Sibling Rivalry

Cleopatra and Ptolemy. Cain and Abel. Sherlock and Mycroft. Ann Landers and Dear Abby. Bart and Lisa. History is full of great sibling rivalries.
The world of beer is no different, with a pair of Danish brothers who have separately astounded the craft beer fans of the world.
Mikkel Bjergsø is the older of the twins by a full five minutes, and was inseparable from his little brother Jeppe in childhood. The lives of the brothers mirrored one another, becoming competitive runners as teens, becoming teachers after college, and eventually both becoming professional brewers.
After a joint business venture selling beer went awry, the brothers went their separate ways, and have been bitter rivals ever since.
Mikkeller Brewing was born in Copenhagen back in 2006 by older brother Mikkel, and is now available in 40 countries, including at your well-stocked local booze merchant.
Wanting to push the boundaries of extreme brewing, Mikkel opted to operate as a gypsy brewer, developing strange and exotic recipes using his background as a science teacher. Those recipes would then be contract brewed in small batches at other breweries around the world.
Younger brother Jeppe opened Evil Twin Brewing a few years later, and despite not being on speaking terms with his big brother, seems to have a remarkably similar strategy.
Both brothers operate as phantom or gypsy brewers, concocting their own one-off recipes that are then brewed on contract by a third party. Small batches means great flexibility, with Mikkeller Brewing typically producing in excess of 100 wildly different brews each year, and Evil Twin not far behind.
When I say wildly different, I mean these recipes are like nothing you have tasted in the past. Popcorn, Sichuan peppers, seaweed, and truffles are just a few of the off-the-wall ingredients that have graced the recipes of one-off runs of these beers that have garnered a cult following around the world.
Since most recipes are only ever brewed once, it is usually a leap of faith when you see a new brew from Mikkeller or Evil Twin gracing the shelves of your local bottle shop. They are definitely not beers for the faint of heart or palate, and you may have to brave a gauntlet of eager beer nerds fighting for the last few cans on the shelf.
To add to the family drama, both brothers have ambitiously ventured far from their native Denmark to open breweries and tap rooms across the world, with the younger brother Jeppe putting down roots in NYC, but the more adventurous older brother Mikkel now boasting 20+ Mikkeller bars across the world, mostly in Western Europe and Asia.
Hilariously, both brothers independently decided to open tap rooms in the Queens borough of NYC back in 2018, with neither brother aware that the other was opening a location just a few kilometers away until the signs went up above each door.
One of my fondest vacation memories is unexpectedly stumbling upon a newly opened Mikkeller Bar in London back in 2018, a joint venture between Mikkel and his childhood idol, none other than 80s pop star Rick Astley, complete with Never Gonna Give You Up playing on the jukebox.
I now make a point of checking the local Google Maps when vacationing abroad, and have been lucky enough to stumble upon Mikkeller tap rooms in both Germany and Japan over the past few decades, so keep that in mind for your next overseas vacation.
By all accounts, the battling brothers Bjergsø have nothing good to say about one another, but their competitive natures have been a boon for beer buffs. If their respective tap rooms are too far away, check your local bottle shop for brews by Mikkeller and Evil Twin, and see for yourself which you prefer!