Brothers. The long litany of beers from Two Brothers includes Hop Juice, Long Haul Session Ale, Resistance IPA, Domaine DuPage, Bitter End, Heavier-Handed, Moaten, and Cane & Ebel. This makes nine, unless our math has gone horribly, horribly astray somewhere. Which is possible.
Atom Smasher pours a hazy copper caramel color with a thin white head and a fruity, oaky nose—it is more subtle and gentle than American oak, although we’re not sure where the fruitiness is coming from. There is a bit
of sweet maltiness to the nose as well, but it is secondary to the fruit and oak aromas. The body starts with a slightly sweet malt character that is both restrained and soft on the palate; in the middle, more of the fruit and oak combination detected in the nose emerges, along with a slight hop spiciness. There is a slight juiciness to the finish that seems in contrast to usual parameters of the style, with a drying oak bite that cleans up the palate but does leave a bit of lingering spiciness and fruitiness on the tongue and the back of the throat. Atom Smasher has a medium body that has a slight cloying sticky sweetness to the mouthfeel (although the oakiness helps mitigate and minimize the cloying part) and a medium to low carbonation that gives a slight zesty touch in the final third while still feeling somewhat under-carbonated. We tend to like Two Brothers, but this beer did not really interest
either of us—I guess we can see what they’re doing, but we’re not really sure it worked out the way it should. Overall, slightly disappointing for a Two Brothers beer.From the bottle: “With a little tip of the hat to our scientific, pioneering neighbors we created the innovative Atom Smasher limited run artisan beer. A hefty, full bodied lager reminiscent of Marzen beers from days gone by. However, this beer is aged in our oak foudres to add a complexity unmatched by the imported versions of Oktoberfest beers today. Just add Lederhosen! ”
ABV: 7.7%
IBU: 22.6
Everyone loves a Lederhosen reference!
(9/27/2010)
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