Beer Spotlight!

Area Two Twoquila

$16.99 for the 16.9oz four-pack can
Tequila Barrel-Aged Lime Gose Brewed with Agave

Two corporate beer execs, a finance guy, and a brewmaster walk into a bar … or they build a bar … actually they build a craft brewery. Wait, did we say this was in Connecticut? Okay, we think we’ve lost the thread of the joke now …

By 2019, Two Roads Brewing Company in Stratford, CT (from their start in 2012) had achieved an impressive level of success. Based on sales, it was the 47th largest craft beer brand in the nation. So, co-founders and friends Brad Hittle (exec), Clement Pellani (exec), Peter Doering ($$$), and Phil Markowski (brewmaster) thought it was time for an unconventional expansion.

Renovating a former old steel factory that was near the brewery, Two Roads created Area Two Experimental Brewing. Connected to the Two Roads brewhouse by three 1,100-foot pipes, Area Two is a place for fermenting and aging. Filled with barrels, foeders, and their own 50-barrel coolship, Area Two is dedicated to sour beers — from kettle fermented to spontaneously fermented.

One of their first recipes, the Twoquila takes a Two Roads beer — their Persian Lime Gose — and says, “We can rebuild this beer. We have the technology.” The Persian Lime Gose is already and interesting beast. Markowski takes Persian Lime Juice and adds it to a Gose made with flaked rye (for an extra bit of zing). With his Area Two brew hat on, though, Markowski used the Persian Lime Gose as a jumping off point!

First they brew a batch of the Persian Lime Gose with agave added to it. Then they age the new Gose in tequila barrels from Jalisco, Mexico. The resultant brew is a different take on the Gose. Lime flavors predominate but still fold into general mix. The agave doesn’t impart as much sweetness as it does increase the beer’s body. So with the lime, the saltiness from the Gose, and the mild notes of tequila on the edges, the Twoquila tastes like a dry margarita — tart and limey-citrusy.

It’s … wait for it … no joke.