Avery Brabant

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

12oz bottle from west lakeview.....pours a dark caramel cola brown with a soapy yet wispy off-white head....aroma of tartness, lightly woody, soft vanilla, some chemical aspect to it.... flavors are sweet and sour, slightly tannic. average mouthfeel and carbonation... all in all, doesn’t come together all that well.

Courtesy of BDR. Black color with a thin head. Strong winey aroma. Fruit. The taste is quite different. A bit of dark, charred malt and metallic. Light Brett character, mainly horsey. Very vinious, but none of the fruit the nose suggested.

Bottle purchased at Rozi’s in Lakewood. Bottled on 2-10-09. The pour on this one was surprisingly dark, it is pretty much black and a thin lace of mocha foam on top. The aroma, well, that was somewhat unsuspected as well. This smelled very funky and earthy. Lots of wild-smelling yeast, musky farmhouse scent and a little bit of wood. Maybe my imagination is running away with me, but I did detect a little bit of wood and grape juice in the aroma. The flavor is equally as funkified. Fruity woody earthy flavors abound, yet the initial crispness overshadows some of the finer notes. It does end rather nicely for the mouthfeel. It thickens up a little and ends nice and viscous. It leaves a very leafy and dark fruit flavor on the close.

[Bottle] Pours dark brown with a big rocky beige head that leaves good lacing on the glass as it subsides to a thin film. Aroma is nice and funky, with notes of smoke, and a lot of wine influence. Taste also has a good deal of funk, with a little alcohol, real sour cherries straight from the tree, grape, notes of raspberry, and some malt towards the back end. Average mouthfeel, smooth, and leaves me with lingering funkiness and a bitter taste in the semi-dry finish. Overall, a really nice beer, albeit too spendy for the amount you get.

Rating 992, 8 to go. Hello Brett! Pours an unclear deep blood red with a medium frothy beige rocky head that fades into a very fine dense froth 4.5. Very strong funky brett aroma, can’t get much besides that, touch of sweet red fruits maybe and some vanilla as it warms. Huge brett first taste, quite dried out, dried-blood tangy bitterness, subtle red berry sweetness, this is a brett bomb. The sourness is minimal at best. I do get just a touch of unsweetened chocolate. Quite tannic and dried out. The Zinfandel is actually recognizable and long lasting on the finish. Fantastic mouthful, medium/full a bit creamy and extraordinarily smooth, fuzzy carbonation. The label is great, one of my favorites. I have another to age so we shall see if the flavor improves.

Bottle from Pat’s Liquors in Porter, Indiana: This pours a dark brown body, mahogany around the edges, with a short-lived beige head that soon reduces to nothingness. No lace, of course. The nose is full of Brett funk with tart plums, vinegar, raisins, some berries, and dark malt. A light dab of chocolate is added to the flavor along with a taste of cold iron and a splash of alcohol. The finish is sourly dry with a bit of dark juicy stone fruit. Very nice and probably would age well, but I’m too old to wait.

12 oz bottle from Beverages4less.Pours a dark brown color with a fine beige head that has good retention. The aroma is sour with musty grapes, tart cider vinegar, some raspberry and brett. The taste is not nearly as sour as the aroma alluded, there are mildly sour cherries, tart grapes, red wine and apple cider. The finish is medium in duration and dry with lingering sour cider. The mouthfeel is silky smooth. Overall:A very enjoyable sour ale.

12oz bottle. Pours a very dark brown with brownish red highlights and a short-lived, medium-sized, off-white/light tan head. The aroma is very strong - pungent tart pie (currant, raspberry), hints of balsamic vinegar, and a funky mustiness that is hard to describe but is definitely wood-like. There are hints of traditional, tangy malts in the aroma, too - subtle combination of caramel and cherry. The flavor starts funky - malty with a subtle sweetness, but also musty and dry right on the front of the tongue. There is some tartness, red wine, wood, and earthiness in there, but the tongue acclimates pretty quickly. After you get used to it, the main thing you taste is chocolatey, roasty, grainy malts - more hints of red wine all over mid-tongue and finish, too. At mid-palate, there is a subtle note of sour cherries and some grassy and "horsey" notes, but also a light earthy bitterness, and nutty and chocolatey malts. The finish is dry and leaves impression of fresh-hewn oak, over-toasted bread, dry cocoa powder, and subtle sour cherry. There is some warming alcohol in the finish, too. Despite a mediocre head, the mouthfeel is quite lively - almost spritzy. It accentuates the dryness - which, combined with the subtle acidity, feels almost like dry red wine all over the palate (even though red wine is not carbonated). The beer is rather middle-of-the-road in body with a pleasant, thicker-than-water texture. Overall, a really lovely ale. What a treat! It is very interesting and yet so calm and drinkable considering it is fermented from 100% brett. I dig it.