Two Brothers / Urthel Moaten
A collaboration beer between Two Brothers Brewing and Urthel Brewery. An oak aged sour flemish red ale.
2.8
167 reviews
Warrenville, United States
Community reviews
clear copper, tiny white bubbles for a head, not very lacy. nose of sour fruit, perhaps a light hint of malt. the flavor was caramel malty, cherries, and some kind of sour off-taste. light bodied, kinda sweet finsh. i din’t understand this one, i think.
8th beer of blind tasting. Orange-copper color with no head, very little lacing, dark, cannot see through it. This came off as least powerful of all the previous beers. Aroma is kind of musky and dusty. Old malts arise from it. It’s a malt heavy sour ale and low on sour. Flavor has sweet malts, slightly tangy, and sweet berries. Palate is thick but goes down easy. Decent but not a real sour. 7/3/7/3/15, Standing in the tasting: personal – tied for 7th, overall – 6th Picked this up at Zipps.
The following are notes from a blind tasting of sour brown and sour red beers at beastiefan2k’s house. The beers were served in sets of three, three flights total. All beers were served blindly, with a random order. This was really well set up, and a bunch of fun - thanks Eugene!
Beer #1 - Squatters 529.
Aroma - Aroma of light sour vinegar clears quickly revealing some nice lemon citrus tartness. Clean. 7
Appearance - hazed copper ruby pour, with a smallish off white head. 4
Taste - Taste is the bright vinegar sour of the nose, lemon, some nice oak barrel. Flavors nicely melded. 8
Palate - spritzy carbonation, medium light bodied, bright clean finish. 4
Overall - Nice beer, bright clean natural flavors. 14
Final Score - 3.7
Beer #2 - Nøgne Ø Tyttebær.
Aroma - a lot of rubber right away, some floral, all a big mish mash - weird stuff. 6
Appearance - Hazed, golden orange with a light white head. 4
Taste - The rubber, lightly sour malt, herbal, spice, weird as expected. Rubber comes back around in the finish. 5
Palate - Medium bodied, grainy mouth feel, lower carbonation level. 3
Overall - Strange stuff. 11
Final Score - 2.9
Beer #3 - New Belgium La Folie’09 cork and cage.
Aroma - Light sour, ginger citrus, grassy - nicely put together, but less aggressive than #1. 6
Appearance - Light haze, brown bronze, not much of an off white head. 4
Taste - Blackberry, fruit sour cherry, light spiced yeastiness. Really soft and nicely integrated sour character. 9
Palate - Medium bodied, nice tingly carbonation, tart fruit finish. Quite drinkable. 4
Overall - Enjoyable beer, great balance between sour character and clean drinkability. 15
Final Score - 3.8
Beer #4 - Eugene’s Home Brew.
Aroma - Potpourri spice, light vanilla, some additional floral yeast aromas. 6
Appearance - Lightly hazed brown, caramel colored, pretty much no head. 3
Taste - Woody potpourri spice, bit of a cherry character, along with some weird apple peel sour. Lemon and cilantro in the lingering finish. 7
Palate - Medium to light bodied, spritzy carbonation, woody finish. 4
Overall - Interesting flavors, though a touch heavy handed on the potpourri. 13
Final Score - 3.3
Beer #5 - Zoetzuur Flemish Reserve Ale.
Aroma - Spiced nutmeg, lightly herbal yeasty. 6
Appearance - Hazed brown light ruby, touch of a white head. 4
Taste - Light cocoa flavor, caramel, paired with lightly tar acidity. 6
Palate - Medium to heavy bodied, mouth coating, lingering spiced nut finish. 3
Overall - Independently I liked the sweetness and acidity, though I did not feel they worked very well together. 13
Final Score - 3.2
Beer #6 - Rodenbach Vintage’07.
