Mother Earth Barrel Aged Tripel Over Head

Brewed by Mother Earth Brewing Company
Style: Abbey Tripel
Kinston, North Carolina USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip

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Bottle from unknown source. Pours brown with a thin white head. Bits of vanilla and oak on the nose. Big bourbon on the tongue with a bit of the Belgian yeast thing poking through the covers. Finishes clean.

Love this brew. Barrel taste can be a little heavy in some vintages. I think the whiskey sweetness and vanilla off the wood matches up well with the belgian yeastiness. I’m a big MEB fanboy, and this was my gateway drug.

Draft. Clear amber body with minimal off-white head. Aroma is moderately sweet, vanilla/Bourbon, light bubblegum. Taste is moderately sweet, bubblegum, orange, some Bourbon, light vinous. Sticky medium-full body, low carbonation.

Bottle shared at the Richmond Industry Gathering. Pours a hazy amber color with a thin frothy white head. Fair head retention. Aroma of bread, raisin, spice, wood, faint whisky. The taste is toasted bread, spice, caramel and whisky. Medium-full bodied.

I got this in a trade a while back and as afraid to open it. My fear was justified. This was the worst beer I’ve ever had. It smelled and tasted like cheap booze and nothing else. Not only was his a drainpour but I couldn’t even swallow the first sips, I spit them out. If you like cheap booze this might be just the beer for you. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 01-20-2011 20:22:35

Pours a cloudy golden color with almost no head. Strong hints of bourbon here, which is a nice first impression. Some of the sweetness you expect from a Tripel with some smacks of the alcohol from the bourbon. Definitely one of the better Tripels I’ve had.

2012 bottle. not much to look at snag not a normal tripel but...aroma: full sweet honey, ripe orange juice, vinous yeast, and some buttery band aids and spice from the bourbon. These continue with light ripe grapefruit noted mid palate and the Bourbon barrels more assertive leaving with a little heat and tannins. It’s juicy and creamy around those though. The initial aroma is inviting and there is enough dimension throughout to be very enjoyable despite it not being a typical tripel and not being in lover with bourbon aging generally.

750 mL bottle from SoHo Organic Market in Elizabeth City, NC. Hazy dark orange pour with a frothy off-white head. From afar the citrus comes through in the aroma; up close, however, whiskey and oak shine with some background candi sugar. The barrel aging really makes this almost unrecognizable as a tripel with vanilla, oak, and bourbon really coming to the forefront and only a trace of lemon zest and candi sugar is detected on the finish. The mouthfeel is just right; not too thin and chewy enough that you know this is a big beer. If you go into this with no expectations as to what a tripel is supposed to taste like you will be rewarded with a really great beer.

UPDATED: JUN 9, 2012 I recently received this as an extra... when I opened the bottle I had no idea it was aged in bourbon barrels (i didnt may too much attention the labeling at the bottom!) so needless to say I was quite surprised A: Dark amber with some light golden hues. Small off-white caps quickly died down and left only the faintest clumps of lacing. S: Bourbon. Lots of it. Complete with oak and vanilla. So much so that it drowned out the tripel-like fruity notes. Some diacetyl creeping in here as well. T: The flavor didn’t work for me... the bourbon was harsh and abrasive... downing out the delicate fruity esters. Way too much diacetyl here. Butterscotch galore. M: Somewhat thin, with moderate carbonation. The booze is not really hidden. O: In the end the harshness of the bourbon and the butterscoth just didn’t work for me. An interesting, but ultimately unsuccessful idea.