Before the Breweries: A Bar Called Tørst
Every great story needs a setting, and this one starts at Tørst, the craft beer bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn that became ground zero for two of New York's most respected breweries. Tørst was the brainchild of Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, a former Copenhagen elementary school teacher who had been running the legendary bottle shop Ølbutikken since 2005 and founded Evil Twin Brewing in 2010 as a nomadic gypsy brewery in Denmark.
Behind the bar at Tørst, two bartenders were pouring Evil Twin beers and absorbing everything about the craft beer world: Anthony Sorice and Ryan Mauban. They didn't know it yet, but they were laying the groundwork for Root + Branch Brewing.
Sorice wasn't just a casual fan of Evil Twin. He was embedded in Jeppe's orbit, soaking up the philosophy and the process. His background wasn't in brewing science; he was a history and philosophy student. That intellectual wiring would later define Root + Branch's entire identity. But first, he had to learn the craft from the inside.
Evil Twin: The Nomad Who Brewed Everywhere
Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø founded Evil Twin in 2010 in Copenhagen, but calling it a "brewery" required some imagination. Evil Twin had no building, no brewhouse, no fixed address. It was a gypsy operation, producing beers at more than 10 different breweries across six countries. The name itself? A deliberate nod to his relationship with his identical twin brother, Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, the founder of Mikkeller. That sibling rivalry remains one of craft beer's most fascinating storylines.
In 2012, Jeppe moved his family from Denmark to Brooklyn and opened Tørst alongside Michelin-starred chef Daniel Burns, whose résumé included stints at both Noma and The Fat Duck. The bar cemented Evil Twin's identity as a New York institution, even though the brewery itself was still brewing on borrowed equipment around the world.
The numbers from that nomadic era are staggering. Evil Twin created over 485 different beers and racked up more than 2.65 million Untappd ratings, 3.25 million check-ins, and 69,000 followers. The flagship Even More Jesus Imperial Stout (12% ABV) holds a 95 on BeerAdvocate with over 2,300 ratings and a 4.1/5 on Untappd with more than 103,000 ratings, making it one of the most reviewed Imperial Stouts on the planet.
Then there's Pappy's Even More Jesus, aged in Pappy Van Winkle bourbon barrels, which scored an extraordinary 98 on BeerAdvocate. That kind of number puts you in rare air.
Jeppe was named to RateBeer's World's Best Breweries Top 10 in 2017, and he co-authored Food & Beer with Daniel Burns, published by Phaidon. By January 2019, the nomadic era finally ended when Evil Twin opened its permanent brewery and taproom at 1616 George Street in Ridgewood, Queens. After nearly a decade of brewing without walls, the gypsy had a home.
Root + Branch: The Intellectual Brewery Born in Brooklyn
After his time behind the bar at Tørst, Anthony Sorice went deeper into the brewing world. He worked as lead brewer at LIC Beer Project, then joined Evil Twin Brewing NYC as brewery operations manager, helping commission and set up the Ridgewood brewhouse. He wasn't just passing through Jeppe's world; he was building part of it.
In 2018, Sorice and Ryan Mauban co-founded Root + Branch as their own nomadic gypsy brewery. They started brewing at Twelve Percent Beer Project in Connecticut, a 30,000 sq ft facility that also hosted Evil Twin, Stillwater, Omnipollo, Decadent, and Fat Orange Cat. Good company, to say the least.
The name Root + Branch comes from a libertarian socialist literary zine started by Sorice's college history professor and Harvard graduate school colleagues. For a brewery founded by a history and philosophy student, it fits perfectly. That intellectual DNA runs through everything: the minimalist black-and-white label aesthetic, the esoteric beer names like "Fear," "Life and Fate," "Death Party," and "Everyone Levitates Above Their Own Sea of Hell." Root + Branch is one of the most philosophically distinctive breweries in American craft beer, and it wears that identity with zero apology.
