Four Seasons Of Mother Earth - Spring 2021
Mother Earth Brew Co.

Review 2195
Brewery: 4 Season Of Mother Earth Spring 2021
Location: Nampa, ID
Style: Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV: 11.8%
Date: 03/10/2021
I hope to have better luck with this beer. I am shifting again to Mother Earth Season, version Spring 2021. I am using a tulip glass and serving the beer at 48 degrees. The pour created a creamy, one-fingered, light tan head with okay retention. The somewhat slow dissipation left no lacing on the glass but a ring around it. The color is inky black with dark ebony hues, charting at SRM 38, and is opaque. The appearance is average for this style.
Nosing the glass, I detect chocolate, coconut, molasses, earthy, oak, bourbon, and coffee. Nosing the glass, I notice earthy, treacle, vanilla, cake, caramel, toffee, and raisins. The malt profile is lightly toasted malts, roasty, toasted bread crust, malty sweetness, and light Maillard reactions, which are responsible for the beer's rich, complex flavors. The hops are faintly noticeable with floral, bay leaves, and resin. The beer does smell like a coconut cake soaked in a Russian Imperial Stout, which is delicious.
The flavors start with coffee, chocolate, coconut, caramel, molasses, and bourbon. After sipping the beer a couple of times, the flavor profile develops, and notes of vanilla, char, toffee, raisins, molasses, treacle, and oak become more noticeable. A subtle hop presence is evident in floral, earthy, and resin. Other flavors are light notes of Maillard, raisins, and currants. The beer held up well in the cellar, indicating its potential for aging and developing more complex flavors over time.
The body is heavy and has medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is chewy and thick, and the finish is velvety smooth.
The coconut, while present, doesn't overpower. It's a co-star in a large ensemble, contributing to the beer's overall harmony and balance. This is a beer that's not just good, but great, and it's a fantastic choice for a warm summer night.

16oz can from downtown taproom. Dark brown pour with a fine, patchy tan head. Aroma is coconut, light chocolate, hint of booze. Taste brings more coconut, a lot of sweetness and the booze shows up in a big way. Notes of vanilla and chocolate. Smooth, creamy.

Poured into a snifter - dark brown/ black pour with huge amounts of head appearing.
Getting sweet oh sweet milk chocolate mixed in with coconut and coffee. Noticing some malts, vanilla in here as well.
Getting chocolate with toasted coconut upfront followed by the madagascar vanilla in the middle. As the beer goes down you can get the bourbon in the back end. Very very excellent beer and I really hope they didn't discontinue because this should be at the least semi world class to entering.
Feel is medium to heavy bodied. Not much carbonation - sipper.
Overall this beer was beyond good. Amazing. Not one of a kind but up there with other coconut world class beers I've had in the past. Please don't discontinue.

Type: 16-oz. can
Reviewed as: American Double / Imperial Stout
Glass: Tioga-Sequoia 13-oz. tulip
Price: $9.99
From: Windmill Farms in Del Cerro (San Diego), Calif.
Purchased: May 3, 2021
Consumed: June 12, 2021
Misc.: Canned on March 10, 2021

Went over to Windmill Farms to pick up a few beers. Had tried one of the “Four Seasons” series way back on April 14, 2015 (Spring 2015), giving a double IPA a 4.14. Untappd’s description was “BBA Coconut Cake Imperial Stout. Layers of chocolate, coconut and vanilla creep over the palate with a silky mouthfeel and dessert-like finish. German and English noble hop varieties were selected to harmonize with the earthy tones of flaked rye and dark crystal, while roasted malts balance a lactose-driven sweetness. Malt complexity dominates the overall impression.” Yummy.

