Avery Fourteen

Formerly brewed at Avery Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Boulder, Colorado USA

22 oz. bottled in 2007 poured into a Trappist glass has a a black color with red highlight when held to the light. carbonation is fairly steady and there is a nice looking tan layer on the surface that seemed to erupt from the center through the whole glass. aroma consists of tons of dark ripe fruit, brown sugar, malt, spicy yeast, and molasses. I’m thinking at this point that this one is a real treat. flavor is just as the nose with gobs of plumb, raisin, prune, creamy molasses malt, quite chewy with hops and yeast spices mixing very nicely. mouth feel is complementary coating the tongue with a medium body. alcohol is faintly noticeable and there is a light hit of anise finishing with back round dry hops and some malted bitter. this is well balanced and one of the best i have tried from Avery.

22 oz. Pours like motor oul. Dark lush body with tan head. Aroma is a complex combo of burnt molasses, licorice, port, and spice. Very complex beer that has notes of cinnimon, clove, licorice, port wine, orange, dark cherries, tree bark, brown sugar, and bitter dark chocolate. A huge complex beer I think will get better with some serious cellaring.

Pours a dark brown with a decent tan head. Aroma of hops, citrus and malt. Nice hoppy taste with interesting fruity tang that melts into a bitter finish. Pretty tasty.

Poured from a 22oz bomber and served in a snifter. This beer poured a dark, ruby-tinged brown with a thick, creamy head of dark tan foam. Good retention throughout the glass, leaving some heavy lacing behind. The aroma of the beer was made up of huge caramel and toasted malts, orange, grapefruit, brown sugar, and molasses. The flavor included very sweet and syrupy molasses, brown sugar, grapefruit rind, and mild orange zest. A fairly strong note of chocolate also became increasingly noticable as the beer warmed. The mouthfeel was full-bodied and slightly sticky with light carbonation. The combonation of the sweetness and the hop bitterness actually worked quite well together. Good, but not overly exciting.

From the bottle which is topped with gold foil to the bubbling aroma, this is a very nice beer. Not as dark as a porter, but close, distinct hoppiness, yet not bitter. Avery is above average, and this is one of their best. Most likely limited, so find a bottle before it’s gone.

Pours a very dark amber with a large light tan head and nice lacing. Stunning. Quite hoppy with a decent amount of bitter malts to boot. The finish was pretty dry and bitter (just like me)!!!!

A beautiful reddish brown with a rich, deep khaki-colored head. I didn’t get much aroma, other than a little resin. The flavor is caramel/toffee and some anise, with a big hop presence underneath, but without intense hop bitterness. A nice bite, distinctive, fairly good overall. Reminded me a little of Great Lakes Nosferatu, if only for the hop flavor, though this is a little creamier overall, and lacking Nosferatu’s sharpness (which, by my standards, places it a notch or two below Nosferatu). Recommended.

Sampled at the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild 2008 Strong Beer Fest, on February 17, at the Mesa Amphitheatre.