Beer Review: Evil Twin Even More Jesus

Evil Twin Brewing
Even More Jesus (Imperial Stout)
12% ABV
Purchased from The Wine and Cheese Place, Clayton, MO
Tasted June 2012
Poured from an 11.2 oz bottle

    When I first heard the name of this beer, I was hopeful that it would cross my path. Calling a beer Even More Jesus is just so blatantly ballsy, that you have to love the moxy of brewer/evil mastermind Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø. He states in his trademark spiel on the label that he wanted to make an imperial stout that joined others in a “higher godly league” of big, extreme beers that “must taste rare.” When I read that, I had to chuckle, as there is a certain fetishization of the high alcohol, extremely rare imperial stouts. Look at Beer Advocate and Rate Beer’s top beers list, and you will see a slew of hard-to-find stouts with ABV percentages of 12 and above. Evil Twin already has some great imperial stouts in its stable, so, beside the amusement I got from the name, I had to see how this one measured up.
    Even More Jesus pours out of the bottle pitch black with a thin cocoa colored head that dissolves into a thin film across the top of the liquid. The aroma is potent with hickory smoke, roasted grains, fudge, cinnamon, licorice, espresso, blackberry, vanilla, dark brown sugar, pine and alcohol. This is a full bodied imperial stout. The mouthfeel isn’t as thick as you might think it to be, but it is very weighted. The liquid moves smoothly across your palate and warms the back of your throat after each sip. The flavor starts with some vanilla pound cake, dark chocolate, cinnamon, candied walnuts and blackberry up front. The finish is bitter and roasty with tastes of fudge, charcoal, whiskey, candied orange rind, date and plum. The aftertaste is piney and bitter with notes of coffee, alcohol, sweet licorice, light hickory smoke, fig, vanilla, brown sugar, charcoal, espresso beans and a slight kick of chile spice. As you drink, the booziness of the beer grows slightly. The fudge flavor begins to pick up on the aftertaste along with some saltiness, the licorice notes become more noticeable across your palate and a touch of raisin shows up on the finish and aftertaste.
    Here, Evil Twin gives us a big, bold and complex imperial stout that is really delicious. You get a really nice mix of flavors all in one loud, in-your-face beverage. The fudge, charcoal, hickory and cinnamon notes are all great touches to go along with the roasted, coffee/espresso, bitter, boozy, vanilla, licorice and fruit tastes that you get from Even More Jesus. I highly recommend that you give this beer a try. I don’t think you need to know that this beer is rare to get excited about it, you just need to take one sip.