Two Brother's Brew Pub 07/11/08

It's Andy's Birthday! Well, it was at least and I was not going to argue with him when he offered to rent a car and drive to Warrenville to go to a brew pub! So we all hopped in the car and went on a suburban adventure, would you like to join us?

This is the main entrance to Two Brother's Brew Pub. Yeah I know it is connected to the brewery in an industrial park, we knew that going in, but you can't help but think to yourself 'that's it?'. Sadly the facade wasn't the only thing that felt half assed about this brew pub, but we will get to that later.

There is a nice viewing window where you can check out the goings on in the brewery itself. Too bad not much is stirring on a Friday night but I always like to have a nice view of a breweries operation. Its neat, if you will.

The rest of the interior felt slapped together though, which I didn't take pictures of. This isn't an architecture blog so lets move on to the beer!

You guys could give a shit about bare walls and exposed plumbing.


American Bitter Ale- This is only sold at the brew pub so I of course honed in on this brew as soon as the menu was in my hands. I am a total sucker for limited and brew pub only beers.

The naming of this beer is misleading as it really isn't very bitter by ale standards, at least my ale standards. Maybe my hop scared friends would enjoy this beer a bit more but I found it to be bland, watery and over carbonated. What little hoppiness there is to be found is in the finish instead of hitting you right away.

This beer didn't really have much of a chance as my expectations were high to begin with. When you have been planning to go to the Two Brothers brew pub for a good part of six months that is what happens I suppose. I would rate this beer as decent. The $4 price tag wasn't bad either.


Ebel's Weiss- Andy Recommended that I give this beer a whirl even though it isn't 'my style'. I am trying to train my taste buds to enjoy the entire spectrum of beer (except Lambic, which I will forever despise) so why the hell not?

If you order this you better appreciate vanilla and lemon in your ale not mention the pairing of the two. I found it to be overly sweet which made Ebel's Weiss a bit of a chore for me to drink. Something I will revisit once my palate gets used to the sugar assault that this style of brew unleashes upon you.

This is the part of the review where I talk about how this beer was obviously well crafted and uses tons of quality ingredients to get the job done. Definitely something I would recommend to a buddy with more of a sweet tooth than I. Maybe in a few months I will do a one off about this fella instead of this cop out of a review.


Cane and Ebel 'Live Beer'- An English style Cask Beer that definitely caught my eye as I have never had one before. Once again, sucker for limited beers.

Amy (Andy's lady friend) made a great remark about this beer when she said 'its like a beer milkshake'. The lack of carbonation definitely made this beer taste thicker and made it slower to pour. I felt as if the beer was full of minerals myself, which also conjured the thought of sediment in a slow flowing river.

If that makes this beer sound unappealing then I apologize. This was actually very good although it wasn't something I would order with any frequency as it was not a smooth drinker.

If anything made this trip worth it then it was the Cane and Ebel Live. Definitely check it out if you are in the neighborhood.

You probably have picked up an overall sense of disappointment from this blog post so far. The main reason for this is something I have yet to touch upon- the food. Two Brothers makes some great beer, there is no denying that, but a brew pub can't get away just serving quality beer if it has poor food. The menu at Two Bros looked appetizing enough but the end result was just plain bad.

Burgers that looked like charcoal they were so burnt, runny mac and cheese and floppy french fries made for four bummed out customers. Yes, the beer was excellent, but the in house options weren't enough to bring me out a second time.

Two Brothers Cane and Ebel

'Cane and Ebel is one of a seris of special limited-run beers in styles that are more extreme or unusual. This unique red rye beer is full of hop flavor and aroma. We add 35 pounds of Thai palm sugar to each batch. The sugar does not add much sweetness to the beer, but rather a fruity and vanilla-like flavor. A new hop variety call Summit is really showcased here. This 18% alpha hop is also very aromatic which gives a pungent citrus aroma. Then we heavily dryhopped the beer with Simcoe.'

Now this is a beer for geeks. This stuff (almost) has the hops of an IPA but with way more malt to smooth it out. There are some nice spices to it that give it a nice aftertaste, too many to even pinpoint. I can taste cinammon for sure, but I always taste cinammon. This beer is exceptionally well crafted, almost to the point where it is intimidating to whoever is drinking it. I feel like I am missing something, which kind of bums me me out.

The last beer I said wasn't for beer geeks, Cane and Ebel is the exact opposite. I recommend this to anyone who likes to smell their beer before they drink it, it will blow your mind I am sure. Dudes that are looking to get drunk, not so much.

Two Brothers Prairie Path

'Prairie Path Ale is a Belgian-style golden ale. Prairie Path Ale is a full flavored, slightly bitter, clean and refreshing ale. The Belgian malts along with the Saaz and Goldings hops give this beer great drinkability.'

This beer does not taste Belgian whatsoever, at least it doesn't to me. There are a lot of spices that remind me of a winter brew. Very light with some cinnamon and.. honey? Yeah a little honey in there maybe. I don't know about this stuff, it is probably my least favorite of the Two Brothers beers that I have drank, not that makes it bad. I think this stuff might be trying just a little too hard. I mean don't get me wrong, its very good, but it can be a bit too much. I think this beer is a good example of how a beer can have too much going on flavor wise. I have trouble picking out exactly what is going on, but someone with a more refined palatte would love this more than I do. I like it fine just the same. Recommended.

Two Brothers The Bitter End

Another beer with plenty of spices in it! The Bitter End earns its name with the amount of hops in it, I can barely taste the toasted malts behind the sea of bitter hops! I dig it, its got some subtle hints of spices behind a harsh earthy wave of flavor. I like this beer, but I don't know how drinkable it is. The spices in the background feel like they are coming from three to four different angles which can be a bit too much. After about two of these I am very impressed, but also ready to move on to something a little more of a palate cleanser.

The Bitter End might be overpowering for those who prefer their beers to be smooth and benign but I doubt that accounts for very many of us. Another good beer from Two Brothers, I think its time to check out their brewery! I enjoyed it and would recommend it to people looking for a unique beer for the well crafted flavor inside it. There is a lot of love in Two Brothers brewery, I enjoy that and am looking forward to what they crank out next!

Two Brothers Domaine Dupage

This stuff is very sweet, but not too sweet. I can taste caramel, wheat and malt with the first sip. That might not sound like the best of combinations but it works out just fine with Domaine Dupage. I think the strongest thing going for this beer is the balance of its flavors. I taste caramel, then wheat, then malt in that specific order. I wish my team could have a starting pitcher this consistent!

This is one of those times when I do not feel burned by a local beer. You know what I am saying , buying local often is a painful error. Domaine Duprage makes this very painless. Thanks?

The caramel has a big punch in this beer, which is not a bad thing. I believe this brew was tailor made for beer snobs like ourselves, if that makes any sense. I am enjoying this beer but I don't think it is something I would pick up too frequently. Every few months Domaine Dupage will really hit the spot, but its not something to be drank on a weekly basis. Check it out though, it is quite good! Recommended!