Avery Mephistopheles Stout

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

12oz bottle from Bev4less in Santee. Pours an opaque black color with a two finger tan head that receded to 1/4 inch. Aroma of coffee, chocolate, raspberries, molasses and alcohol. The Taste was true to the aroma with a fair amount of biter hops thrown in for good measure. The mouthfeel is smooth, full and creamy. The finish is long and surprisingly clean. Overall: This stout would be more enjoyable to me if the alcohol did not show through quite so much. Still it is a respectable and formidable drink. Recommended.

’06 batch, this is a beautiful beer in both appearance & aroma. Complex nose of sweet summer fruits, chocolate, & coffee. Deep, dark brown with a full mocha colored head that lingers. The flavor is just as complex, supported very well by the aroma, and all the influences present in it. Nice warming effect from the alcohol without much of a burn, with chocolate, cherries, and somewhat of an apricot influence. Finish is just the slightest bit bitter and coffee like. Very nice brew.

This has to be the grandaddy of beer. It pours almost deep black with a dark brown head. The nose is espresso, dark chocolate, roasted malt, hints of yeast and citrus. The tasted is very full body thick kinda creamy/ velvety, With chocolate, coffee, caramelized malts, and hints of hops on the end. It finishes and stays on your palate a bit longer

Burnt molasses, espresso, Kahlua and dark fruit on the nose. Black, maybe a hint of brown, with a small dense head. Rich and sweet. Full body, slight effervescence, and and huge alcohol burn--in a good way. This could be the best after dinner beer in existence. Excellent by itself, would g nicely with a chocolate dessert. An amazing achievement in Imperial Stouts.

2006 12oz bottle - Batch 2. Pours a deep dark black, small tan head. Aroma is extremely malty, with chocolate, coffee and almost astringent alcohol. The flavor is strong alcohol, with notes of chocolate, coffee, and malts. The alcohol is very overpowering and wasn’t as pleasant as I thought it would be for me...

Nov 2007 BOTTLE batch 3: Let’s start at the top: cool bottle kind of scares me. Pour is black as the darkest regions of the universe and quite possibly may exhibit some characteristics of a black hole (no light would penetrate through it when held to a 100W bulb). Beautiful thick, slow tan head. Aroma is not overpowering as you may think it would, cocoa and coffee with alcohol presence not hidden. Flavor is very strong with nice smooth coffee and definitely chocolate cherry flavors and aroma; strong alcohol flavor not hidden by any means. Mouth feel is a not really full body but velvety smooth and creamy with a short-medium finish. Beautiful.

Pours EVIL and BLACK! Aroma is strongly smoky with some steak-saucy qualities. Very malty. Chocolate and other stuff I can’t quite identify. Flavor is smoky as well. chocolate, coffee, and some undertones of other things as well. Thick mouth feel. Very appropriate.

Batch #3. Pours jet black with a head that dissipates quickly. Aroma is of dark roasted coffee, rich dark chocolate, dried fruit and ALCOHOL!!!!. Flavors are on spot with the aroma. Starts out creamy with a malt presence, giving way to coffee, and chocolate flavors. Finish almost bourbon like. A very tasty stout to say the least.