Avery Mephistopheles Stout

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

Bottle from Footbalm - Thanks! Pours an immense black with a medium brown head. Thin, spiderweb lacing. Nose is rich with chocolate, dark fruits, and caramel. I get a little graham cracker sensation as well. Taste is full of chocolate fruitiness, coffee, and roasty tones. Started off a little harsh, but once the glass warmed up a bit the flavors really start to stand out.

Nice black color with a short lived head. Cholate and coffee through out. Alcohol comes out as it warms up. Pretty good stout, but seemed alittle sweet

Black, syrupy look and with a quickly fading head. Hugely sweet and syrupy molasses, anise, chocolate, burnt coffee and muddy earth nose. Alcohol presence as it warms. I could make a list of the numerous flavors hinted at here, but I’d rather just state like many others mollass, coffee (I hate coffee) The mouthfeel is artificially sweet. Seems to try to be a darker. nasty after tase! So many people liked this one I did not want to give a bad review but....

Pours an impenetrable black with a tan head. Even without putting my nose to the glass I am already getting some strong fragrances. Let’s dive in. Eek. So strong. Had to pull away before going back again. The most overpowering scent I get is that of wet, mineral rich dirt. Beyond that a super sweet edge. Strong malts. Flavor is massively sweet for a stout. Just way too much sugar here. Molasses. Even molasses type character over the tongue. Licorice. I am getting licorice on the end. I will say that the warmer it gets the better it gets, but still. Feel is thick and syrupy. Drinkability is low. If you buy this, absolutely do not drink it immediately. This monster needs to age for some time. I am thinking one to three years would mellow this puppy out quite a bit. By then it might be calm enough to provide a more enjoyable experience. The analogy of a puppy really comes to mind. Sure it can be fun when it is wee little. But when they are older and more mature is when they are really the best companions. I personally think we might be rushing too quick to drink this one and review it. This and all of Avery’s other high ABVers.

Batch 2 from Nov. 06. This brew poured pitch black with brown head and decent lacing on the glass. Deep coffee/espresso scents emerge from deep within the glass. The taste is similar to the aroma, but featured drying roasted malts and hints of candied sugar before launching into a pronounced and lasting burn on the throat, and intense warmth from the high abv. This featured the some of the strongest warmth from alcohol than any beer I have ever had. This being said, the alcohol is fairly well integrated into the experience. There is a haunting quality to this brew, maybe the name, the packaging or the bruising alcohol content, but it seemed to be bellowing out of hell. Damn good beer though.

Batch 2 - Thick, dark, releasing aromas of chocolate, alcohol, and coffee. Very smooth, alcohol is well hidden. Improved as it warmed. Complex.

12 oz bottle. Black color, lovely brown head. It´s liqorice, tobacco, smoked malt, leather, alcohol. Very bitterdry finish. Too much sugar added, but still a great beer. At first it felt unbalanced, much because of the sweetness, but in the end....

Bottle: Pours a dark black color, thick tan head. The nose is bright with lots of charcoal, soy sauce and alcohol. The flavor is nice and sweet, plenty of alcohol, smoke and charcoal, lots of plum, roasted chicory. The finish is a bit brash, smoke, leather, char. Nice. A bit strong, but still respectably balanced and complex.