Aroma - Vanilla, cherries, bit of funk. Nice clean aroma. 7
Appearance - Hazed brown copper with a smallish egg white head. 4
Taste - Gentle bright cherries, lightly tart, nice acetic character. Flavors pleasantly subdued, and well integrated. 8
Palate - Medium bodied, bright cherry fruit in the finish. 4
Overall - Nice beer, really liked the integration of the fruit and vinegar sour. 14
Final Score - 3.7
Beer #7 - Cigar City Vuja De.
Aroma - Light vinegar, tart sour, nice cherry fruit. Fresh and clean nose. 7
Appearance - Hazed brown ruby along with a smallish tan head. 4
Taste - Bright lemongrass, lightly floral, tart cherry, grassy - quite a bit of variety in flavors, nicely melded. 8
Palate - Medium bodied, bright clean finish. 4
Overall - Enjoyed this, had the brightest fruit expression of the night. 14
Final Score - 3.7
Beer #8 - Two Brothers Moaten.
Aroma - Initially vegetal, pear fruit comes out as it opens, light funk in the back. 6
Appearance - Flat pour, light hazed golden copper with a smallish off white head. 4
Taste - Lightly sour, citrus, floral, earthy, tart, a bit woody in the lasting finish. 7
Palate - Medium bodied, lower carbonation, residual herbal woodiness in the finish. 4
Overall - Decent, not as well integrated as others in the tasting. 13
Final Score - 3.4
Beer #9 - Baladin Super Baladin Sour Edition.
Aroma - Light floral, sour citrus funk, some general toilet odors. 6
Appearance - Hazed, unfiltered looking orange amber with a ring of a white head. 4
Taste - Sweet caramel, tart citrus, lots of burnt caramel. Interesting lingering finish with clove and yeast. 7
Palate - Medium to heavy bodied, lighter carbonation level, lingering sweet caramel and tart finish. 4
Overall - Sort of odd interplay between caramel sweetness, tartness and an almost roast character. Weird, but interesting. 14
Final Score - 3.5
Tasted on 8/9/11 from a 375mL corked and caged bottle purchased at Discount Liquor a while ago. Pours hazy mahogany with a thin beige head that slowly recedes to nothing more than a thin collar of lace. Not much going on here. The nose is a sour blend of lemon, raspberry, and green apple with some dusty earthy aromas underlying. The flavor is lightly sour with vegetal caramel malt, and something slightly metallic. The body is medium with light carbonation and a medium vegetal, metallic, and lightly sour finish.
C&C 500 mL bottle courtesy of bertram and shared at the 15th Richmond Ratebeer Gathering, 7/16/11. Pours a hazy amber color with a thin creamy head. Fair head retention and lacing. Aroma of sweet aroma with notes of earth, sugar, citrus and a faintly tart finish. The taste is caramel with some tartness and a sugary finish. Medium bodied.
Richmond Gathering. Medium amber. Aroma is lightly caramel, and lightly of undefined fruit. Flavor is a match. Amazingly mild. Couldn’t find even a trace of anything sour. Not even remotely a Flemish. Dissapointing.
Cabbage on the nose, but kriek notes underneath. clear auburn, thin head. Tart cherry , but awful cabbage qualities.
Clear light brown. Extremely faintly sour. Not what I was expecting. Mildly tart. Watery. Dissappointed here.
Pours dark brown with a tan head. Smells of light tartness, residual sugar. Tastes oaky and sour/vinegary with a semi sweet finish.
From notes. 12-22-10. Pours a slightly hazy lt. brown w/red highlights. No head left after 30 seconds, with no lacing. Aroma is not bad: fruity, slightly tart, a touch of wood, and a little vanilla. Unfortunately, this is one of those that smells better than it tastes. Taste is just a bit of wood, a bit of fruit, very little tartness, with some light malt on the front end. Oddly metallic as it warms. Mouthfeel is watery and undercarbed. Overall, not a drain pour, and OK for the $3 price tag.
