Avery Fourteen

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

Dark brown body, no, more like mahogany with a tint of crimson coming in....clear at foot, ...fluffy, cocoa-toned head. Aroma: SWEET-ness!...chocolate, spice, mollases, nuts, brown sugar, lovely, and utterly malt-alicious...now to taste ’er! More of the same, now dancing on the tongue...sweet, plump, chocolate chip’n’raisin-y goodness, caramel chewiness, blasts of black pepper, lush molasses, dark rum & anise Long lasting finish, full bodied, and very special...happy 14th, guys!

(RBESG 2007, Glasgow. Bottle) Dark amber color, brown head. Malty and milky aroma. Creamy, malty chocolate flavor, some fruit andsome caramel notes.

Fairly well carbonated, this beer is topped initially by a three-finger thick, lightly browned, amber-tan colored head that leaves a wispy lacing pattern as I drink this beer down. The beer is a brilliantly clear, blackened-amber colored brew that shows deep red highlights when held up to a bright light. The aroma is interesting; it is certainly hop driven, yet somehow is reminiscent of a citrus & spice, black holiday cake / sweet bread. I get notes of roast coffee beans, bergamot, candied orange peel and some un-specified spice notes sort of like a mix of allspice, clove and cinnamon, but really unlike any of these. The aroma almost has a split personality; at times the hop notes provide a citrus character which mixes with the malt to form notes of a dark spice cake, but at other times sharper, herbal, green, pine-like, even menthol type, almost raw hop notes provide a rough contrast to the other side of the aroma. If you really dig around in the aroma a substantial malt character becomes noticeable with notes of toasted malt, browned bread crust and lightly burnt biscuits. As the beer warms, aromas of warming alcohol become noticeable.

Thick and quite a bit sweeter than I was expecting. The hop character is still quite evident, but again it seems to contribute flavors that meld with the malt character to display a deeply rich, sweet, dark spice cake flavor that has notes of molasses, burnt toffee, orange zest (the citrus character is actually quite prominent), at times notes of cherries and a bitter finish that has lingering notes of espresso and hop bitterness. The usual citrus hop flavors at times take on a fresh, raw hoppiness that reminds me of spicy, freshly chopped herbs, piquant pine needles, and even something like garlic chives. How would I describe this beer quickly, well it is a cross between molasses sweetened earl grey tea (with lots of bergamot and a green, herbaceous, tannic tea character) with a black coffee. The flavors are juxtaposed, cacophonous and jarring, yet somehow remain eminently drinkable and enjoyable. Despite the straight-forward sweetness, this beer has a fairly light body, or I should say that with this level of sweetness I would expect this beer to be sticky and cloying, but instead it has a medium fullness to it.

This is one of the more interesting beers that Avery has put out recently. When compared to there super-high alcohol brews this beer is quite stellar in the comparison. I really like the mix of hop character and dark malt flavors; even the sweetness seems to work here. In fact without the ample hop character the sweetness would likely overpower this beer and make it undrinkable for me (think the beast, mephisto or Samuel). I was fully expecting this to be another strong beer from Avery that was a complete flop, instead I am pleasantly surprised by a beer that almost seems like it shouldn’t work.

(bottle - 22 oz) Murky brown pour with a thick tan head. About an inch of foam. Aroma is light with hints of dark malts, alcohol, and molasses. Flavor is bitter and malty at the beginning with a creamy and sweet middle and a very warming and bitter finish. Aftertaste is a mixture of malts, dark fruits, and molasses.

Thanks to rsamayoa. Bottle: @ rateberians informal gathering. malty, smokey, earhty and woody, nice balance conplex and well balanced.

Bottle shared with Hogtown Harry, his bottle. Very dark brown, huge thick foamy brown head - looks great. Smokey, peaty, some yeast in interesting aroma. Taste is also very interesting - smoky, sweet, hoppy, chewy, campfire like. Complex. Very original and hard to describe. I liked it a lot.

Pours a dark ruby brown with a tan head. Strong aroma of extremely spicy hop character. Very peppery, some pine, ginger, and a molasses malt behind that. The flavor is equally interesting and confounding in its contrast of chocolate and maple syrup verses a spicy piny hop flavor that tastes as if the hops were boiled with some blackening seasoning first. Finishes with a hoppy tang, and still more spiciness but the malt flavors linger equally. Thick and creamy mouthfeel. I gotta say, this beer is confusing to me. I tried a sample of this at the brewery, and I couldn’t believe that extra spices weren’t added. I guess the dry-hopping is just that strong? It’s good enough that I’m gonna try it a few more times. Perhaps given time, the malt and hop flavors won’ taste so unrelated.

Upon having a much larger glass than just a sample size, I find the malt flavor much more appealing in its chocolate, earthy and slightly peanutty flavors. The super-spicy hop character that I experienced before (especially on tap, wow) becomes a team player overtime with the chocolate and molasses. The heat is quite high, but tolerable. I wish the texture had even more creaminess than what is already there. Oh well. Very interesting stuff though, worth investigating multiple times.

22oz - Aroma of chocolate, caramel, raisin, molasses and piney hops. Pours deep dark brown with a think brown head and great lacing. Flavor is rich with chocolate, piney hops, caramel, earthy hops, brown sugar and finishes with raisin and prune. Palate is sticky and sweet but tart. A unique and tasty brew. One of my favorite Anny brews from Avery.