In October 2020, Root + Branch raised €1.4M in debt financing to fund its transition from gypsy brewery to permanent facility. After nearly four years of build-out (the lease was signed in 2018), the brewery and taproom finally opened in July 2022 at 360 Marconi Blvd in Copiague, Long Island, tucked under the Copiague LIRR station. The parallel to Evil Twin's journey is hard to miss: years of nomadic brewing, followed by a permanent home. Shared DNA runs deep.
The Collaborations: When Two Breweries Become One
Root + Branch and Evil Twin have collaborated on multiple beers brewed at Evil Twin NYC, and these aren't one-off marketing exercises. They represent a genuine creative partnership between a mentor and protégé who share a brewing philosophy.
Straight To Hell, a Triple NEIPA clocking in at 9.6% ABV, sits at 4.44/5 on Untappd with nearly 3,000 ratings. It's one of Root + Branch's most widely reviewed beers and a pure showcase of both breweries' shared obsession with hops.
Even More Zest, an Imperial Stout brewed with orange zest and Guatemalan cacao nibs, riffs on Evil Twin's iconic Even More Jesus lineage but filters it through Root + Branch's creative lens. The Nomadic Approach to Reinventing the Wheel, a DIPA, winks at both breweries' gypsy origins right there in the name. And The Castle, an American Pale Ale, proves the partnership has range beyond high-ABV haze bombs.
Root + Branch's own catalogue speaks for itself: Chainsaw Triple NEIPA holds a 4.45/5 on Untappd (848 ratings), Medium Raw Triple NEIPA scores 4.47/5 (1,600+ ratings), and Imprint Triple NEIPA reaches an impressive 4.61/5 (638 ratings). Infiltrator Hazy IPA, one of the brewery's most accessible offerings, has over 5,900 ratings at a 4.33/5 average.
At Beer Republic, we import both Root + Branch and Evil Twin directly from the brewery, cold-shipped from source and stored refrigerated. For European craft beer fans, this is the closest you can get to drinking these collaborations fresh off the Ridgewood brewhouse floor.
Where Are They Now: Two Breweries, Two New Chapters
Root + Branch is now firmly established in Copiague, Long Island. A brewery that spent its formative years without a permanent home built a loyal following on quality alone, and that following has only grown since the taproom doors opened.
Evil Twin Brewing NYC continues to operate in Ridgewood, Queens, carrying the legacy of Jeppe's nomadic vision into a new era of permanent production. Jeppe himself has relocated to Thousand Oaks, California, and launched Jarnit Family Wines in Los Olivos, north of Los Angeles. It's a detail that almost nobody in the craft beer world has picked up on yet.
The thematic parallels are hard to ignore. Just as Jeppe and Mikkel are twin brothers who built parallel empires, Root + Branch and Evil Twin share parallel DNA: same gypsy origins, same New York scene, same collaborations, same arc from nomadic to permanent. Twin breweries in everything but name.
Both hold elite ratings. Evil Twin's 2.65 million Untappd ratings and Root + Branch's 4.33 TasteAtlas score and 4.8 TasteAtlas awards rating confirm these aren't cult breweries operating on hype alone. They are canonical.
Why This Story Matters for European Craft Beer Fans
Evil Twin was born in Copenhagen and became a New York legend. If you're a European craft beer fan, you already have a relationship with this brewery's DNA. Root + Branch is harder to find on this side of the Atlantic, making it one of the most exciting discoveries for connoisseurs hunting rare, authentic American craft beer.
We import both directly from the brewery, cold-shipped and stored refrigerated. It's the only way to experience these beers at their intended freshness outside the US.
Understanding the Root + Branch and Evil Twin story makes every sip more meaningful. These aren't just beers; they're chapters in one of New York craft beer's great origin stories. Explore both breweries' catalogues as a paired experience and taste the shared history for yourself. Check our weekly drops for the latest arrivals from both breweries.
