Tuesday Night Tasting: Slumbrew - My Better Half

Somerville Brewing Company "Slumbrew" - Somerville, MA

My Better Half - Imperial Cream Ale

7.2% ABV, 25 IBU, 22 oz and on draft

The Slumbrew My Better Half was our fourth and latest installment of the recently released Slumbrew series of beers. Somerville Brewing Company, also more commonly known as "Slumbrew", has been putting out their beers since November, when they had their premier at the Independent in Somerville in Union Square. Since then, they have been working hard to promote their brand, and they are gaining quite the following!

My Better Half pours a reddish orange hue with a nice light and fluffy white head, that gently rests upon the body of the beer. It's definitely inviting, but it was important for us not to jump too far ahead.

The smell of the brew is a lightly sweet and malty aroma, blended with a fruitiness of dried, sweet fruit such as dates. Sarah noted that it had a layer of whipped cream topping as well. Adam picked up nice floral tones, such as those given off by wild flowers.

The taste....ahh, the taste! Our most favorite part! Well, you'll notice an instant fruit cake with whipped topping flavor. Additionally, the more you drink the more you'll notice the creaminess and lightness. This by no means is a pile of ice cream in your glass, but it has a pleasant and noticeable sweetness to it, without being cloying. It also has a hidden but floral dry bitterness found in many lagers, but is well balanced and not at all overpowering.

The mouth feel of Slumbrew's My Better Half is smooth and velvety. It's light without being watery, yet full without being heavy.

At 7.2% ABV, you'll probably want to be cautious of your intake. You can certainly put down a bottle of this, or even a few pints of this if you're lucky enough to find it on draft...but, its complexity of being a blend of half ale and half lagered beer makes this Slumbrew a wildly enjoyable and very drinkable beer.

If you haven't had any Slumbrew beers, you are truly missing out. This is one very unique and tasty beer, but is in limited supply. Hit www.slumbrew.com for thir bottle locator, and more info on their awesome beers!