Four Seasons series hits decade mark

Mother Earth Brew Co. just released Spring ’24 BBA Imperial Brown as part of its now decade-long tradition of top-tier barrel-aged offerings. Although the program began as a collaborative farmhouse ale with a pair of French brewers visiting the states from Brasserie du Pays Flamand, Four Seasons is mostly known for its high-octane flavored ales such as pastry stouts and wood-aged barleywines. Spring follows the latter trend by using another age-old Mother Earth staple as a base, Por Que No? imperial brown ale, one of Mother Earth’s first awarded brews.

What that all distills down to, as it relates to the newest spring release, is a decadent, chocolatey bourbon barrel-aged brown ale with a big body and a sweet finish, plus notes of toffee candy and macadamia nuts. The base beer would be complex enough on its own, but in the spirit of the Four Seasons program, Mother Earth’s brewers took it up a notch further. Overall, Spring is utterly silky, with a loaded grain bill of caramel malts to back up the hefty 13% alcohol-by-volume.

“After tasting some of the barrel samples, we were quite happy with where the beer was at but felt that it would really benefit from some flavor-layering, so we added toasted coconut, cocoa nibs and Papua New Guinea Arabica coffee beans at the end of the aging process, and the results were spectacular,” says Mother Earth Director of Brewing Operations Chris Baker.

In conjunction with the anniversary, Mother Earth is rolling out a new label design with gorgeous artwork that contains enough familiar elements for fans that have followed the evolution of the series, but also a new level of class for savvy drinkers looking to elevate the look of their beer vault.

Four Seasons Spring ’24 is available now on-draft and in 16-ounce cans at select craft-beer retailers. Customers looking to find Spring ’24 can use Mother Earth’s Beer Finder or visit one of Mother Earth’s tasting rooms.