Evil Twin’s “I Have Never, Ever Been to the Statue of Liberty or Staten Island” (or IHNEBTTSOFOSI for short) is a boozy, unctuous triple IPA with high notes of orange and mango and a rich, satisfying aged rum bassline. At 10.1%, you wouldn’t pick this up for a session, but it’s a great beer for celebrating a special occasion. 4/5
Let’s start this off with an admission. I have, in fact, been to the Statue of Liberty. Aged eleven, my dad was so delighted with my SATS results that he cashed in some of his vast reserves of air miles for two tickets on Concorde. Just three hours after taking off we were in JFK, and not long after that I was running around on the ferry to Ellis Island to peek up Lady Liberty’s giant copper robes.
This was almost two decades ago. These days, I’m kept from NYC’s freshest hype bars not by the USA’s absurdly puritanical alcohol laws but by a global pandemic and an angry Wotsit who refuses to wear a mask. Fortunately, Ghost Whale in Brixton has me covered.
This is an interesting beer. Ignoring the name for a second – not purely because I can’t be bothered to type it all out again, honestly – it’s a 10.1% double dry hopped, triple IPA brewed with Citra and Motueka. Even if we were to give this beer a shorter, easier to type name, it would still raise a few eyebrows.
It pours pale orange and hazy; I watch the froth rise as the beer hits the glass with eager anticipation. The aroma is sweet and fruity. Orange and lemon lead, with warmer, spicier, tropical fruits following: mango, coriander seed, grapefruit.
The booze arrives quickly on the palate, no surprise really at 10.1%. The alcoholic warmth accentuates the mango notes, but as those fade they give way to more lemon oil and dark, woody rum. It’s that warming alcoholic richness that lingers on the finish, inviting another sip…and then a few more.
This isn’t a beer for every day. It’s not even a beer for once a week: it’s too strong, too sweet, comes with too many air miles. But as a special occasion beer, something to celebrate and savour? This absolutely fits the bill. 4/5
