Two Roads Roadsmary's Baby

The Stats
Style: Pumpkin Ale
ABV: 6.8%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 3.7/5
- Untappd: 3.67/5
- RateBeer: 3.4/5

"Roadsmary’s Baby is a traditional pumpkin ale with a Two Roads spin, it's aged in rum barrels for added complexity and depth of flavor. The result is a smooth drinking ale with notes of pumpkin, spices, vanilla, oak and a touch of rum."

Pours burgundy in color with a copper glow and a slightly hazy body. The pour produced a finger of off-white head.

Cinnamon and nutmeg for days on the aroma with subtle rum character. A flower and potpourri aroma is powerful, but no vanilla to be found.

The taste retains the subtle rum from the aroma and adds some spice in for good measure. Sweet vanilla finally appears, but like the rum, it is faded and nearly a ghost. The cinnamon and nutmeg are the stars here as this tastes like a spice cabinet was emptied into the beer. Those familiar flowers and potpourri are back and they are just as big as the spices. Unlike the aroma, the taste yields raisins and dark fruit which seem to play off of the small bit of rum that was able to be found. I wish the barrel had more of an influence, but the pumpkin spices themselves are loud and proud.

Mouthfeel is light and calm with good carbonation. It finishes clean with no bad aftertaste and the alcohol is non-existent.

Roadsmary's Baby was a good pumpkin ale that did not deliver big on the barrel aging. Still, it is an acceptable pumpkin beer that is easy to drink.

Rating
7.5/10

Two Roads Two Juicy

The Stats
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 8.2%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.17/5
- RateBeer: 3.53/5
- Untappd: 4.07/5

"Two Juicy is an unfiltered, cloudy “New England style Double IPA” that uses generous amounts of Hallertauer Blanc, Citra & Mandarina Bavaria hops. The result is a “juicy”, fully-charged DIPA with notes of grapefruit, pine, lychee, orange & tangerine against a soft malt backdrop."

Pours dark yellow with a somewhat hazy body and two fingers of white head.

The aroma is a big splash of pineapple with earthy notes of wet grass along with some pine and spruce. Then there's some tangerine and juice extract for good measure.

With a name like "Two Juicy", I was expecting a tropical or citrus juice explosion or even a hop juice overload, but for me, I get a blast of earthy hops. Flavors of wet grass, moss, and tree bark are the most prominent in my opinion and is similar to walking through a forest after a rain storm. Now, juicy hops are still here of course. Pineapple from the aroma is back on the taste along with subtle lemon peel and some mango. I get more orange rind rather than any citrus juice and that's where the citrus influence comes to an abrupt end. As it goes towards the back, the flavors are more hop resins and oils and it has a bitter finish. Some good malt presence and a sweeter kick near the end lends some balance.

Mouthnfeel is calm with a medium body. It feels much lighter than 8.2%. It isn't an intimidating DIPA by any means, so even the casual drinker can approach this with confidence.

I'm not going to sound like the proverbial broken record and say I was expecting more juice from Two Juicy, so let's just say that while my expectations weren't met, I still enjoyed this big, earthy DIPA which was refreshing enough to be a complex and drinkable IPA.

Rating
7.4/10