Reviewed: Evil Twin Lost Souls

Product description: None at all.

Evil Twin Brewing – Evil Twin Lost Souls – 16 oz. can poured into speciality glassware. 7% abv.

I’m trying this from a 16oz can about 5 weeks after its packaging date according to the date on the bottom. I was surprised to see anything useful down there as a few other Evil Twin beers I’ve sampled recently only had the batch number printed. So already we are off to a good start. I’m also digging the minimalist, saturated polygon design in keeping with Evil Twin’s extensive lineup. The can label says hardly anything about the beer, and there’s essentially no information about this beer online.

Into the glass, Lost Souls is fully hazy, glowing pineapple juice color in the glass with billowing, ample white foam with an impressive whipped meringue appearance. The aesthetics here are perfect. And now we know this is a hazy IPA. The nose is expressive, overripe, sweet yellow mango but it’s sugarier than that – more like mangosteen and jackfruit. It’s incredible. The aroma moves around from sweet to salty reminding me of Gatorade Citrus Cooler. If you don’t remember that flavor, I’m sorry, because it was the best they ever made. I’m reminded of one of my favorite Thai street food snacks: chili salt-rubbed pomelo sections. Everything here just smells like a Thai fruit market. It’s honestly one of the most impressive hop aromas I’ve ever experienced. It just keeps delivering.

The flavor is similar with a tropical yellow fruit medley plus some bitter fruit skin character for balance. My wife sampled this as well and said, “straight up pineapple juice.” The beer isn’t sticky sweet and the bitterness is in keeping with the NE IPA style, which is usually lower and not as aggressive as a typical IPA. The mouthfeel is also excellent. Many of these hazy IPAs go super chalky and dusty from things like wheat flour additions. Here it is fresh and juicy but also chewy with white bread density in the mid-palate and finish.

Overall, Lost Souls is a solid, complete beer that gets everything right. This is in the same league as the top brewers of this style like Tree House, Trillium, et al. Even at 5 weeks post packaging, which usually is a disqualifier for me purchasing IPAs, this is in terrific shape and essentially perfect. If you like the hazy IPA style, don’t pass this one up.