Avery Mephistopheles Stout

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

I’ve been waiting a while to try this one. 12 oz bottle. Pours black witha thick light bown head. Aroma is purely chocolate on initial inspection. As it warms, some dark fruits join the party. Wow, lots going on in the initial taste, I would not have expected this from the aroma. Lots of fruit, grapes, cherries, bitter coffee, smoke and some chocolate. The flavor is intense. This is a sipper, heavy body. Bitter coffee and dark fruit finish lingers for a little while.

Dark black color with big brown head that slowly diminishes and leaves a light lacing. Aroma and flavor are dominantly strong chocolate malts with roasty caramel notes. Very strong alcohol flavor and burn. Good overall, but flavor is just alright, and for the price, it may not be worth it. Best thing about it is the amazing abv.

2006 bottle batch 1. Dark black with small brown head. Aroma is great. Like a port with dark fruits, vanilla, and coffee. Very smooth and creamy. I wonder if its this good when fresh. Great 500th rating.

12oz batch 2. Wow, extremely complex stout. Black. Thick and creamy with a whipped chocolate frosty head. Consistency is of Malted Chocolate Ovaltine. So much flavour, it is nearly impossible to comprehend. Rich malts, tons of chocolate, alcohol, sugar, syrup, caramel, and fruit.. maybe cherry and raspberry. Maybe a bit too much going on here

12 oz bottle. Pours opaque with a 1/2 inch brown head. Nice lacing. The aroma is vinous fruit, chocolate milk and strong alcohol. Flavor is rich and sweet chocolate, molasses and alcohol. Mouthfeel is syrupy thick and sticky, creamy, with alcohol burn in the throat. I was disappointed in this Impy stout. While rich, it was way too sweet (I do like sweet but not this much) and the alcohol was overpoweringly present. Way over the top in extreme brew if you ask me. Had to force myself to finish it. Tone it down a tad and you would probably have a great stout. IMO, those that say the alcohol is hidden must be so used to drinking hard liquor neat that this is mild in comparison.

12oz Bottle - Gravity Room - Olympia WA.
Aroma – A deep dark malt flavor with lots of alochol coming off the nose There was a sweetness to the nose also.
Appearance – Deep dark bown color, clear and a very thin head
Flavor – Deep molasses flavors with some sweetness of dried fruits. The high alochol was present throughout the beer.
Palate – A great cold cold night sipping beer with some deep flavors.
Overall –Let this beer warm up and it comes alive. Not a beer for the regulars but for the more sophistacted palate.

12 oz bottle. January 2006 vintage. Batch 1. It’s a bit chilly today, so I finally busted this one out. Thick oily pour. Opaque black when held up to the light. Head was thick and cocoa brown with decent retention and lacing. Boozy aroma with lots of dried fruit (raisin, fig, cherries) and malty molasses. Massively sweet with plenty of warming alcohol that soaked deeply into the mucous membranes. Full bodied. Tasted of alcohol-infused chocolate-cherry bonbons, raisin wine, fruit cake, and molasses. Some raosty malts peeked out at the end, but were ruthlessly suppressed by the dominant sugars. Great beer. A sipper for sure. Seemed like a combination of an imperial stout and a barleywine. At 15-16% AbV I’d say a 12 oz bottle could easily be shared by three or four people. Fortunately, I had mine all to myself.

Bottle from mcbackus. Batch 2. I have never seen a stout pour this thick. This beer is so thick that if you flick the glass the surface ripples instantly disappear. Head is deep brown and never fading. Massive fruit and sweet malt on the nose, alcohol burns the nose a little. Taste is extremly sweet. Hints of sweet rasins, dates and syrup. Found chocolate late as it warms, burn is excessive. Suprised that this beer lacks the roast flavor. Finish has a weird metal hoppiness to it with slight burn. Very heavy feeling on the palate. I have to say I am kind of disappointed. I would like to have had on more of these to age fo a couple of years.