Poured a pitch black color with two fingers of khaki-tan head. Pretty calm setting underneath the head. Decent watery lacing. Average retention. (Sight - 3.50)

Smelled milk chocolate, cocoa, chocolate milk, vanilla, smooth bourbon, coconut, brownie and caramel. Almost as good from the can. (Smell - 4.25)

Tasted pretty damn good right from the beginning. Got milk chocolate, cocoa, chocolate syrup, vanilla, oaky bourbon, toasted coconut, marshmallow, brownie, caramel and toffee. Super smooth for 11.8 pct. ABV. (Taste - 4.25)

Full body. Creamy texture. Average carbonation. Long, bitter, smooth finish. (Feel - 4.50)

About as good as I could have hoped. Solid all-around and I think I underrate this. (Overall - 4.25)

4.23 | 94 | A-

this series has yielded some really interesting and impressive beers, and while this one no doubt tastes nice, its not one of my favorites, its just far too sweet to really be taken seriously, at least for me, a few sips kind of thing, a novelty, and the alcohol has little to do with that. the lactose is unnecessary, superfluous, its already sweet without it, and to me this is diabetic, despite being appealing in many ways, the rate of diminishing marginal utility is extremely high, and even half a can was too big a dose. there is some nice malt complexity to this, a little spiciness from the rye, deep roasted bitterness too, and then a richer crystal center, i wish this wasnt so covered up by all the sugar, its a real solid foundation, lots of body and character. the coconut is natural enough to me, sweet like the filling of an mounds bar, that condensed milk thing to it, but it has both the tropical fleshy side and the toasted desserty side, nice. dark chocolate also abounds in here, almost a chocolate syrup vibe. the barrel element is unique, some whiskey flavor sure, but more sweetness than anything, that corny vanilla character is all through this, i wish for more oak and barrel char rather than this aspect of the bourbon. again the lactose is just totally overkill. i do think this hits on the coconut cake thing they set out to hit, sure, but its overly desserty, just way too much, and so a lot of the best parts of this are covered over and it presents itself as unbalanced and kind of gimmicky. there is a real tendency for brewers to overdo vanilla and lactose in these sorts of beers, and it plagues this one too, a shame, because the malt base and the coconut elements are lovely. maybe this will mellow some with time, but now that these are all in cans instead of bottles, the appeal of cellaring them has been significantly reduced. maybe a fun one to share around the holidays, but i cannot recommend a whole one...

 

Very good head production and nice retention. Minimal lacing.

The nose is absolutely incredible. Rich layers of chocolate and vanilla, complemented by coconut, waft over from several feet away. Up close, the bourbon is equally as rich as the former and complementary as the latter. Additional notes of molasses, oak, toast, and espresso round out the profile.

All of those wonderful notes are present on the palate, but a bit muddled, almost as though they're fighting for dominance in a chaotic melee, where difficult to tell which limb belongs to which fighter. Not to imply that's at all bad; I enjoy a good brawl as much as any (spectator). It's very tasty, it just doesn't live up to the promise of the aroma. Additionally, there's more bitter char from the roasted malt and dull bitterness from the oak than I detected on the nose. That's perfectly fine with a solid RIS, but less so for a clear dessert beer. The coconut also plays into this bitterness as well with its toasty, earthy component.

Mouthfeel is nice and filling; thick, not quite chewy.

 

creamy dark stout with back taste of the barrel ageing a lot of chocolate and vanilla flavor - slightly strong

This Spring 2021 offering is a bourbon-barrel-aged coconut cake imperial stout. Sign me up. Overpriced 16oz can cracked and poured into a pint nonic. Dark brown pour yields an opaque black liquid in the glass with a fluffy dark khaki head. Plenty of coconut, chocolate, and vanilla jump out of the glass, with a present nutty toasted character as well as minor flashes of bourbon-y booze and caramel characteristics. Lactose is present with a twang-y creamy sweetness. Dark fruitiness arrives with notes of raisin and cherry. Pretty complex, a lot going on and I would honestly prefer more of a focused approach over this many adjuncts, but that is a minor complaint when the finished product is this solid. Decadent, smooth, sweet, and nutty.