It Is Real, It Is Rael: False Dichotomy by Two Brothers and Metropolitan Brewing

When I first heard that one of my favorite breweries, Chicago's Metropolitan had collaborated with another Chicagoland purveyor of suds, Two Brothers Brewing, I was ambivalent. This is no slight against Two Brothers. I've only tasted one of their beers so I am still very much developing my opinion of them. No, my bit of apprehension was due to the fruit of their collaboration, False Dichotomy, is an India Pale Lager.

What exactly constitutes an IPL is debatable. It's whatever the brewer labels as such. Still, I tend to think of the style as being a lager whose primary hop flavor or flavors are not those of Noble hops, i.e. - the hops have the taste of fruits and flowers. Perhaps my apprehension is completely irrational as I've consumed IPLs before and they were plenty fine. But I just can't help but shudder when I see the word "India" on beer label. It's a Pavlovian thing. It's a dislike of trendiness thing. I fear that I'll see Metro's brewmaster Doug Hurst dressed like he's in Ultravox courting the ironically mustachioed outside 1871 with his new India Pale Dunkel called USB Charger that is dry hopped with nameless experimental hops that smell like corpse flowers and taste like guava Jolly Ranchers.

I trust that his co-proprietor Tracy Hurst would put the kibosh on such a thing should this nightmare scenario ever come close to fruition.

Despite all this, I went out and bought a six pack when the bier was released earlier this month.

False Dichotomy, contrary to my photograph, pours a nice yellow – much lighter than my poor picture suggests. It was nice and clear with a big crown of soft, white foam. There were bubbles aplenty inside making their way up my glass.

If the bier looked like your typical pilsner, then the first sign that all was not as it appeared came in the aroma. Not knowing what hops were used I was surprised to smell some very spicy/grassy hops along with a touch of honeyed sweetness. Nothing out of the ordinary so far. That is until I noticed a rather floral hop scent that reminded me of Amarillos in its sweetness.

So Two Brothers and Metro had opted to not give us something from way out in left field; there was still some Central European tradition to be found in the bier which perhaps explains its name.

I noticed that honey-like malt sweetness on my tongue first. False Dichotomy is 7.2% A.B.V. so it's hardly surprising that the grains assert themselves. Being a lager, it has a clean flavor which lets not only the malts but also what must be an arsenal of hops compete for the drinker's attention. Initially it was that floral thing from the nose that hit me. Not overpowering but distinctive. Then further in the background was a mellow fruity/melon-like hop taste. This, presumably, came from the German Huell Melon hops, a rather new variety. Towards the end the hop flavor changed again into something more traditional – a Noble peppery taste. Amidst all this was a modicum of carbonation.

False Dichotomy finished with the peppery/spicy hoppiness developing into a bitter vortex of dryness, tasting a lot like a Czech pilsner. As I'd expect from a pils, my glass was left with some great Schaumhaftvermoegen with big streaks all around.

False Dichotomy is a fairly big bier being 7.2% A.B.V. but it's medium-light body makes it drink easier than similar brews appellated with another dreaded I-word – imperial. The bier really takes you for a ride with its hops. Noble hop flavors sit astride nouveau Central European ones. All things considered, False Dichotomy isn't that bitter a bier. While it is hoppy all the way through, it doesn't get bitter until the end. And I really appreciated that the malt was always there no matter where I was on the hop roller coaster.

Despite the many good things about this bier, I remain ambivalent about it. I'm undecided about the strong, bitter spicy hops next to the mellow melon ones. Individually these flavors are quite tasty but next to and melding into one another, well, I'm just not sold on the idea. I drank most of a six pack trying to decide – and believe me, I did not have to be restrained and have the bier poured down my throat - yet remain on the fence.

Junk food pairing: try some jalapeno popper stuffed pretzel bites with your False Dichotomy. Just as the bier blends the New and Old Worlds so do these pretzels with traditional Bavarian pretzel goodness surrounding a tender center of spicy cheese gluttony.

I Am Become Ethanol: Atom Smasher from Two Brothers Brewing Co.

From the far side of the Cheddar Curtain comes Atom Smasher, an Oktoberfest from Two Brothers Brewing Company in Warrenville, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. The brewery opened in 1996 which makes it something of an elder statesman in the world of microbrews but it started distributing here in Wisconsin just this past summer. From my vantage point, Revolution, Half-Acre, and Pipeworks get the lion's share of hype for Chicago area breweries while Two Brothers keeps it steady as she goes without all the fuss.

Their autumnal seasonal is not simply another Oktoberfest. The brewery notes that it differs from its German counterparts by being aged in oak foudres which are large casks normally reserved for aging wine. Aging beer in oak casks or on oak staves or with discarded parts of Amish furniture is gaining in popularity. While not ubiquitous, a new oaked beer now appears on shelves seemingly every couple of months. Having recently had Karben4's Oaktober Ale, I was keen to find out how our neighbors to the south approached a silvan brew. Atom Smasher is also distinguished from its counterparts in Munich by its rather high alcohol content, coming in at 7.7% A.B.V.

Atom Smasher was a lovely clear amber. My pour produced a moderately sized head – maybe a quarter inch – that was off white and frothy. It lasted…a moderate amount of time. It neither disappeared posthaste nor stuck around until I got halfway through the beer.

The arboreal aroma was quite distinctive and could be smelled even with the glass being at some distance from my nose. There was no mistaking this for your typical Oktoberfest. The style is malt-centric and the expected grainy scents were prominent. There was biscuit and a sweeter, caramel smell too. In addition, I caught fruity, berry-like notes.

Just as with the aroma, oak was the first thing I tasted. This was not some subtle woody notes in the background – it was right up front. At first I found it to be a bit much but the oakiness mellowed upon subsequent sips and the clean malt flavors came through. I was very pleased to taste some nice, soft bready flavors along with those of toast/roasted grain. Considering the beer's color and aroma, I was very surprised at the lack of sweetness in the taste. There was just a hint of it and I suspect that the carbonation and woody flavors dulled the sweetness. Two Brothers claims there are 22.6 I.B.U.s in Atom Smasher but I couldn’t taste that much. I tasted some herbal hops, but only just.

Atom Smasher finished dry and oaky with a firm bit of spicy hoppiness that lingered. The bite from the carbonation was also noticeable. Sadly, there was only the slightest trace of Schaumhaftvermoegen in my glass.

I'm still pretty green when it comes to oak aged beers. I've had one that was homebrewed a few years ago and now I am finding slowly consuming its commercial cousins. Atom Smasher is less oaky than Karben4's Oaktober Ale but there's nothing subtle about the woody flavors here. Atom Smasher is also a lager so it has a clean flavor that allows the grainy flavors to come through. I enjoyed the bread and toasty malt flavors as well as the paucity of sweetness. I also liked the oak flavor here although I found it pushing the limits of my tolerance for the flavor. Any more would have been drinkable, certainly, but my limit would have been one. The hoppy finish helped ease the abundant oak.

If Atom Smasher has anything that would impede multiple servings being consumed in a session it is the 7.7% A.B.V. which betrays its smooth, medium-light body. This is an easy-drinking beer but one can easily forget that it doesn't lack for booze.

Junk food pairing: As I've been doing for the past couple weeks with other Oktoberfests, I will urge you to pair Atom Smasher with deep fried cheese curds. The salt will bring not only the curds but also the malt in your beer alive. ALIVE!