I can see how this would get a bad rating for style. its simply not a flanders like i have ever had. its tart but very slightly. sweetness is there also but neither are overpowering. i guess this would be great for someone who has never had a sour beer before because it isnt puckering or powerful. thin bodied and nice carbonation. good overall....but not like most flander reds ive had.
Bottle shared by Doug, thanks
Appearance: Clear red/copper with a medium sized off-white head and some lacing
Aroma: Tart cherries and sweet caramel
Taste: Tart cherries, caramel, woody and honey
A nice beer, a little thin but nice and refreshing.
500 ml bottle, corked, thanks to Eric. Pours a cloudy red/brown color with a small white head. The aroma is a dusty caramel, sugars and cherry note. The flavor is sweet cherries, light oak, a thin palate, some sugars, caramel, dry and dusty. Nice.
375 ml bottle shared by stevemastny- thanks again, Steve! Pours a cloudy amber color with a small beige head that proves to be resilient. Aroma of earthy funk, leaves, oak, caramel malts, and rum balls. Flavor of sweet and caramel malts, earth, berries, oaky funk, and tea. The cherry character emerges more as it warms. Medium-bodied, with a funky, earthy mouthfeel and dry finish. Fizzy carbonation. Really unusual sour.
Reviewed from notes. On tap at the brewpub.
Pours a moderate reddish brown color with a thin light tan head and not much lacing. The nose brings cherries and a bit of earth as well as some light acetic and lactic notes. The taste is mild cherry, bread, hints of caramel, and a bit of sourness. Mouthfeel brings slight sourness and a bit of cream. Drinks okay, but really not a very good collaboration.
Serving type: on-tap
Reviewed on: 10-24-2010
An ESBLS tasting. Moaten Flanders meets Chicago. A cloudy tea color. Very over ripe fruit in the nose. Sticky feel. Not really a sour but quite good. some dark fruit, wood, and interesting yeast. Unique as can be.
12.7 oz green Belgian style corked and caged bottle. It is a collaboration between Two Brothers and Urthel. "Chicago Meets Flanders".
Pours an intoxicating dark purpleish red, much like one of those high octane doppelbocks like eku 28, it is semi clear and magnificent when held to the light. The head is large, foamy and off-white and leaves some very nice Brussels-style lacing.
The smell wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. It smells like a "red" saison. The yeast is twangy, fruity, and slightly spicy and the malts are bready and up-front, underneath there is a slight red grape scent. There is a hint, very slight, of farmhouse scent. There is also a hint of oak. The smell isn’t pungent, only subtle, but I like it.
The flavor is more like a Flanders red, it is super fruity with notes of cherries foremost and also some red grape. It as a distinct bitterness and also a decent sweetness. The malts sort of fall flat here. The tartness is in the finish, it isn’t sour only tart, but it lacks a certain bite. The oak lingers after in your moth and is a bit overpowering and the finish is pretty dry. This is very wine-like, im not a huge fan.
The mouthfeel is the downfall, it is watery with a dry finish, it just doesn’t convey the flavors to the tongue well enough.
Overall it is a good but not great beer.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 02-24-2010 21:37:12
Le liquide est brun acajou. La mousse est fugace. Le nez n’offre que très peu d’émotion avec des parfums légèrement artificiels de framboises surettes légèrement touchées par les notes vineuses du fût de chêne. Le goût est collé aux arômes avec des fruits surets et un très faible boisé. La bouche est mince, l’effervescence modérée et la texture aqueuse. La finale est légère, faite de notes à la fois acidulées et sucrées. En résumé, bof…
Bouteille de 12,7 fl. oz. avec bouchon liège. Couleur acajou, peu de mousse, grosses bulles. Nez de framboises suédoises, avec un petit boisé, un peu de funk est aussi perceptible. En bouche la bière est mince, liquide, un peu de chocolat, et un peu de funk en fin de bouche. Manque de corps, de rondeur et d’équilibre de saveurs. 4/10
Bomber from Smith’s. Pours deep brownish ruby with 3-finger off-white head. Nose is oaky cherry, vinous fruit. Tastes of tart cherry, berry, vinous, with earthy notes, cabernet notes, and some oaky finishing notes. Decent, and extremely underrated here as far as I’m concerned.
