Window Pane Series Fig & Raisin - Mother Earth Brewing

rudzud

Massachusetts

4.44/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Mother Earth's third installment into the Window Pane Series this pairs North Carolina figs and raisins aged in North Carolina apple brandy barrels for 3 months. Shared with JLindros .

A - Poured into a Kate the Great tulip a murky cedar hue with a nice one finger off white head that fades to leave light lacing and a good halo along with thin wisps.

S - Aromas of quite sweet malts, fig juice, raisins, light vanilla, enticing brandy notes, some estery yeasts, and light caramel. Quite good smelling.

T - Taste is more of that sweet malts lending caramel and nuttiness with nice raisin sweetness along with figs. Brandy comes out along with heaps of vanilla. Seriously heaps of vanilla. No discernible alcohol on the pallet the flavors are so well balanced here that I'm almost afraid to age the rest of my bottles. Really really delicious.

M - Mouthfeel ....9% not a snowballs change! Really?! You're joking! This drinks like a 5-6 not a 9% beer this is so smooth with a nice light carbonation. Well done for this style and flavor profile.

O - Overall this is a delicious beer that makes me forget about just how bad the Window Pane Series peach was. So glad I have 3 more to drink

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2013 21:37:55 | More by rudzud

JulianB

South Carolina

4.75/5  rDev +10.7%

05-03-2013 18:41:42 | More by JulianB

stereosforgeeks

Virginia

4.25/5  rDev -0.9%

04-18-2013 02:40:36 | More by stereosforgeeks

zencigar

North Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +4.9%

04-17-2013 16:41:30 | More by zencigar

Rand_ale_Thor

Wisconsin

4.25/5  rDev -0.9%

04-14-2013 05:31:24 | More by Rand_ale_Thor

victory4me

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +4.9%

04-09-2013 07:01:40 | More by victory4me

LambicKing

Virginia

4.5/5  rDev +4.9%

03-28-2013 03:03:58 | More by LambicKing

AlexFields

Tennessee

2.99/5  rDev -30.3%
look: 4 | smell: 1.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3

Pours a very murky toffee but color, nice pretty creamy head.

Smells like sour metal...infection?

Taste shows some infection too but not like the head. Starts with a slightly off, tart fruity character, fades to brandy sweetness, candied apple, honey, other sweet flavors, then gets even sweeter with a really sugary finish. I think this is probably infected, but infection still seems fairly young and this isn't terrible yet. It's odd because there's this delicious flavor profile going on, but with off flavors intruding, but I can still enjoy the good stuff if I ignore the bad.

Mouthfeel is really good, thick, rich, creamy, syrupy but with good carb. You can taste the booze some but so what.

I imagine this beer would be absolutely delicious sans infection. It's still pretty good as is, though.

6.3/10

Serving type: bottle

03-27-2013 01:38:21 | More by AlexFields

phishbfm

North Carolina

4.75/5  rDev +10.7%

03-25-2013 13:58:15 | More by phishbfm

jacewg

District of Columbia

4.5/5  rDev +4.9%

03-23-2013 16:35:07 | More by jacewg

coreyfmcdonald

Georgia

2.44/5  rDev -43.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

750ml bottle into a snifter

A: Pours a clear, fairly dark amber with a finger of head that receded very quickly.

S: Woah, this is intense. Sweet apple brandy is extremely strong in this beer. Sweet vanilla, figs, and sour cherries are also quite strong. Diacetyl is also detected.

T: An odd array of flavors, but similar to the aroma. Apple brandy again quite strong with sour cherries, figs, and vanilla. Certainly interesting and complex, but the flavors don't quite mesh together. I also get a diacetyl flavor in this that makes it taste even more muddled.

M: Quite thick with very low carbonation.

O: There is quite a bit of sour cherry flavor here. I wouldn't say the beer is acidic really, but the flavor does not go well with the beer. The rest of the flavors are also pretty muddled. Calling this a Dubbel is odd at best and offensive at worst.

