Two Roads Unorthodox
A most unorthodox imperial stout brewed with malted rye and aggressively hopped with four U.S. varieties to develop a depth of character like no other.
Notes of rye, treacle, chocolate and espresso are joined together to create a crescendo of flavor. Full-bodied and warming. You will be doing a Kalinka dance after drinking this.
Notes of rye, treacle, chocolate and espresso are joined together to create a crescendo of flavor. Full-bodied and warming. You will be doing a Kalinka dance after drinking this.
3.7
213 reviews
Stratford, United States
Community reviews
Bottle shared with koleminer20 and Gus for the THE NET IS THE SIZE OF A FUCKING HOUSE HOW THE HELL DID YOU MISS THAT SHOT We’re Watching Soccer Extravaganza. Aroma is roasted malt, rye, hops, coffee, some chocolate, eh. Appearance is dark brown, light tan head, poured thin. Taste is rye, coffee, dark fruit, bready, lots of pine, roasted malt. Mouthfeel is medium body, light carbonation, rye pine roasted malt aftertaste. Overall, meh. Not all that great.
On tap at Owens Ordinary in North Bethesda, MD.
Opaque, brown-black with a thin tan head and good lacing.
Strange aroma of licorice, sweet plums, rye bread, roasted malt, chocolate, coffee, stone fruit and light citrus.
Taste of chocolate, roasted coffee, licorice, roasted malt, rye, stone fruit and fir.
Medium/full body and medium carbonation.
The description certainly is accurate. The is a most unique beer.
Draft at Prison City with Patty after Ithaca hike. It pours a dark brown color with small beige head. Aroma is dry with cocoa coffee and roasted malts. Taste is medium dry and lightly sweet with cocoa coffee roasted malts, berries and light booze. Medium bodied with good carbination.
12 ounce bottle. Translucent black color topped by a large frothy tan head. Faint roasted malt nose. Subtle roasted malt flavor hints at chocolate and licorice. Chewy and sticky. Hard to believe this is nearly 11% ABV, as it hides the alcohol well.
Plenty of bitter hops like tripping before high jump. Black pour with good head and lacing. Roast and some coffee. Thick oily pour. Caramel. Bittersweet finish. Tap at Churchkey.
BTLD 01/04/17. Nose heavy dark roast and chocolate, coffee/espresso, very weak plummy fruit. Pour lighter brown than expected, mostly black when collected with a little light brown poking out the bottom of the glass; lacing, rocky tan head. Taste medium bitter and nobly hoppy but only lightly sweet (and dries thoroughly), light-bodied edges with a flash of mild astringent but it’s controlled; coffee and chocolate are strong, rye even stronger (excellent here), warming but the alcohol is really superbly integrated. Fresh with the occasional flash of bright lemon, smooth licorice right up the gut, with warm brown malt in the background supporting excellently. Medium body easy to gulp, halfway between flat and crisp, a bit unusual for this kind of beer but works really well! Clean and somewhat spritely, very classy all around, might use a little body (oats?) for my preference, but that’s just a nit, otherwise a successful and somewhat original take on a hoppier stout. Would love to have this again. [2017.03.22: 3.8]
Scents of malt and licorice. Pours a dark black with a thick tan head and lots of lacing. Tastes sweet, more licorice and slight alcohol notes at first with a long tart finish. Medium carbonation. Quite nice.
Une bouteille achetée à Boston. Une robe noire comme il se doit avec une mousse beige. Un nez de chocolat et d’épices de seigle. Bien ordinaire. Une bouche qui présente une amertume de bière maison, c’est mince pour tant d’alcool.
Roasted malt aroma with some peppery spice. Taste is a smooth full flavored roasted malt with some peppery rye in there. Finishes dry for an imperial stout. Rye adds a nice complexity to the imperial stout. Not the darkest body imperial and also has a good amount of hop balance that makes it seem dry in the finish. That along with the peppery rye may not make it seem as thick as other imperials.
