Avery Mephistopheles Stout

Brewed by Avery Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Boulder, Colorado USA

November, 2006 bottle that has been mocking me from the deepest reaches of my fridge for quite some time. Pours absolutely black with a tall caramel brown head that lasts forever and leaves a small amount of nice, frothy, tan lacing. Aroma is slightly burnt caramel, peanut brittle, very ripe nectarines and cherries, grape stems, rum, and a big shot of espresso. There are definitely some floral hops in there as well no doubt helping out with the fruitier notes. Flavor starts off playfull and somewhat light: lots of dark fruit, fresh cherries, toasted marshmallows, a hint of caramel and vanilla. The more rich flavors come in toward the middle, port wine, dark chocolate covered cherries, char, roast, some espresso sweetened with cane sugar and malted milk, pungent dried dark fruits, and a hint of licorice. Finishes strong with slightly charred sweet rye toast, cola, chocolate covered coffee bean, slightly grainy roast malt, some bitter hops and a decent showing by floral hops. The aftertaste is like a burnt orange blossom. Palate is thick, syrupy, sweet, very low on carbonation (in a good way) full of warming alcohol, and seems oddly acidic as my teeth are sort of soft and gripping each other as if I had just drank a P3psi cola. I would love to try the sour cherry version.

Strong aroma of alcohol, dark ripe fruit, licorice. Attractive appearance, completely opaque brown/black, thin tan head. The flavor is chocolate, alcohol (strong!), cherries, plums. Very sweet. I expected more roastiness than I actually got. A bit of bitter espresso on the finish, quicly washed off by a strong alcohol flavor, like I had just done a shot of jack. I guess the theme here is strong alcohol. This is a very sweet stout as well. Unique and enjoyable, though not my favorite impy stout. Also, this bad boy is expensive ($8.99/ 12 oz.)

Ok well this is about as close to a Dark Lord that anyone is going to find outside of the venom itself. Its all here the rich thickness and over the top flavors the coffee rasiny dark fruit. Alcohol is present but hey at 16 percent its a little hard to hide.This is a monster of a stout and a sipper for sure one of these bad boys and yea let me say thats about it just one.This is probably one of the biggest stouts you can find consistently year round..

Batch 1, June 06Black decent beige or brown head. Prune and port in the aroma, an a lot of port or sherry character in the flavor. There are ome notes of coffee and chocolate, but the por character really dominates. seems a bit heavy. I split this with two other people, and tha sample size seemed about right. I imagine an entire bottle would get a kind of tedious.

Big, black pour with tan head. I bought a couple because there was no way I could sit on this without trying it. Aroma of popcorn, smoke, and a whiskey-esque booze. Flavor of cherries, black currants, grapes, espresso, plums, ash, and tons of booze. The booziness is distracting, yet fitting for this monster. Hot, bourbon finish. Mouthfeel is heavy and smooth. This isn’t as sweet as I was led to believe. I like it fresh, and I’m sure it will take a long time to age.

complex and sweet, aroma is fruit and malts. i knew this was going to be a little over the top but i wasnt expecting such a powerful sweetness. it overwhelmed my palate a bit and this mainly struck me as a dessert more than anything. kind of like a sweet after-dinner port

So my wife went to AJs, spoke with Jonpol, and he searched RateBeer to see if I tried this one. Who else has a wife that would do that...really. Thick viscous jet black pour with velvety latte head. Aroma starts with eye watering alcohol but also exhibits bitter chocolate, dark fruit and espresso. Definitely tastes more enjoyable as it warms, but its a sipper. Molasses, brown sugar, and chocolate are the most dominant flavors. More drinkable than other high ABV Stouts such as Mikkeller Black and Nogne O Dark Horizon. Not bad.

Batch 3 bottle. Poured a deep black color with little head. Aroma was coffee caramelized sugar, and roasted malt. Flavor was killed a bit on the first sip by the alcohol, but once that calmed down, this beer had a really nice luxurious mouthfeel. Kind of like sating sheets for your tongue. A bit on the sweet side for an imperial stout though.