That was a waste of $18. Down the drain, literally.

Serving type: bottle

03-22-2013 01:13:01 | More by coreyfmcdonald

RedneckBeerz

North Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +4.9%

03-10-2013 19:33:27 | More by RedneckBeerz

chinchill

South Carolina

4.1/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Served in a nonic from a 750 ML bottle; winter 2013 bottling date.

A - Poured with a good off-white head over a lightly hazy, dark brown liquid.

Aroma: very fruity, with figs and brandy dominating. Also some hints of apples, raisins, toffee and vanilla. An enticing aroma.

T - Taste is similar, but with a more obvious contribution from the raisins and from the brandy barrel aging, and with some hints of dates. Perhaps a tad too sweet, but in character with other aspects of the flavor.

Mouthfeel: 9% ABV is very well hidden in this very smooth beer. Near perfect medium-light carbonation. Medium-full body. Excellent!

O - A unique and very flavorful beer that is likely to benefit from some aging even though this fresh bottle was already remarkably smooth and had nicely blended flavors. I will try to find a bottle to age.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2013 17:22:29 | More by chinchill

BKArmstrong

District of Columbia

4.5/5  rDev +4.9%

03-07-2013 01:54:11 | More by BKArmstrong

ucsbmullet

Colorado

5/5  rDev +16.6%

02-26-2013 03:28:40 | More by ucsbmullet

flipdog0

North Carolina

4.75/5  rDev +10.7%

02-25-2013 19:14:09 | More by flipdog0

jlindros

Massachusetts

4.43/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Thank s to rudzud for sharing this.

Decent looking fizzy fluffy 1 finger fades fairly quickly though, no real lacing, hazy mahogany murky brown color.

Nose ooohhh, big sweet malts, brown sugar and molasses, toffee, nutty, candy galore. Nice fig date aroma, candied figs, brandy soaked raisins, hint if booze and esters, light barrel aroma with faint hint of light toasty oak but a nice vanilla, and plenty of brandy.

Taste its quite nice, big malts again, toasty brown malts, smooth and rich creamy even, then back to sweets, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, nutty, etc. Then back into fruit, plenty of brandy soaked raisins, candied figs and date paste, juicy center. Then barrel, plenty of it, nice vanilla, nice brandy flavor. Booze is light but there, warming a little, also brings faint esters. In the back end a hint of light vinous and tart appley, sticky and fairly sweet finish, but smooth and very drinkable, lots if vanilla and light barrel, some fruit lingering.

Mouth is fuller bodied, smooth and a bit rich, decent carb, just a touch of warming booze.

Overall quite nice, great malts and sweet flavors, nice fruit, great vanilla but very little barrel character otherwise, so smooth and drinkable, great beer. I can understand why lower barrel character, as it's a brandy barrel, so probably French oak, and third or fourth or more fill, so the barrel character is much more subdued, but a nice vanilla and brandy character. This def redeems the Window Pane series from the big letdown peach.

Serving type: bottle

02-23-2013 15:08:13 | More by jlindros

n2185

North Carolina

4.06/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 3 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A: Pours a slightly hazy dark copper with a finger of off-white head that fades into a foamy ring with little lacing.

S: Slight Belgian spices, vanilla, candy sugar, figs , oak, and brandy are all present here. There are also some boozy and bready notes.

T: Belgian spices here as well with candy sugar and hearty bread. Oak and vanilla flavors come through strongly with notes of caramel, apples, sticky dark fruits, and brandy. The finish is slightly boozy.

M: Medium body and carbonation, this beer is a bit sticky feeling and not as crisp as I'd like from most dubbels, but the barrel treatment likely has a lot to do with that.

O: An enjoyable beer overall. I wish the figs were a bit more present, but it's still good.

Serving type: bottle

02-23-2013 03:42:52 | More by n2185