(bottle from Oslo, thanks Al!) Pours a dark reddish-brown with just a scant light white head. Aroma is ok, some cherry, light sourness, beets, and really not too much else. Flavor has some cherry cough drops, cherry juice, and is then subsequently followed up by an obnoxious drying finish that leaves the tongue parched. Mouthfeel is medium and carbonation is minimal. Not much to say about this beer, except that it’s firmly entrenched in the meh category.
Bottle as an extra. Pours a heavily hazed reddish amber with a Bubbly off white head. Nose hold slight tart citrus with light malt notes. Not sour on the palate whatsoever. Not a bad beer, but not a good sour.
Sour fruit aroma with a lightsweet bed amount of citrus hops. Cloudy orange color with a large white head. Light sweet beginning with a quick light bitter middle getting.
Bottle. Pour is brown with amber copper hues and a quick soapy kahki head. Aroma is very nice malty cranberry and cherry scent, little bitter. Taste is malty and funky rotten fruit, but does not come off sour, but funky. Palate is chaulky and somewhat creamy and finishes dry.
$2.99 bottle from Zipp’s discount bin - Based on the reviews of this one, I expected it to taste like a cross between anal scabies and fermented duck farts. After a huge pop of the cork, it pours a clear rosy amber with a huge foamy off-white head. This one is super carbonated, and the first whiff has a pronounced lack of either scabies or farts. Instead, it’s lightly malty, lactic and metallic, with ripe plums only the fainest whiff of sour cherries. The cherries come out more on the taste, but there’s not a lot of barrel character. The cherries are really ripe and fairly sweet, and the finish transitions into dark, ripe, almost rotting plums. A touch of warmth on the finish. Pretty slick and syrupy, and nice heft. Gets much better as it warms, and the metallic notes really recede. Not great, but a far cry from scabies and farts.
12.7 oz. bottle. Aroma initially is sweet but quickly becomes tart. Red apple, lemon, salt, white vinegar, crabapple, and orange scents. The smell is not particularly strong. Nice, bright shine. Pours a clear, effervescent copper or amber. Moderate amount of taupe head. Sour-ish taste. A touch metallic, but not in a bad way; perhaps it would be better to call it “minerally.” A touch of cream. Also lemon and cider. A little dull. Subtle. Not great, but totally drinkable. Dull, dry aftertaste. Light to medium body. Soft and easy to drink. Moaten is not nearly as bad as many of the other reviews suggest, though it won’t be mistaken for great. I certainly don’t comprehend the rage against it.
Poured into a snifter. Appearance is a dark, translucent amber with a thin, quickly dissipating, greyish head. Aroma is a bit like rotting milk and some malty notes come through. Smells sour, so I suppose that’s a good thing. Taste is very slight. There is a faint, green apple taste thay finishes dry and leaves an aftertaste that is unrecognizable. Not the best sour, but I feel it could be a lot worse. This one is just kind of bland.
12.7 oz bottle. Just clear garnet brown with some big bubbled froth. Nose is plum, faint caramel, raisin and wet wood. Medium light with a dull sparkle; almost flat. Tastes like cherry vanilla yoghurt with toffee. Finishes woody, barely tart. Reminds me of cheap table wine.
12.7oz bottle @Jimmack Invitational thanks Vito of Coppermine–pours an off white ring for a head and amber color. Aroma is tart fruit, medium malt. Taste is tart fruit, medium malt, yeast.
10/9/10. Bottle. Had at the very end of a sour tasting to celebrate that it was the lowest rated thing we had! Slight caramel malt aroma with dashes of ketchup. Sweet malty flavor with caramel and ketchup. Meh.