Avery Mephistopheles Stout

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

Bottle @ EBF. Dark tan head sits atop a pitch black body. Full nosed roasted flavors or espresso, anise, burnt cherries and molasses. Doesn’t have the big alcohol kick I was expecting but you can tell it’s buried in there, oh yeah. Gooey, chewey and full of coffee and tobacco. Avery’s best yet.

Rating 1000!!! Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, tupalev & Dave B. -- courtesy of HogTownHarry. Well here it is, my 1000th rating and the achievment of my goal to get there in under a year with a week left to spare. Thanks to Harry for sharing this bad boy and also thanks to him and the rest of my drinking buddies for all the fine beer they shared and that we shared together -- what a year!! On to the Mephistopheles: Pours a deep black with an average size brown head. Fantastic aroma of sweet malt, cocoa, caramel, dark fruit, coffee, hops, alcohol and more -- there’s lots going on here, it’s complex and it smells great. Sweet flavour of caramel malt, dark fruit, molasses, brown sugar and alcohol. Thick body and syrupy mouthfeel. A little on the sweeter side then I like my Imperial Stouts and a tad boozy, but man o’ man, this is still one kick-ass Stout and one to share with your friends.

Bottle and bottled in Jan. 2006, Batch 1. Small tan smooth head that mostly diminished, virtually no lacing, opaque, no visible carbonation, and a black hue. Nose was alcohol, chocolate, dark fruits, malt, some hops, cherries. somewhat sugary, roasty, and some burnt notes. Flavor was malty, chocolate, cherries, dark fruits, very vinuous, roasty, lightly burnt, dry, and thin. Mouthfeel was smooth, dry and somewhat thin. Medium body. A sipping brew for sure, definitely worthy of a try, one to seek out again and let it age.

Pours a dark black with an average darker tan lightly lacing head. Aroma was sweet, vinous, caramel, roast, alchol, coffee, vanill and grapes. Flavor...wow a lot going on there. An up front sweetness followed by some roasted malts, coffee and chocolate. A bit too sweet overall. I have another bottle I plan to age for a while...we’ll see if the sweetness dies out.

Never expected this to arrive in my area, but I’m sure glad it did because it certainly saved me a trade! Batch number 1 bottled in Jan. 2006. Opaque blackness with a small foamy brown head. Nose instantly smacks me with molasses, touch of red wine, black cherries, dark chocolate, roasted malts and a hint of tobacco. Wow! Taste on this is exquisite and rather rich. Lots of chocolate, berries, alcohol, roasted malts, chocolate mousse, dark fruit notes, and devil’s food cake. The body on this is so creamy I can’t believe it! Dense but fine carbonation bubbles. Oily, slick mouthfeel at times. Some hotness that doesn’t "hit" well as it is warm but this would be nice had I been drinking this in January when it was bottled. Finishes with more alcohol notes, dark fruits, lots of chocolate, molasses, brown sugar, roasted malt, and rum cake. Very nice stuff! I’m eager to find out what a couple of years will do to the bottles I still have.

Knightly Spirits, Orlando, Fl. - 12 oz bottle. Purple to black tar like pour with a surpisingly thick ovaltine-looking frothy, foamy head. Strong aroma, hints of Carbona spot remover (but in a good way), chocolate, pipe tobacco and alcohol. Strong but sweet flavor with dark chocolate, some chewing tobacco, confectioners sugar and alcohol - but the 15.1% is not as evident as expected. Smooth, velvety, creamy descrobes the mouthfeel. Overall, an excellent Imperial Stout - does not dissapoint.

Bottled. Strong coffee and liquorice aroma. Warming alcohol feeling, dry roasted grain, but the alcohol overpowers it all.

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.