Beerlandia: Evil Twin Teacher Edition IPA
There are certain professions out there that earn their after-work beer every single day. Right now, it's people who work in healthcare, supply chain management, grocery store employees, delivery drivers, and food service workers. Evil Twin Brewing recognizes this fact and has brewed a lineup of beers specifically tailored for public servants. So far, they have a Teacher and Firefighter Edition in this special group of beers that show appreciation for these professions in the best way - with hops.
Beer: Public Servant Teacher Edition IPA
Brewery: Evil Twin Brewing
Country: New York, NY, USA
Style: American IPA
ABV: 7.0%
Beerlandia Advisory: The best gift for Teacher Appreciation Day.
I always pick out a few interesting beers to try when I'm back home from China (might be for good this time) and this one really stood out to me after TEFLing for several years. While doing TEFL in China affords you a very laidback lifestyle, the actual teaching can be very challenging at times. Saturdays and Sundays - if you work at a private language center - often mean you are on your feet teaching for 8 hours. A crisp, hoppy IPA is just what the doctor ordered after a long week, preferably while soaking your feet in Epsom salts.
“Evil Twin sought to make an uncomplicated IPA to celebrate teachers who are often so exhausted after work they can barely remember their names, and they nailed it.”
This is a beautiful-looking beer. Ever since the world got hop fever and started churning out IPAs at the speed of light, the rainbow of what would be considered a typical IPA color has expanded. The hazy golden color with a creamy white head that this beer proudly displays is reminiscent of a more typical American IPA from a simpler time. The head has moderate retention but leaves a very nice trail of lacing all the way to the bottom of your pint glass.
The aroma is fruity and floral, with bright lemon citrus and pine notes, followed by grapefruit and bready maltiness. It's an enticing beer in both appearance and aroma, just the type of thing I'd like to see on the bar after struggling to teach past perfect participles to students with a rudimentary grasp on the present tense, at best. An important part of teaching is reflecting on your past lesson plans, picking apart what worked and what didn't. There's no reason not to do this with a cold IPA in hand.
Before I tasted this, I was hoping for one thing with this beer: accessibility. This is a beer targeted at the everyman and everywoman - it shouldn't be a sour nectarine imperial IPA that requires an essay to explore its complexities. The flavor profile lines up pretty well with the aroma with the citrus at the forefront and some bready bitterness following quickly behind it. A lot of breweries try to disguise hoppy bitterness to make their IPAs more accessible. Evil Twin succeeds by leaving this on the center stage while keeping the beer very palatable.
Teachers deserve a pint.
There are no gimmicks with this IPA. It is definitely not the most complex IPA I've ever had, but that's precisely why I like it. There are some beers I buy precisely because they promise to take you on a journey. Sometimes I just want a solid representation of the brewing style on the label. The label matters, and how a brewery describes their beer and to the extent they deliver on that promise factors into my rating of that beer. Evil Twin sought to make a solid, uncomplicated IPA to celebrate teachers who are often so exhausted after work they can barely remember their names, and they nailed it. ◉
Written by Seth Barham
