Avery Ale to the Chief

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

22oz. bottle. Sweet, fruity, floral and faintly alcoholic aroma, some honeysuckle and rose combined with a lightly toasty caramel malt sweetness, doughy yeast, pine and mild citrus. Mostly clear orange-amber color, head is fine but leaving an intricate drape of lacing behind. Flavor profile is sweet, tangy, fruity and hoppy, seeing a generous degree of bitterness up front, moving towards a sweeter, fruitier midpoint with distinct touches of watermelon, and finishing with a mix of peppery alcohol, bubblegum, fresh wood, orange and grapefruit. Plenty of fine effervescence here to activate the oily, coating palate, body is full. Interesting stuff, I did find the abundant alcohol a bit distracting, though.

22 oz. bottle. Pours a thick, gradually thinning head, with exhuberant lacing over a clear coppery orange body....nose of hops, with resin, other piney aromas and grapefruit.....tastes initially of sweetish malts the come in pine grapefruit and resin again, finish is surprisingly sweet....mouthfeel thick chewy with minimal carbonation...lovely balance.

Aroma of honey and hops, hot and alcoholic even on the nose. Clear orange gold, effervescent, the large tan head leaves abundant lace. In the mouth grapefruit and caramel-vanilla elements fight with a perfumy bitterness and a hot alcohol burn. Creamy and cloying at the same time.

Sampled on draft at Zeno’s in State College PA this beer poured a dark orange-amber color with a medium sized orange-white head that faded quickly. The aroma was strong sweet grapefruit. The flavor was strong sweet grapefruit, pine and resin with sweet tangy malts and a long tangy fruity hop finish. Full bodied. Very Nice.

Since the site has been down it’s hard for me to remember two weeks ago when I consumed this beer. I didn’t take any notes at the time, I just remember really enjoying it. It was served cold from a 22oz. bottle, and poured a golden/amber color with a white head. I remember the mixture of fruits and hops was well balanced and the finish was a little on the hoppy side. Quite enjoyable.

22 fl oz bottle, courtesy of KimJohansen. Pours clear and golden orange with a diminished white head. Dense hoppy aroma, mild peachy and distinct citrusy. Dense caramel malty and mild spiced. Solid hoppy and mild roasted malty. Lingering hoppy finish with a solid dry feel.

Bottle at Avery Taproom. Clear golden - offwhite head. Very fresh hoppy, resin, pine, light sweetness, sweet malty, caramel, grassy, peachy, fruity. Very nice - lovely.

[November 1, 2008]
On tap at the Brick Store. Pours light copper with a nice head. The aroma is strong and woody. Oddly, it seems aged. I get hints at cheese, pine, cedar, caramel. . .the flavor is pretty cheesy as well. This is a relatively new release and it’s on tap at the Brick Store who rotates kegs pretty quickly. Why does this seem old? Malts are present with a vanilla sweetness and nips of lemon and pine come out here and there. This is decent, but I’d like much more zest in my hoppy beers.