Avery Mephistopheles Stout

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

Name: Mephistopheles’ Stout
Date: February 18, 2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting
Appearance: black
Aroma: huge sweet fruity winey aroma with a bit of fumey alcohol
Body: big body
Flavor: rich malt flavor, lots of fruit character, big roasted provides balance, some bitterness in the finish, traces of chocolate, fleeting sweetness, very alcoholic, like a port wine, too over the top, needs five years to develop

Name: Mephistopheles’ Stout
Date: December 02, 2006
Source: tasting
Score: ii to iii
huge flavor but not so much over the top - after the strong ale fest it falls into place, chocolate is coming out much stronger in the flavor and blends nicely with the port wine character

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.4/5.0
Drinkability: 5/10
Score: **4

Very dark brown. Weak head. Underdeveloped malts, little roast. Harsh roast, lots of alcohol. Thin for size, and I miss those sugars as they would take the edge off the harsh roast and alcohol. Rough...so lacking in style after those Danish examples.

<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!

Black with rich brown short lasting head. Sweet complex and roasted flavor that holds liquerice, coffee, chocolate, vanilla and alcohol. Complex roasted flavor with spices, coffee, liquerice and chocolate. Alcohol is surprinsingly well hidden.

(12oz bottle, Batch 1, January 2006) Opaque black body topped by a medium brown head with great retention and decent lacing. Aroma is moderately sweet, cocoa, some anise, smoke, light cherry, earthy. Taste is very sweet, molasses, chocolate, date, caramel, honey, some cherry, light soy, dusky/earthy. Light alcohol burn. Creamy full body, alcohol evident but little indication just how strong it is. Samael drips with sweetness, and this is close. Still, there’s a better balance of flavors, to make this more enjoyable to me.

Cask Stillage from the Jug at the GABF, Colorado Convention Center 26/09/2009 Beige head. Big coffee roast aroma. Black smooth on the palate hoppy and very strong in alcohol with lots of bitterness in a lasting chocolate and coffee roast finish.

(Bottled, EBF) Pitch black, small tan head. Tar, licorice aroma. Full-bodied. Alcoholic warming palate. Roasted malty. Sweet, some licorice, long alcoholic aftertaste. Mortal stout.

Pitch black with a huge, creamy, light brown and lasting head. The mouthfeel is oily and the aroma has notes of licorice, soy sauce, dark fruit and roasted malt. The flavour has notes of dark roasted malt, a light sweetness, salt (soy sauce), salty licorice and the alcohol is subdued. the bitterness is licorice-like and it’s a powerful and nice stout, that doesn’t beat around the bush, and because it’s so direct it lacks just a little bit of charm. But nice for sure!! 2068