Mott the Lesser Fall 2023 Release

Interesting timing for this post as I popped the Fall '22 release last night. Unfortunately it was a gusher and a drain pour. I'm not chasing MtL releases anymore....just haven't been impressed the past few years.

 

Spring/Fall release is customary…storyboard is a nostalgic -

 

We were in MA today and couldn’t swing by. Will drive over tomorrow. How was the event and brew?

 

Last time we had Kate it was a 2010 keg that was tapped 02/28/2015 at Portsmouth brewery. I do believe it was confirmed that day it was the very last keg of Kate that existed. It was fantastic and remember we’re only about 8 minutes away and it has already started to run through pours by the time we got in.

I believe Tarpey posted/opened a bottle of it a few years back.

 

That would be a great one to open up soon. Curious if their bottling would hold up to any infection. 2 summer ms ago we got a batch 1 Black Albert from Novare Res. The baby gushed sour soy sauce for a good 30 minutes it felt like. We didn’t win on that one.

Never got to try KaBert, sigh

 

I didn't get to MtL this round - and I think I missed spring also.
I had to work yesterday, and immediately after had a few other things going on.
Also too busy today to spend the 4 hours there and back (including a pour and possibly lunch...)
would have like to get up there, though.

But I did notice that it was pretty late notice compared to previous releases - there was something last week thatit was coming, though I was pretty well expecting it - it's usually late october for the fall release.

 

When I was in Brussels in 2011 Tod Mott had just swung by the De Struise bottle shop and dropped off a keg of Kate. Got to try to KaBert then. I recall it being good, but this was awhile ago, memory is getting fuzzy with all the beer memories crammed in there.

 

I'm squarely within that 10-12 year place in my life when I have zero bandwidth for weekend beer events without being extremely fortunate. Even if we don't have a scheduled event or activities, they're not old enough to be home alone, and I'm not taking three kids to Mott the Lesser Day. Come on. This will change, but, truthfully, I'm not in a huge rush for it to change.

That said, Mott is always great. I'm stoked to try it. I typically have a few bottles stashed away, but this is my second missed MtL day in a row. My stash is exhausted.

 

Was very pleasantly surprised to see the release announcement and realize I would already be driving through Kittery early Sat afternoon. Didn’t get to hang around beyond 1 pour but I thought it was great - the roastiness of what I imagine to be the base beer really came through nicely this time. Snagged two bottles, was sad to miss the cask of Jacques (best pumpkin beer I’ve had this year), and it looked like an awesome time w the food trucks and oyster stand.

I will say I thought it a bit of an odd look for them to be hyping a special event last Thursday/Friday while basically every other Maine brewery was closed and/or posting about the shooting, but I get that pivoting at that point probably would have been hard and I really don’t want to be the guy who hates on a brewery for lack of an Instagram post about a tragedy. Just thought it was noticeably odd.

 

We’re a little more removed in our area. They’re like Portsmouth 2.0. The impacts with closings were further north. It’s a geographical thing. We also don’t know how it personally affected them so let’s not think too much into it negatively. They are wonderful caring people

 

Agreed.

 

We did swing by on Sunday and it was very relaxed. Still plenty draft and bottled to go. This is a very unique iteration to me. By far in my memory since batch 1, the most unique. Maybe there was a similar tequila inspired batch, say 2-3 years back? There’s a difference in the body I noticed right away. It’s little thinner, and Todd has never set out to make a thick imperial stout. The flavors range from cherry, acrid coffee, tequila to also at a slight tart flavor. No whiskey in this batch. It certainly is quite complex and if someone had never had Mott before, I wouldn’t chose this batch to showcase it. It’s not a bad beer, but I personally think to appreciate it you might need some context of trying other vintages.

 

Do they ever sell just the base beer?

 

Was thinking that recently. Would also be nice to have a version in a single barrel.

 

My first thought was, “Well then that wouldn’t be the beer.” Lol.

Wouldn’t it kind of like asking for the spaghetti and meatballs without the meatballs? The dish is the combination of those two things.

Though I guess lots of places sell their marinara on its own.

 

Weren’t some Kates not barrel aged? I never had it so I definitely am not the expert, but I was under the impression sometimes it was a standard (really really good) RIS.

 

It has always been made with 12 different malts and aged on at least oak spires.

Source: "The beer exists now as Mott the Lesser. It’s since become a blend: A portion of the beer is aged in stainless steel while the remaining amount rests in four separate oak barrels rather than on oak spires."