Merci à rodenbach99! Grosse tête sur ce liquide sombre à l’os. Au nez, des parfums fruités se dégagent à travers des malts rôtis qui piquent et qui fument un peu. Au goût, voilà des malts qui grinchent au contact de houblons ou autres trucs qui ne me reviennent pas vraiment. Je constate sur la bouteille la présence du seigle. C’est peut-être cela qui vient perturber un peu la séance. Le corps est normalement constitué. La finale montre des notes amères et surettes assez noires. Plaisants arômes mais en bouche quelque chose cloche.
malty, chocolate aromas. pitch black in color with nice long lasting brown head. taste is initially hoppy then transitions to malty with notes of roasted barley, chocolate, and faint coffee.
Rye stout at imperial ABV level, bomber bought at Biergenot. Thick and creamy, dense, pale greyish beige, moussy head leaving dots of lacing around the glass and retaining well, crowning a black beer with translucently hazy, mahogany yellow-brown edges. Assertive and very pleasant bouquet of burnt toast, bitter black chocolate, salmiak, cold black coffee, mocha ice cream, fresh fig, roasted peanuts, dried banana, liquorish, kahlua, soggy rye bread, pink pepper, tea, old dusty cocoa powder, cappuccino, black olive, salsify, pine wood, mushrooms fried with brown sugar, hard butterscotch candy, dried tarragon, vanilla, sweet red curry, honey-glazed spareribs, old dry pipe tobacco, green beans, sweet cherry tomatoes, vague eucalyptus oil, hazelnut paste, charcoal. Restrained but elegantly positioned dried fruit sweetness in the onset, hints of fresh fig and green banana, surrounded by a soft, blackcurrant-like sourishness, thin umami edge, medium carbonation, a tad above average for the style but certainly not disturbing, smooth and ’full’, oily mouthfeel. Deeply rooted nutty maltiness ensues, sweetish and a bit caramelly at first but quickly shifting towards an assertive toasted and black chocolate-like bitterness, eventually ending in a coffeeish roastedness, with a very clear rye spiciness underneath, cleverly accentuating the pungent toastedness of the general malt profile. Ends in a beautiful symphony of bittersweet malts - yet more bitter than sweet - surrounded by a strong, spicy, peppery, leafy and almost ’bright green’ hop dosage leaving behind a trail of bold bitterness alongside a warming, rum-like alcohol sensation. Hopped up stouts (as in these new East India stouts and porters) often tend to cross the border with black IPA, but this brew firmly remains as stout-like as it gets, the hops providing a pungent ’end bitterness’ but no overwhelming grapefruit or pine aromas, though New World hop fragrance is noticeable in the background. The rye is generously applied it seems, adding an outspoken spiciness which fits in very well. Not overly alcoholic either. All things considered, this may not be the most famous or acclaimed American stout by any means, but it is a beautiful piece of work, I hugely enjoyed it. Very well done!
DWF; Bottle, large, drunk at Cardinal. Pours moderate to large, black with a creamy, lacing and lasting tan head. Nose is heavy, roasted malt, chocolate, coffe, moderate dried dark fruit, light ash and liqorice. Taste is heavy sweet and bitter with a lasting roasted, warming finish. Body is full, texture is thick, carbonation soft.
Bottle shared by Jessica H thanks. Beautefull and Lasting dark brown head. Very nice dark caramell and chocolate aroma. A bit thinn but with lots of chocolate and roasted red. Balanced bitterness.
Pours dark brown with a tan head. Chocolate, roasted malt, and coffee aroma. Flavor is roasted malt, coffee, vanilla, and chocolate. Spicy rye and roasted malt finish. Thanks Maxbier!
Bottle (12/13/13) from Les Bières de Célestin, Lille - FR. Color: deep dark black beer with no carbonation and medium brown head. Smell: roasted malt, caramel and soy sauce. Licorice finish. Taste: full body wit roasted malt, coffee and caramel notes. Soy sauce finish. Quiet good. Good attenuation. Aftertaste: soy sauce, roasted malt, caramel and licorice. Good.
Bomber. Bottled 08/20/15. Pours coca cola brown with a beige head. Aroma is dark chocolate, mild coffee, soy. Flavor follows. Semi sweet chocolate, overextracted coffee, soy.
Poured from bottle dated 8/20/15 dark black pour with a nice mocha head with nice lacing. Aromas of bakers chocolate nuts wood and coffee. Taste is chocolate cocoa nibs coffee dark fruit and a slight lingering bitterness. Well done.
