Avery Brabant

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

I had high expectations for this beer, given its high price tag, and it delivered. If you like sour and funky, this is a beer for you. Somehow I didn’t expect this beer to be dark when it came out of the bottle. Aroma is sour-sour-sour, with what I think of when I think of brettanomyces, maybe a touch of balsamic vinegar, and sour cherriness. Flavor is reminiscent of a Cantillon lambic, but amped up. There is also a "chalky" taste to it that seemed to fade once the beer warmed. Liked it more and more as I drank it. Quite good, but still over-priced....which, incidentally, beats over-priced and lousy.

Pours dark with nice big off-white head. Nose is sour with cherries and currents. Flavor is woody with sour cherries and red wine. Medium body with even some tannis still pulling through from the wood barrels.

Bottle. Aroma of sour cherries and a little funk. Flavor is sour but well balanced with a calming sweetness and mild funk. Very good. Very enjoyable.

Finally, I get to try this beer. The last time I had a dark and sour-ish beer, I didn’t enjoy it (Madrugada Obscura), so I didn’t know what to expect here. Anyway, pours dark brown with red highlights and a fluffy beige head. Aroma is big on the funk, but mild on the sourness. Vinous notes abound, mustard, wood, lots wine (and some berry), maybe even a bit of caramel and chocolate, but the funky fruity brett is the main player. Tastes equally complex with plenty of spicy red wine, old fruit, cheese, and mustard, but there’s a lot more caramel, chocolate, and toasty malt qualities than a sour beer would allow. Finishes very nutty with wood, toast, tangy fruit, and a dry sensation. Medium bodied, plenty of carbonation and fluffy mouthfeel. Tangy and almost sour with more malt flavors than you’d expect. I like it.

Bottle. Pours out a dark reddish / brown color with a tan head on it. The smell has some sour notes in it and a little bit of the smell from the zinfandel barrel. Fruity and somewhat sour taste. It has brett in it, so I think I am supposed to give it 4.5+ ratings; however that is not the case. This is simply an average beer that really does not stand out at all. Sure there are some unique qualities, but mostly its just yet another beer with a sour funk in it. Not really something I would buy again.. Maybe it would do good with some age on it, but I don’t age beer anymore because I find that if it tastes like shit, it probably will continue to taste like shit.

A very cool beer shared by footbalm. Pours a dark brown color with a large beige head. The aroma is heavy on Brett, vinous notes and wood. The flavor is similarly full of wine-like flavors, sourness and funk, Brett, light roasted flavors, not too much like a BSA. Later as it warmed a lot of Belgian yeast did come to the fore. Very nice and unique.

Pours a dark brown,like a porter, with a tall khaki head that leaves considerable lacing. Aroma has anise, chocolate, kiwi, musty oak, and some serious funk. Medium bodied, thick and viscous. Taste is complex. Maybe too complex for its own good. Opens with sour cherries, followed by chocolate and coffee notes. Musty oak, vinous zinfandel, bubblegum, horse blanket, peppery alcohol, dark fruits, and more funk. Unique, certainly, almost weird, but it’s very drinkable. There’s just too much going on here. Curious about how this will age.

12 oz, bottled Feb 10, 2009. Opaque, dark chocolate with a large spongy head that slowly settles to a lasting disc of cream. The aroma is musty brett with some hints of wine. The flavor is similar but the dry wood and wine notes hold their own a bit better here than in the aroma. Still plenty of tart berry/cherry funk though. Some prunes and bitterish chocolate-toffee notes on the finish. Medium-heavy body is smooth and acerbic. Not really a brett fan, but this is pretty good.