Four Seasons of Mother Earth - Summer 2021
Mother Earth Brew Co.

Look: poured from a 16oz can chilled in the fridge. Smooth nitro jet black pour - no significance here with the pour. Typical nitro stout look. Creamy look until about 3-5 minutes of setting then normal jet back all look with a thin medium brown head.
Smell: Getting that bourbon smell initially followed by a fruity cherry/ vanilla smell with hints of dark chocolate, coffee.
Taste: Getting a HEAVY dark chocolate taste along with a coffee and bourbon aftertaste along with some notes of vanilla, cherry, lactose, molasses. WOW. The nitro brings out the richness of the chocolate and does a really GOOD job in hiding the alcohol to bring out the flavors of this. Can hardly taste the alcohol at all.
Feel: Very creamy, light bodied, very smooth.
Overall: I didn’t know what to expect from a Russian imperial nitro, but honestly this is my favorite out of the 5 I tried in the past. In my opinion the nitro does a good job of hiding the alcohol to balance the flavors and alcohol taste. FANTASTIC job Mother Earth Brewing. FANTASTIC. I tried a couple of the beers but this lands on top. Will buy again. Thanks for the beer.

 

2021-12-23
16oz can served in a footed pilsner. Dated 06/16/21. Received from @Beersnake1 in a LIF associated with NBS BIF #14.

Pours a murky dark brown with a very slow-forming head, creamy, collapses to a surprisingly stable donut with a quarter-moon opening. Smell is CHOCOLATE (yes, that's all caps, because that's how it smells). I can maybe imagine some other dark roast flavors in there, like coffee and anise, but mostly it smells like chocolate milk.

Taste is lots of chocolate, but less milky and more dark, tons of bitterness in the finish, where more dark roast coffee pushes to the front and anise is kind of a lingering background note. Maybe some dates/raisins flavor in there to add a little sweetness.

Mouthfeel is smooth and creamy but with a surprisingly watery texture. Overall, this is really nice.

Poured from a can at fridge temp. Pours jet black with a nice layer of tan head. Nose is incredible. Tons of chocolate. Vanilla, ice cream, toffee, a bit of strawberry. Super smooth and smells creamy. Taste is super smooth. Sweet chocolate, a bit of licorice, figs, plums, vanilla, brown sugar, and a slight amount of roasted malts on the back end. Incredibly smooth and easy to drink. Alcohol is well hidden. Overall a really nice BA stout.

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a fine, one finger khaki head with great retention and thick lacing; looks like a tap nitro pour. Aroma of dark toasted malt, milk chocolate, vanilla, plums and bourbon. Flavor follows, with dark toasted malt, bourbon, vanilla, fudge brownies and a touch of dark fruit. Bourbon chocolate finish. Medium bodied with silky, nitro creaminess; great mouth feel. Not sure how they did this, but with a brisk pour, this both looks and feels like a nitro pour from a tap. Full, classic Russian imperial stout body with more chocolate than normal for the style, but tastes great. Quite bourbon forward, so it's good the malt body is robust and flavorful to support what could have been an overwhelming bourbon presence. Nice lingering aftertaste that starts with the bourbon and chocolate and eventually vanilla. Very well made and flavorful. Nice job, especially with the simulated nitro pour.

pours dark with creamy head first sip great taste - very strong russian stout drink slow

From the nitro can.
L: Dark, dark brown. Very even, creamy looking head, expected for a nitro.
S: Boozy, right off the bat. Semi sweet chocolate, lots of vanilla, bread dough, and whiskey combine into what smells like an alcoholic chocolate chip cookie.
T: All of the above. Upfront is that semi-sweet chocolate, very rich. Molasses sweetens things up, and notes of vanilla, milk, and bread dough follow. Then, the bourbon kicks in. It is very present, even for a barrel aged, but it balances out the sweet chocolate chip cookie that is the body. There’s a touch of hoppy bitterness on the finish too.
F: Creamy smooth. The warmth sets in quickly with this one.
O: Never had a barrel aged nitro before. I’m a fan. The smoothness works really well here because it balances the rich booziness of the taste. A heavy hitter, and a new favorite of mine.

Whew! Strong, boozy nose, swarming with bitter roasty notes and whiskey, despite being a nitro tap. Red grape, toast, molasses, licorice.

Similar on the palate, albeit not quite as bitter. Still appropriately labeled an RIS, however. Huge brown sugar flavor, more than molasses - like eating a spoonful of brown sugar, and washing it down with a chocolate-bourbon-char-…thing. Bourbon, pecan, coffee, molasses, licorice, burnt toast, cream. And did I mention brown sugar? Somehow, it’s not an overly sweet beer; it’s just that the brown sugar flavor lingers on the palate.

This is an exceptional BA RIS! I wonder if there are any additives, or if it’s straight up.