - totally solved compared to Evil Twin. Flavorful, but maybe needed some pruning.

This is a pretty straightforward West Coast DIPA, but there's definitely lacking a strive for balance here, no matter how great of a job the hops are doing. Based on this beer, I know for sure that these guys might start churning more interesting things in the future if they are to expand their selection... For the price, this is a good go-to DIPA option, but only if I'm looking for one that slightly locks me in the jaw in the process.

Serving type: bottle

05-21-2013 06:31:40 | More by magictacosinus

Rick778

California

3.5/5  rDev -9.6%

05-18-2013 22:43:58 | More by Rick778

MNishCT77

District of Columbia

4.2/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

22 oz. bottle purchased at Ales Unlimited in San Francisco, CA, bottled on 3/11/13, poured into a hotel style glass and drank over ~30 minutes.

A: 4.5 - amber-brown coloration, could read blurrily through, white full-finger head subdues into subtle glass lacing, moderate alcohol legs for a 8% beer

S: 4.5 - pretty dank notes all around, lots of pine and cat piss from Simcoe, I'm sure; big time DIPA

T: 4 - the taste is pretty appropriate for the aroma; on the front of the tongue, there is a slap of bitterness that has an impressive lingering quality; in the middle of the tongue, the hop-forward qualities predominate - lots of pine, drank bittnerness, which continues to linger through the entire aftertaste

M: 4.25 - big, chewy qualities c/w a DIPA; nice alcohol notes

O: 4.25 - as much as I love Zamil, this beer is only a moderate imperial IPA that doesn't live up to some of the best imperial IPAs; I was unfortunately expecting more; Avery's Maharaja and Sierra Nevada's Hoptimum have similar notes but this falls short in comparison to those beers

Serving type: bottle

05-18-2013 06:15:57 | More by MNishCT77

brewandbbq

New Hampshire

3.3/5  rDev -14.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.75

22oz non-dated bottle from Bev Mo.

Pours hazy, dark copper with a thin, whitish head that dissipated to a few whisps on the surface. A few dots of lacing if you look for it.

Aromatics lead off with stale malt, wet cardboard, and faded, piney hops. Plenty of old caramel and dusty paper.

Medium bodied with a syrupy mouthfeel. Tacky, chewy, and slickish.

Malt-forward on the palate for the style, with more cardboard and stale pine bark. Medium bitterness and alcohol barely noticeable.

Finishes with lingering cardboard, wet paper, and faded hops.

This is the reason I rarely purchase a $8.00 bottle of IPA/IIPA without a bottle date. Shame on me. This beer is old, beat, and syrupy.

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2013 00:44:10 | More by brewandbbq

2dogbrew

Virginia

3.5/5  rDev -9.6%

05-15-2013 03:35:04 | More by 2dogbrew

TheBadger0289

New Zealand (Aotearoa)

3.5/5  rDev -9.6%

05-11-2013 01:25:53 | More by TheBadger0289

cincysig

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +3.4%

04-29-2013 18:54:55 | More by cincysig

MarioM

California

3.5/5  rDev -9.6%

04-19-2013 04:42:05 | More by MarioM

CrazyDavros

Australia

3.85/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 3.5

Pours dark amber with a fading head.
Massively hoppy aroma, smells like a freshly opened bag of hops. Some pine and resinous notes too, alongside sweet clean malt.
Very hoppy flavours too, but there's a fair bit of clean malt to balance things. Very resinous, with spicy hops too. Pretty tasty stuff.
Spot on moderately high carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

04-16-2013 08:57:52 | More by CrazyDavros

ramo

California

4.5/5  rDev +16.3%

04-09-2013 20:23:57 | More by ramo

Jessenimmo

California

3.75/5  rDev -3.1%

04-06-2013 01:47:20 | More by Jessenimmo

JoshTellez

California

3.75/5  rDev -3.1%

04-06-2013 01:46:46 | More by JoshTellez

Ilovebeer1549

California

3.75/5  rDev -3.1%

03-31-2013 22:51:09 | More by Ilovebeer1549

LoFiDave

California

3.25/5  rDev -16%

03-30-2013 03:18:42 | More by LoFiDave

Lorihall1

Minnesota

4.25/5  rDev +9.8%

03-30-2013 00:14:04 | More by Lorihall1

Beerandboards

New Mexico

3.48/5  rDev -10.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

22oz bomber, no bottled date

A - darker orange. Smaller amount of white head.

S - dank pine, some rich citrus, orange, some alcohol.

T - thick bitterness kind of takes everything over. There is a piney hop note, sappy almost. Bitter orange. Aftertaste is dominated by bitter citrus.

M - under carbonated. Oily.

O - gotta say, not great. Certainly not bad, but I the world of plentiful top notch IPAs, this one is not quite up to a snuff.

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2013 02:11:14 | More by Beerandboards

GuzzLah

Illinois

3.74/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

A - pours a hazy orange with a short white head. No lace. A few bubbles.

S - weak intensity for the style. Citrus, floral and mild onion/pine hops. Relatively strong malt note.

T - orange and grapefruit with some malty sweetness. Nice citrus forward flavor.

M - medium body with low-medium carbonation. Slightly oily. Low-medium citric bitter finish with a medium sustain. Tangy.

O - this is a fairly conservative DIPA that won't impress people looking for extreme examples of the style. Not dank. Not very bitter. On the sweet and malty side. However, it does have a nice flavor and it didn't have any fermentation flaws. Smooth 8% abv.

Serving type: bottle

03-21-2013 22:48:55 | More by GuzzLah

beepill

California

4.25/5  rDev +9.8%

03-21-2013 03:16:45 | More by beepill

KlayWey

Idaho

4.25/5  rDev +9.8%

03-02-2013 02:37:46 | More by KlayWey

AgentMunky

Alabama

3.96/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75

Poured from a 22 ounce bottle into a DFH IPA glass. Brewed 11 February 2013.

A: Light head fades quickly. The beer is a hazy amber.

S: Massive amounts of Simcoe-ish hops hit first, full of onion and sharp citrus. Underneath, there are more pleasantly fruity notes, but the main element is still earthy and bright.

T/M: Much maltier than anticipated. Sweet oranges and subtle pine don't quite prepare for the aggressively bitter endtaste and dry aftertaste. A mostly sweet/fruity taste with a hopbomb right at the end.

O: I liked this beer, but it wasn't necessarily well-constructed, and I doubt it would find wide appeal. Would have again if I didn't see anything else around.

Serving type: bottle

02-28-2013 07:30:30 | More by AgentMunky

pheggeseth

California

4/5  rDev +3.4%

02-11-2013 20:41:48 | More by pheggeseth

n2185

North Carolina

3.5/5  rDev -9.6%

02-11-2013 01:20:05 | More by n2185

Madskill

California

4/5  rDev +3.4%

02-08-2013 04:25:24 | More by Madskill

sansho

Tennessee

3.75/5  rDev -3.1%

02-03-2013 01:17:35 | More by sansho