Avery Fourteen

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

Bottle at Butters Big Cellar Blowout! Thanks Butters for letting me choose what I wanted for this 400th rating. Pours a lacing, tan head with a dark brown body. Smells of molasses, dark bread, citrus, spice hops, ginger, and alcohol. Flavors the same but with some vanilla notes. The alcohol, hops, and sweetness are balanced very well.

22 oz. bottle from BevMo LaJolla. Pours a deep brown, almost opaque, with gorgerous cherry color highlights when held to light, and a thick creamy beige head. Roasty flavor with rich dark fruits, cranberry notes, orange and cocolate, molasses, lemon zest, and bitter herbs. Dark bitter coffee flavors, bold citrus including orange and grapefruit, brown sugar, maple hints, blackberry, pine resin, fudge sauce with the alcohol well hidden. Full body, smooth carbonation. Delicious combination of roastiness and hops.

I popped the top and the cap almost exploded off. Malty malty aroma, good head, nice lacing. A dark beer but still has a very pretty amber color. I can’t believe this is up at 9%, the alcohol does not overpower the ale at all. Good Show Avery!

Bottle. Pours deep mahogany with a lasting dark beige head. Aroma is a cornucopia of orange, lemon, grass, and candy. Flavor is a symphony of mild malted grapefruit and plumb, followed by hops and grass with a slight white wine; and then, it branches out into molasses and chocolate with coffee as it warms. Full and coating mouthfeel. Fantastic beer. Dopple Bock IPA?

The aroma holds chocolate, bubblegum, candy sugar, molasses and lots of other vaguely toasty and sweet things I can’t pin down. The body is brown to black and holds a two finger thick, lasting, tan head that is craggy and fluffy atop. Burnt brown sugar and molasses in the fore gives it a bitter and sweet note. The middle is huge with sweet molasses and chocolate. Massive malts and lightly hot alcohol notes. Hints of licorice and brown sugar in the finish. Very nice beer!

Pours a deep, dark, nearly opaque garnet-mahogany with a fine, medium desity tan head; just beautiful. Earthy hops aromas with dark fruit and spice alongside sweet caramel malt and molasses. Malt and molasses in the flavor as well--but not sweet--with excellent dry grainy and nutty flavors. Its very finely tuned malt profile which is one of the most interesting aspects of this beer. Flavors of fruit--black plums, candied citrus peel--alongside hints of toffee and smoke. Finishes dry and bitter with a dark, flavorful hops profile. Very nimble mouthfeel that successfully balances out significant alochol and substantial hops bitterness alongside strong roasted malt characteristics. Very unusual--very successful

This is one huge, delicious beer. Huge nose, huge flavor. Huge. Every single drop of this beer screamed at me. What was it screaming you might ask? GET MORE. Unfortunately, this is it. My one and only bottle. Damn. The beer pours out this intriguing brownish/eggplant purpleish color witha huge off-white 3 finger thick head. My first impressions on the aroma was cchocolate covered raisins with an intriguing woody hop aroma. Lots of plums, some vanilla and molasses too. The first time it hits your tongue it’s like getting whacked on the head and you are sort of dazed a bit. Not sure what the hell’s going on. There’s some figs/plums, molasses, dark chocolate, smoke, vanilla with interesting underlying spicyness that damned near perfect. Reminded me in some ways of Firestone’s 10. Lots of sstuff going on here and it’s all good.

Half pint serving on draft @ Dunedin brewery for $5 on June 23, 2007. Nice clear yet slightly opaque amber color that has dark copper hues around the edges and 1/4” tight tan head. The aroma is both sugary sweet and roasty with prunes and raisins that have been stored for a short time in an oak box. The first sip ushers in a relatively viscous fluid creating an initial sense of this beer’s gravity. Also in the first sip I notice this is rather complex with flavor notes all over. The taste has a moment of sweetness initially that gets run-over by molasses covered oak planks. The flavor becomes tougher to discern after that. I get raisins, prunes, chocolate, a bit of malt dust, then more sweet dark fruitiness and molasses. There is a maple syrup, dark chocolate, slightly astringent toffee (if that makes sense), hints of alcohol, and dark fruit that carry right into the after taste. After the beer warmed some I seem to notice both a maple and beacon aroma hidden just beneath the other notes. Well, I think that’s beacon I’m smell.