Avery Mephistopheles Stout

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

Bottle: Pours black as night with a small brown head. Strong coffee and alcohol aroma and flavor. Not something that I would drink a 6 pack of (mostly because it would cost about $60). Pretty good imp. stout.

<i>2008-11-02, bottled Nov ’06, 2 years old, 8-4-7-4-15=38</i>
Black color, with a huge brown head. It has a complex aroma, starting with chocolate, cocoa beans, vanilla, roasted malt, wood; only later some alcohol shows as well. It has a medium body strength, with a very strong chocolate and roasted malt flavor, some leather, roasted chestnuts; the alcohol is so strong to be disturbing. In the final the roasted malt is accentuated, carrying also a light sourness. I’m not impressed.

<i>2007-11-20, 7-4-8-4-16=39</i>
Black color; creamy head. Extremely powerful beer, but somehow doesn’t exceed, instead it mixes well the malt, the caramel, the dark chocolate, some roasted malt, light liquorice, some warming alcohol. Good mouthfeel, quite thick. Strong, long and balanced final. The aroma is a bit cheesy too, wood. Heavy beer, but enjoyable. Share it!

[Batch #2 sampled Feb 08 found in the store yesterday =) ] Huge aroma of raisins, chocolate, vanilla, licorice and surprisingly not a ton of alcohol. Pours like motor oil with an odd dark brown/purple thin head. Very sweet initial flavor, very warm. Follows with very dark chocolate and bitter coffee notes. The rum-soaked dark fruit description is pretty correct and it actually tastes like dark chocolate covered cherries. Finish is tangy, ashy and burns from the alcohol. Carbonation is a little harsh and the body is quite sticky. This is an in-your-face imperial stout without any balance. So mine was a year and 3 months old... I’m thinking it could have used a couple more years.

SMOKY CHOCOLATE! SMOKY CHOCOLATE! This stuff is fuggin’ amazing! Pours a dark impenetrable black with a brown, not tan, head. The aroma is dark roasted chocolate, with smoke. Lots of smoke. And it is beautiful. It is a sweet Imperial Stout - and it is very drinkable. VERY drinkable. Dangerously drinkable. Has a tart residue that fits in with the smoke and chocolate. Batch #3 from 11/07 if you care. At this point, I am in such a state of nirvana, I don’t. Batch #3 again, 2/09 - Still roasty and ethanoly. Since then I’ve had a few others, and this is definitely an ’early’ beer until a few years from now.

Batch 4: This is one big bad mutha! It pours an inky black with a decent but disappearing brown head. The aroma is similar to the plum from a dopplebock, but lighter. I didn’t notice the beer being overly sweet. It was full bodied and it hid the alcohol well. Very tasty and smooth. Tasted malts, chocolate and vanilla.

Looks like I’m going against conventional wisdom with this review but I thought this beer absolutely kicked ass... Thick, dark, and downright evil looking in the pint glass. Very rich and creamy head that just hangs around and hangs around. Smells very dark with chocolate, some dark fruit, a little anise, and tons of roasted malt. Whew.... This is a bad boy here. Chocolate, malts, fruit and a tiny bit of alcohol. May be the creamiest stout I’ve ever had. Ridiculously thick, this one is. Its a bit hot but nothing that deters from the score. I absolutely loved this thing. I get the feeling that there’s no middle of the road with this one, you either love it or want to dump it. I loved it!! Awesome job, Avery!!

sampled on tap at the San Diego Strong Ale Festival Nov 2008, an event share with what seemed liked hundreds of ratebeerians and enjoyed mostly through a straw, since my face was a bloody mess of scabs and stitches. battle ?? my palate was already destoryed, but this beer did it even worse. my notes look like "strong!! dark!! Strong!!" I remember it being rich and hot and it tasted like it could use some time. Still a good beer, but there are a lot more drinkable impy stouts out there.

Batch 3 (Nov 2007) purchased at the brewery on a recent beer vacation. This is a big bad beer! The aroma contains some subtle sweetness, I can’t separate out anything but coffee and some type of strange melony fragrance. Taste starts rich and immediately the warming alcohol sensation takes hold. I describe the finish as concise, the beer does what it meant to and then moves on down the road, not too much lingering syrupiness. Excellent in my book!