EVIL Twin is the aptly named beer production company of Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, the brother of Mikkeller’s Mikkel Borg Bjergsø.

Despite that, comparing the two companies is somewhat redundant: Mikkeller focuses on the European market, whereas Evil Twin is based in America now. The former produces innumerable iterations of the same beer processed different ways, sometimes falling foul of their own adventurous nature; Evil Twin are a bit more refined. Basically, ignore the entire ‘brothers’ thing and you have two breweries that produce fantastic beer, so we’ll stick with that.

Xmas Eve at a New York City Hotel Room is an imperial stout, and it pours accordingly. Inky black with red-brown edges, there’s no real head to speak of unless you pour aggressively, and even then it dissipates quickly. The aroma is correspondingly brooding: burnt toast, coffee liqueur, and dusty cocoa are strewn across damp, smoky turf.

Lighter bodied than anticipated, spicy pepper and sumac sweetness are transformed into salt liquorice before running you directly into a wall of roasted malt. Sour espresso and whisky heat develop in the finish, which is oily, permeated with vanilla essence and ethanol, before gingerbread spice, coconut, and burnt marshmallows round out the experience. Definitely a nightcap for those lonely nights alone in a strange city then.

Recommended by Michael Bates, Trembling Madness, Stonegate, York