Avery Ale to the Chief

Brewed by Avery Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Boulder, Colorado USA

As everyone else - I saved this one for tonight. I’m drinking this as my first beer under the Obama administration, after witnessing his swearing in downtown in Washington earlier in the day. Slightly hazy deep rusty copper coloured body with orange highlights and a fast-dying nice sized tan head. Aroma of fresh cascade hops, a lot of caramel, some nuts and a decent amount of raisins. Medium to Full-bodied; Strong astringent flavour at first showing a lot of the hops. More flavours show the nice malt, toffee and a little dose of nuts. Aftertaste is quite bitter, but the hops end it nicely! Overall, a good beer - strong and assertive, but mellow on the edges. Hopefully these characteristics will mark the USA over the next four years. Good luck and best wishes for the 44th president of the United States. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Whole Foods in Vienna, Virginia, poured into a glass that shows the president’s future aircraft - on the day the last presidential pilot retired, 20 January 2009.

Bottle: Soft copper color with a finger of creamy beige head. Aroma is rich with hops, mostly citrus and grapefruit scents. A light floral presence and some malty sweet. Hops are up front with a floral and citrus bitter into a sweeter, malty sensation. More fruity hops before lingering floral bitters in the tail. Nicely done.

Explosive hop citrus aroma. Hazy golden pour with a rocky white head. Lots of sweet malt up front and a floral, perfumy finish. Very nice beer. All ale to the chief!

January 20, 2009 - inauguration day! Pours clear amber with off white head. Aromas of pine hops and sweet malts. Bitter pine hop flavor hits you up front with a sweet malty finish. The alcohol is apparent, but not too overwhelming. Medium body with average carbonation and a syrupy mouthfeel. Hail to the chief!

Bottle. I followed the directions on the label and saved this one for inauguration day 2009. Pours an orange to amber color with a medium to large white foam head which diminishes to about half volume rather quickly. Hops hit the nose before the beer even leaves the bottle. Loads of citrus and a bit of pine surround nice malty backbone. Starts off a bit sweet, and a little thin, and moves into a lively amount of carbonation and then into a light grapefruit finish. With the amount of hops supplied on the nose, I was hoping for a bit stronger finish, but otherwise a fairly solid beer, and an interesting idea, in that this is the first beer I’ve had made to be consumed on a specific date.

Inauguration Day 2009 ~ "Hail to the New Chief!"

1/20/2009: Avery Ale to the Chief! has the aroma of a big, Imperial IPA. The sweet, toffee maltiness supports a large, sticky citrus and pine hoppiness. This beer has a shady golden color with a frothy ivory-colored head that leaves average lacing on the glass. The flavor is strong yet smooth and balanced. The hefty maltiness (caramel/toffee/soy) is accented by a honey-like sweetness and tempered by a substantial bitterness (floral/pine/resin/light grapefruit and lemon). More and more evergreen and pronounced grapefuit flavors come through as the beer breathes and warms. This beer feels medium-full on the balanced and coats the mouth well yet goes down quite smoothly. Wow, this is an excellent beer and worthy of the occasion!

1 pint 6 fl. oz. bottle (8.75% Alcohol by Vol.) from Jungle Jim’s International Market in Fairfield, Ohio. Rating #323 for this beer. Score: 7/4/8/3/17=3.9
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10/01/2008: Ale to the Chief has a very malty, fruity, and citrusy. It has a deep golden color with a creamy beige head that provides excellent, thick lacing. The flavor is really malty, but the juicy citrus/tangerine and grapefruit hop flavor really takes front stage. The alcohol is definitely there, but it doesn’t interfere and actually helps eccentuate the other flavors This beer has medium to medium-full body and goes down smooth. This is a really solid beer that I look forward to having again.

1 pint 6 fl. oz. bottle (8.75% Alcohol by Vol.). Rating #205 for this beer. Score: 7/4/8/3/15=3.7

Saved this for today and am celebrating the change in leadership. Copper color with a tall white head. Aroma of hops, and some grapefruit. Bitter American hops on the palate with some citrus, and pine. Overall, very nice.

Held on to this just for tonight. While I dont agree with the mans political views, I do agree with celebrating most anything with beer. Good aroma and flavors of malt and caramel, with some fruity hops making this beer almost barley wine tasting. Somewhat smooth and mildly creamy palate, though I wasnt impressed at first with the lake pollution type head. Very good APA and hopefully, with any luck at all a very good next four years.