Two Brothers Brewing Company is in Warrenville, IL, home of John Maynard Woodworth, the first Surgeon General of the United States (yes, he’s dead now).
Urthel Brewery is actually “a brand, not a brewery; it is brewed and bottled at Koningshoeven in the Netherlands ‘under the authority of Hildegard Van Osteden.’” Well shut my mouth! Moaten is an oak aged sour Flemish style red ale—as it says on the bottle, “Flanders meets Chicago.” The nose starts with light malt and small oak hints; there are also hints of plum and currant, and some slight vegetal notes. Moaten is a light walnut color with red highlights—dark in color, but very clear—and has a fine white head. Flavor starts softly, with rising malt sweetness and light candy flavor, and there is also some third flavor (maybe biscuit) that we can’t quite pin down. From there, Moaten moves into 
bready dark fruit flavors, although only lightly, and finishes by dropping almost completely off the palate, with only a slight tang left in the mouth. Seriously—like, where did it go? It has a smooth, clean mouthfeel, although it is also a bit rich and heavy. There is also some dryness and light tannic in the mouth from the oak. The sourness increases slightly with warmth, although it is still very light—kinda unsour for a sour beer, but still enjoyable. As well, there are none of the puckering sour notes in the nose, 
or the slight adhesive smell characteristic of Flemish sours. So while a bit lacking on some of the Flemish sour amenities, nonetheless a solid, interesting beer.
I’d tell you what it said about Moaten on the Two Brothers website (I'm going with unmarked November release), but I can’t find any information there. This means one of two things: either they are too busy doing more important things, like brewing all of us more yummy yummy beer, or their web designer is royally screwing them and they don’t know it. Actually, it could be a little from column A and a little from column B, to tell you the truth...
(9/3/2009)
bready dark fruit flavors, although only lightly, and finishes by dropping almost completely off the palate, with only a slight tang left in the mouth. Seriously—like, where did it go? It has a smooth, clean mouthfeel, although it is also a bit rich and heavy. There is also some dryness and light tannic in the mouth from the oak. The sourness increases slightly with warmth, although it is still very light—kinda unsour for a sour beer, but still enjoyable. As well, there are none of the puckering sour notes in the nose, 
or the slight adhesive smell characteristic of Flemish sours. So while a bit lacking on some of the Flemish sour amenities, nonetheless a solid, interesting beer.I’d tell you what it said about Moaten on the Two Brothers website (I'm going with unmarked November release), but I can’t find any information there. This means one of two things: either they are too busy doing more important things, like brewing all of us more yummy yummy beer, or their web designer is royally screwing them and they don’t know it. Actually, it could be a little from column A and a little from column B, to tell you the truth...
(9/3/2009)
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