Avery Mephistopheles Stout

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

Pours with a fine brown head and a thick tar black body. Aroma is extreme but still very complex. Candied sweet with obvious characters of both The Beast and Samaels (same yeast?) but also a nice roastyness to back the sweetness up and a warming alcohol note that isn’t overwhelming - almost like a beer liquor. Flavor is warming from the alcohol as well, I can feel it gliding down my throat. Sweet and candied with penetrating roast and chocolate notes and a good hoppyness hiding behind the sweetness. Very chevy texture, you can really feel that this is a big one! One hell of a sipping beer and not for the weak hearted! Thanks a bunch Adam for going out of your way to get me this :-) To me, a masterpiece.

Dark black color with a medium frothy brown head that dissipates fully. Slightly astringent chocolate and cherry aroma. Very syrupy consistency. Some dark and roasted malts with chocolate, caramel, some cherries and a bit of coffee in the end. Thanks to Degarth for sending this to Richmond.

Bottle, thanks to Kramer. Restrained (!) aroma of molasses, chocolate, sweet porridge, resinous malts, raspberry, vanilla. Mega-black pour with a thick, very nice khaki head. Flavor is overwhelming, very sweet, rich chocolate and vanilla, molasses and honey; just huge in every way. Sugary thick palate coats the mouth and really lets you know the 15% is there, though not through taste. The beer is so sweet and intense that alcohol couldnt possibly find its way through, though you certainly feel it with every sip. Quite a beer.

Bottle shared with Blankboy, Hogtown Harry, and Dave, courtesy of a very generous Harry. Very interesting milk chocolate aroma - no booze. Natural cocoa sweetness, wood, and some hops. Impressive. Pitch black, decent brown head, bubbles near the surface. Very frothy creamy mouthfeel. Taste: first impression was lots of roast and very sweet. Mid-to end: more roast, lots of coffee, licorice and dark fruit. Alcohol is present and eye watering / nose hair burning but compliments and is balanced. Very sweet, almost syrup like, but again, does not detract somehow. Wow.

12oz Bottle: Sampled Batch 2: Brewed November 2006: Opaque black pour topped by a chocolate milk colored head. Beatifully aromatic. Huge vanilla oak hits your nose as it pours. Roasty coffee and sweet chocolate liquer. Vinous qualities, and evident alcohol, without being offensive. This beer is huge and chewy. Goes down like cough syrup. There’s tons of molasses and roastyness. Vanilla oakeyness, tobacco, earthy with some pine needle subtle hop character. The middle palate is also accompanied by some salty resins. Espresso is in there too, with more coffee flavors in the finish. Oh yea, and the alcohol! Wow, that burn is too much. It’s cloying and harsh, but still very enjoyable. If this stuff were to mellow out a bit, maybe with age, it would get an even better score.

[873-20071130] 12floz (w/ jerc, tupalev). Aroma of dates and raisins and a little boozy toasted malt. Black brown body with a medium-lasting foamy light tan head. Roasted sweet malty raisins and dates continue in the flavour. Oily slick full body is thick. Interesting but wow it is thick and boozy, not overpowering but subtly potent.

Bottle (Batch #1, Jan 06) : Courtesy of Philip via trade. The aroma on this is huge. Just popping the cap at arms length was enough to start getting a dose of the aroma. Lots of roastiness, moderate cherry, molasses, chocolate, grapefruit hops, and alcohol. Pours a dark brown, virtually black, with a brown head that has good retention. A film of lacing clings to the side of the glass. Very sweet and malty. Lots of molasses up front with moderate chocolate. Moderate cherry and dark fruits. Roastiness is very subtle in the finish and seems to get stronger in the aftertaste once the sweetness fades. Alcohol is light in flavor and moderate in warming affect with a light burn. Just the slightest touch of grapefruit hops in the finish. Alcohol flavor increase slightly as it warms, but never becomes overbearing. Big syrupy mouthfeel, but creamy at the same time. This is impressive.

I’ve heard all sorts of rumors that this beer is not aging well. Well since it’s not bottled conditioned, I don’t how long it will hold up, but one year later it’s still damn tastey. Sweetness is real big, but has toned down just a touch. Roastiness in the finish is more pronounced along with a touch of expresso that I didn’t notice before because it was dominated by the extreme sweetness. I don’t know that it has improved numbers-wise, but it’s just as good...just a tad different than before.

Appearance: Pours an inky black, viscous body with a creamy-looking, beige head. Smell: Dark malt aroma of roasted grain and burnt sorghum. Hints of dark fruits and soy sauce. Taste: Severely sweet with only a hint of chocolate. Some hop bitterness and an ashen roastiness struggle to get around the candylike sweetness. The glaringly unbalanced finish is sweet and burning, with the alcohol being very apparent. Mouthfeel: Medium-full body. Mild carbonation. Syrupy texture. Drinkability: Well, I guess you could say, it doesn’t get any SWEETER (or more alcoholic) than this!