Avery Ale to the Chief

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

Pleasantly surprised by this beer...a bright copper-colored brew with a white meringue head. Aroma is of freshly cut pine trees and orange groves. Flavor is sweet but exhibit citrus, douglas fir, and spice. A little syrupy but enjoyable.

Amber colored, moderate head, decent lacing and retention. Aroma is grapefruit, citrus, caramel, a touch of vanilla and honey. Medium bodied, moderate to high bitterness, creamy mouthfeel with a VERY empty finish. Seriously, the flavor has almost nothing. I’ve never tasted anything like it, the beer feels stripped of any form of life after the aroma.

A vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a four-finger thick, frothy, light tan colored head. The beer is a bright, amber-copper hue that shows a full copper hue when held up to the light. The aroma is clearly hop focused with stick ruby-red grapefruit notes, lighter lychee, sweetened orange zest, a touch of tart grapefruit towards the middle / end and some not quite ripe orange notes. The malt character provides a dusty, crushed cracker, pale malt note that has just a touch of a snap to the finish.

Much stickier and sweeter than I was expecting, the body is quite viscous and thick as well. This definitely has the heft of a Barleywine to it. The amply sweet malt definitely accentuates hop flavors of lychee, tropical fruit, ripe peaches, and sweet orange zest. A touch of warming alcohol, some toasty pale malt and medium bitterness that is not enough to cut through the sticky malt are all present in the finish. A touch of pine is noticeable towards the finish as well, though it seems to get drowned out by the sweet malt character at times. This is a very clean beer, almost devoid of yeast character, which is to be expected from Avery.

I wasn’t expecting this to be quite so sweet as it is, it is not bad, but I expected something calling itself a "Pale Ale" to try and capture the drinkability of said beer, even if it is an amp’d up version. The vibrant hop character is nice, but it can’t hide the overt sweetness. This does get quite a bit less sticky as it warms up from its initial 50°F / 10°C serving temperature, but it is still a bit much.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Bomber from BevMo. Medium amber/orange in color. Sweet fruity aroma. A fair amount of hop scent as well. Sweet hoppy flavors. Good fruitiness. Alcohol is well hidden. Bitter grapefruit peel in the finish. Tastes like a potent 2IPA to me.

Bottle shared by robert at stateline. Amber in color, decent head. Aroma of hops. Taste was similar to a double IPA. Very well balanced. Not over the top on the malts or the hops. Sweet taste. Overall a very good beer!

Pours a beautiful amber/orange with a pretty creamy white head that lasts. Aroma of orange, caramel, honey, and some sweet herbal quality. Very well balanced pale ale. Full, sweet caramel/honey body and a delightfully smooth bitter finish that lingers with the hops.

Hmmm, different but that’s ok. Pretty dry palate. sort of fruity flavor too. Maybe orange? Alcohol is hidden well, especially for an Avery brew. OK and glad I tried it but one and done. Not good enough to buy again.

Pours a nice orange / amber with a foamy white head. Aroma of citrusy hops, malt and other fruits. Flavor is huge citrusy hops balanced out with a ton of malt. Lots of malt sweetness in this one, giving it a rather pleasant bittersweet hop / malt balance. Good brew.