Laughing Panda - Two Brothers Brewing Company

    Laughing Panda is an India Pale Ale brewed with green tea. This "Green Tea IPA" is created by the Two Brothers Brewing Company which is located in Warrenville, Illinois. I have to admit that I'm rather amused by the very anime-esque water drop that just happened to be falling down the panda's head when I took this photo. I guess he's worried that I'm going to drink all of his beer (spoiler alert: I did).

    Laughing Panda pours a hazy yellow-orange. There is a large presence of bubbles which always makes me worry about over-carbonation. A two-finger head tops the beer and slowly dissipates.

    The Green Tea IPA smells strongly of citrus hops and pine. There is only the slightest bit of malt sweetness to the scent, though other fruity, sweet scents of tropical fruit are present. There is a very slight scent, which I assume must be the green tea, that gives the beer an almost herbal smell.

Human tested, Panda approved!

    Laughing Panda is on the lower end of medium bodied. As I suspected, there is a medium-high level of carbonation, though it's not too high. The beer has an alcohol content of 6.25%.

    I was intrigued by the addition of green tea to an IPA, though I was somewhat disappointed to find that there was very little green tea flavor to the IPA. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised as IPA flavors are extremely bold and green tea has a very subtle flavor. Similarly to the smell, citrus bitterness is the predominant flavor to the ale, with a slight malt sweetness backing it up. The ale has a strange astringency to it which I find unpleasant. I found that Laughing Panda really just tasted like a decent IPA rather than an IPA with other flavors added.

    Laughing Panda comes off as an average IPA with just a couple small differences thanks to the green tea additive. Overall I was mostly disappointed with the Green Tea IPA, as in my head the flavor of green tea would go well with IPA flavors. But then again, in my head Pandas sit around drinking beer and talking about all the stupid humans they saw at the zoo that day...

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