Materfamilias
Mother's Brewing Company

4.35/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Received from @jdell15 in NBS BIF #9. Reviewed 4/21/19. Thanks Jacob!
“Vintage 2018” on label (I think, it’s kinda smudged). Stored at 42 degrees and served at 60 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 4.25.
Body – Dark brown to black, opaque. Still opaque when held to the light.
Head – Small (Maximum two cm, aggressive center pour), brown, medium density, fizzy, very short retention, diminishing to a slightly irregular three mm ring, and a thin partial cap.
Lacing – Excellent! Complete bands of mostly extremely tiny bubbles. Lacunae eventually open which gives a lace curtain appearance. Some stalactites form. This is amazing because of the 11% ABV alone.
First pour – Dark brown, translucent.
Aroma – 4.25 – Dark fruit, bourbon, rum. Not picking up the rye barrel and I don’t drink enough brandy to recognize the aroma or flavor.
Flavor – 4.5 – Begins with a slight sweetness and some dark fruit soaked in rum. A slight gastric warming eventually occurs. No alcohol (11 % ABV!) aroma or flavor, no dimethylsulfide, no diacetyl.
Palate – 4.25 – Full, creamy, soft carbonation.
Impression and interpretation – 4.25 – An excellent brew! It is well-balanced in both aroma and flavor, perhaps somewhat detrimentally because of the loss of individuality of the unique barrel attributes of the bourbon, rum, rye, and brandy barrels. To my taste, only the rum carries through as a unique flavor. The palate is near perfect with only a slight syrupiness to detract from its near-perfection. I’m sadly looking at the remaining swallow in my snifter, wishing I had a case to age.

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