Avery Fourteen

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

22oz bottle. Deep dark brown-red with a large rocky light brown head. Some nutty and toasty malt aromatics underneath a heavy metallic citrus and fruity ester character. Caramel, dark alefruit, and choco-roasty bitterness. Prominent hop component, floral and vegetal. Conflicted finish with residual hop bitterness, alefruit, and a dusty patina. Mouthfeel is a heavy medium, somewhat sticky.

Bottle. Moderately sweet fruity aroma. Deep brownish red body, nice size light brown head. Flavor is sweet, with berries and malt, also some alcohol. Finish has very prominent alcohol.

Bottle. I purchased this for the RBSG grand tasting but this was one of the many bottles that did not get opened that night. Pours a deep red with a marshmellow head. Aroma is cocoa, citrus hops, and maybe some nutmeg or spice as well. I’m waiting for the head to diminish. Long lasting and puffy lacing. Interesting flavor. Smooth and cola like. Alcohol here is well hidden. This is a little like a highly hopped porter. Nothing outstanding her but well done and not the overly sweet brew that Avery sometimes puts out.

I was rather surprised by this beer: the "strong ale" category is a mile wide but is usually pretty hoppy, and this beer is more grapey and Belgian tasting than American strong ale hoppiness. The beer pours a dark red-brown with a sweet malty dry roastiness in its aroma which was extremely pleasant. The flavor is big and sticky with a grapey mouthfeel upfront which transitions to a chocolate-y roastiness at the rather dry finish. Mouthfeel is clean and smooth. This beer is delightful.

Poured a very scary looking watery deep dark brown with a creamy, lacing light brown head. Aroma is very interesting, I expected more of a floral, citrus nose and what I found was a nose more like a Abbey Triple with yeast and medicine at the front with pine and grapefruit in the background. Flavor crazy, all over the place. When it hits the tongue you get heavy malt and fruit (grapes, apples, oranges). Then as it envelopes the tongue you get a barley wine type flavor with heat, alcohol, candy and yeast like a Belgian. Finish is slightly syrupy, slightly astringent but very drinkable. This was very unique and a cornucopia of flavors.

Poured a deep brown with a big beige head. Aroma is ripe fruit, belgian yeast, and sweet malt. Flavor is raisin, toffee, clove and bananas. Very complex. Glad I have a couple more of these to see how they age.

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.

Strong malt aroma with a moderate amount of hops. Super dark amber or brown with a medium dark tan head. Strong sweet malt beginning with a strong malt and bitter finish. Creamy palate.