Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, the founder and man behind Evil Twin Brewing, was a physics and English teacher in his native Denmark before starting Copenhagen’s Ølbutikken, a highly regarded beer store. He’s also an evil twin himself. His brother, Mikkel Borg Bergsø, brews under the Mikkeller label. Jarnit-Bjergsø, however, has done his best to outshine the good twin. He founded Evil Twin in 2010 as a nomadic brewery. Like his brother Mikkel, Jarnit-Bjergsø would concocts a recipe for his beer and hand it to another brewery with some extra capacity. This contracted brewing partner brewed, bottled, priced and sold the beer, then cut Jarnit-Bjergsø a check. Evil Twin beers were brewed everywhere from South Carolina and Scotland to Holland and Denmark. In 2012, Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø moved it to Brooklyn and relocated there with his family, opening the beer bar TØRST the same year. Today, Peaks and Pints presents a flight of Evil Twin craft beer in what we like to call Craft Beer Crosscut 7.12.19: Flight by Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø.

Craft Beer Crosscut 7.12.19: Flight by Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø

Evil Twin Imperial Doughnut Break

11.5% ABV, 70 IBU

A twist on Evil Twin’s popular Imperial Biscotti Break, an imperial stout brewed with coffee beans, Imperial Doughnut Break imperial porter is made with almonds and bags full of glazed doughnuts dumped into the boil. It’s the sort of beer that gives Jeppe his reputation and it was completely delicious. A dark espresso color with slight red notes, we detected marzipan and oxidized coffee on the nose. Appropriately, the brew smells similar to a doughnut shop — a good sign! The mouthfeel is unique — it feels like our mouth is coated with doughnut glazing and the beer tastes like a doughnut.

Evil Twin Imperial Wedding Cake Break

11.5% ABV

Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø contract brewed at Westbrook Brewing in South Carolina before moving his Evil Twin Brewing to New York City. As he brewed his Biscotti Break imperial stout with vanilla, almond and coffee he drank Westbrook’s Mexican Cake imperial stout with cocoa nibs, vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks, and fresh habanero peppers. Then one day Biscotti Break met Mexican Cake and they knew it was much more than a hunch. Soon they became the Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break, an imperial stout brewed with coffee, cinnamon, almonds, cocoa nibs, vanilla and habanero peppers. The two brewery’s kept the drive alive, brewing variants of the Imperial Biscotti Break, including Imperial Wedding Cake Break this year, an imperial porter brewed with coffee, almond and wedding cake. The coffee overshadows the cake batter, with chocolate and vanilla as the icing on the cake.

Evil Twin Even More Coco Jesus

12% ABV, 75 IBU

Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, the founder and man behind Evil Twin Brewing, was a physics and English teacher in his native Denmark before starting Copenhagen’s Ølbutikken, a highly regarded beer store. He’s also an evil twin himself. His brother, Mikkel Borg Bergsø, brews under the Mikkeller label. Jarnit-Bjergsø, however, has done his best to outshine the good twin. He founded Evil Twin in 2010 as a nomadic brewery. In 2012, Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø gave up his nomadic brewing days and opened Evil Twin in Brooklyn. His Even More Coco Jesus is thick as fudge with pitch-black color, amazingly overwhelming aromas of chocolate, coffee, dark fruits, muscovado sugar, maple syrup and coconut. Taste has an initial bittersweet beginning with a balance of roasted, earthy coffee and fudgey sweetness. Then, there’s melted milk chocolate, a sweet slick of maple syrup and a long, oily, palate-coating finish.

Evil Twin Molotov Lite

8.5% ABV, 90 IBU

Seeing a beer with “Lite” on the label and 8.5% ABV would seem to be a contradiction in terms. Evil Twin Molotov Lite is actually a scaled-down version of the brewery’s 13 percent ABV Molotov Cocktail. Originally brewed at Two Roads Brewing in Connecticut, this double IPA pours a dull yellow with a tight white collar. The smell of citrus assails the nose before rich malt rides the tongue from beginning to end, with a slight vanilla or birthday cake flavor on the back end. Pineapple, peach, pear and grapefruit are all prominent — akin more to hard candy rather than juice. There’s an intense sensation of bitterness as well; it’s slightly dry but nothing the average hophead can’t handle.

Evil Twin Bozo Beer

17.2% ABV

Jeppe brewed Bozo Beer to make fun of the kind of overkill deployed by craft brewers such as Mikkeller. Jeppe added cocoa, chocolate, coconut, cinnamon, oak chips, chili, coffee, vanilla, hazelnut, chestnut, and marshmallows to make a crazy high alcohol by volume imperial stout that he wouldn’t necessarily drink, but received crazy high ratings. It pours thick and dense, hitting the nose with coffee, chocolate, marshmallow, nuts, creamy vanilla, molasses, cinnamon, chili peppers, and cinnamon. It’s not a hot mess, but rather offers roastiness, marshmallow, vanilla, coffee, chocolate and molasses initially, with the almonds and hazelnuts checking in next. The cinnamon and chili peppers come in late but are understated. The alcohol warmth follows but not aggressive.