Avery Fourteen

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

Pretty beer. Deep dark reddish-brown. Almost opaque but not. Big tan honeycomb-like head with lots of air pockets. Rich balanced big aroma, jam-packed. In addition to jam are minterals and earth. Yummy balance of flavors. Dark malt is excellent complement for the hop, which does not overpower. A little rummy but the alcohol is well disguised. Sweetness from the malt tapers to a dry but not bitter finish. Jammy, roasty at times, with burnt cookie, molasses, and prune. I like this one.

Bottle. Nice hopped aroma with a light roasted note. Very deep brown chestnut color with a large beige head. Full roasted body with hints of burned caramel and coffee. Nice hopped palate with a nicely balanced bitterness. Very nice.

Pours a deep brown color, almost looks black with amber accents. Nice foamy tan head and some impressive lacing. Aroma is lots of caramel then some molasses and a slight scent of fruity hops. Rich flavors, heavy on the malts, roasted and doughy malts, caramel, butter (diacetyl?) and the dry hopping in the finish with a touch of fruit. I honestly can’t decide if I liked this or not. The first couple of sips I didn’t like it but then it kind of grew on me but something always seemed a little off. It wasn’t at all alcoholic, that was hidden quite well. The bottle has been aged a year now so maybe that played a part.

Had this in the cellar for a year. Poured and tasted in 2008. I let it warm up a bit ~ 56 degrees or so. Pours with a nice nutty-colored head. Great carbonation, tickles the tongue. Fantastic lacing, hint of alcohol on the nose, very malty, chocolate, caramel, almonds, ripe plums, citrus. This sucker packs a punch at 9.5%. Very nice beer.

22 oz. bottle on 7/22/2008.

Aroma - Figs, dates, raisins, burnt caramel <P> Appearance - Deep clear ruby/mahogany, durable creamy beige head and thick sheeting lace that really adheres to the glass.

Flavor - Rich amlt sweetness with some roasted, earthy flavors. Spicy bitterness comes on strong, bringing a long, dry finish.

Palate - Full body, fairly soft carbonation, rich full mouthfeel.

Overall - Quite satisfying in all regards, actually one of Avery’s better efforts.

Tasted 07-17-08 Pours amber-mahogany with a thick tan head. Aroma is strong chocolate malt, molasses/toffee sweetness. Raisin tones. Underlying herbal hoppy presence. Flavour is dominated by alc bitter-sweet. molasses maltiness, twisting chocolate, smoke and dark fruit . Lingering medicinal bitterness in the finish.

Aroma is strong, malty and yeasty with a touch of apple and a smoky hint. It pours a rich, opaque sable with a nice thick beige head that disappears slowly. Flavor has a rather strong alcohol bite like a barleywine, which tends to mask the rest of the taste, but I did pick up some good malty tones and a ribbon of chocolaty sweetness. Definitely for sipping, not slugging.

pours a dark red tinted brown color with a khaki head which leaves behind crazy lacing as it falls. interesting aroma... malty for sure, molasses, spices, orange peel, anise/black licorice, black raisins, grass/herbal/floral hops and the distinct smell of the insides of a fresh black fig. this is a sweet one. not cloying sticky sweet but enough to coat the tongue. flavors are odd as well... like that fruit cake that gets passed around over the holidays because no one actually likes it.... well, i’m the guy that eats it and enjoys it!... molasses, malt, grassy, lots of floral hops, chocolate, ripe black fig seed dryness, anise and an ashy finish. coffee and smoke in the aftertaste. medium to full body. soft and rich mouth feel but the alcohol, bitterness and seedy dryness balance it out. there’s so much going on in this thing!...