2014 vintage - 9,2%.
Aroma of roast coffee, spicy rye, green hops, bitter chocolate.
Pours black with a creamy beige head that lasts well.
Taste of umami, bitter and roasty espresso. Is more hoppy and almost fresh at first and then becomes roasty / toasty. Light sweetness.
Medium body, silky mouthfeel, average carbonation. Could need a bigger body. Overall an interesting and solid imperial stout.
Hmmm...well, I poured this into a nonic pint glass thinking it was a Russian Imperial Stout, but ended up leaving it in the glass and not re-pouring it into a snifter, oh well, cheers for experimentation. Here’s the rest.
The appearance was a dark brown color with a finger’s worth of foamy off white to tan head. Nice coat of lacing running all around the glass.
The smell takes in some rye spice, dry roasty chocolate. Light coffee bean.
The taste is basically the same as the smell. Light spicy to roasty aftertaste. Dry roasty semi-spicy finish.
On the palate, this one sat about a medium in body with a decent sessionability about it. Carbonation felt good. Rye does hit as the harshness and leaves a slight stickiness on my tongue.
Overall, I’d say this was a decent Russian Imperial Stout, nothing over the top. Last RIS I had with rye in it was Midnight Sun’s Moscow. If I remember correctly, I think that was a bit more balanced than this and this came across with more rye. Nice effort if anything.
Bottle from Beerlovers. Almost black color with minimal beige head. Nuts, chocolate, coffee, wood in aroma. Taste, chocolate, coffee, wood, bourbon, cocoa nibs. Long coffee bitter finish. Tasty.
Bottle at Bolime tasting 3/2016. Assertive with lots of roasted flavours, coffee, chocolate. Considerable alcoholic warmth. However not incredibly rich. Could use more body and more maltiness or any complexity.
Bottle. Bolime tasting. Black colour, beige head. Aroma roasted, coffee, tobaco, alcohol, nuts, hops. Taste roasted, coffee, caramel, tobaco, wood, warming alcohol. Alcohol is a bit problem for me. Overall good one.
Bottle at Bolime tasting 3/2016. Pours nearly black color, beige head. Aroma of raisins, coffee, chocolate, plums, roasted malt. Taste is sweet, medium bitter, chocolate, coffee, vanilla, plums, raisins, warming alcohol.
Tasting session @ Budapest.
Black with a tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, some coffee, light fruit and some chocolate. Similar taste. Full body and with a long aftertaste.
Bottle. Poured dark brown color with an average frothy tan head that mostly lasted with very good lacing. Moderate to heavy roasted chocolate malt, fruit and alcohol aroma. Medium to full body with a smooth texture and flat carbonation. Medium to heavy dark sweet flavor with medium to heavy dark sweet finish of moderate to moderate to long duration. Solid beer.
22 oz bottle shared with the group thanks to nimbleprop. Pours dark brown to black in color with a medium sized khaki colored head. The aroma and flavor have bigger roasted malts, dark chocolate, black coffee, earth, spicy rye, dry, big roasted malt flavors, very good impy.
22oz bottle, thanks to alexsdad06 for sharing. Kind of roasty, some dark fruit. Mild spiciness. Moderate to bigger bitter taste, light to moderate sweet, kind of dry finish. Mild bite to it, a touch of acidity. Kind of spicy. Some smoke to the flavor. Black color, thin tan head. Very dark brown, slight red color. Thin tan head. Leaves some loose bits of lace. Medium to bigger body. Kind of mild chewy. Lighter carbonation. Kind of light dry finish. Mild bite to it. Solid imp. stout.
Bottle. Pours pitch black with tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, dark chocolate, soya, coffee. Body is medium to full. Slightly creamy, quite high bitterness, hoppy. Taste of roasted malts, bitter chocolate, coffee. Good.
Bomber from Xroads. Poured a nice looking pitch black body with an average sized beige foamy head. Aroma of burnt malts, black toast, dark bakers chocolate, burnt marshmallow skins, cold old coffee beans. Flavor is similar but add in some vanilla extract. Medium to slightly fuler body, milky, tight bubbly carbonation.