Avery Mephistopheles Stout

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

Batch 1, consumed on 6/6/06. Pours a viscous, inky, jet black with a small tan head. Mostly fading with a few bit of wispy lace. The aroma is rum raisin, blackstrap molasses, lots of chocolate, very sweet, coffee, licorice and some alcohol. Wow this stuff is sweet, as in, gonna-be-difficult-to-finish-this-sweet. Lots of prunes and raisins, molasses, chocolate, caramel and toffee, rum, anise, licorice and some cherries, disgustingly sweet. Mouthfeel is thick, oily and coating with a slightly warm finish. The odds of me finishing this bottle are very slim. I have one more bottle of this, I think I’ll open it in 10-15 years. This might be getting good by then.

Poured opaque oily black with a big full brown head. Very ominous yet inviting. Prunes, dates, salt roast, caramel, alcohol, smoke aromes all resulted in singed nose hair. Double strong coffee, prune juice, Reisin candies, soy sauce, and plenty of alcohol flavor. Rich and chewy with a long lingering burn. Sure this is a damn good beer, but I’m not sure it was worth all of the early hubbub.

Batch 1 Pours viscous, dark oily brown with a medium head, brown with small bubbles and good retention. Aroma is both incredible and unique- molassis, gingerbread, light cocoa, ethanol, and just a hint of spice. Sweet, and slightly burnt. Initial taste is chocolate, cherries, and huge sweet and roasted malts. Large floral notes which I’ve never tasted in a stout, but balances here perfectly. Mild molassis balanced against bitter hops and roasted malt. Hints of coffee. Nice oak/bourbon thing going, certainly not overdone. Palate is undeniably a 5- smooth, velvety approach and in no way offensive, making the beer way to easy-drinking. Clings to the mouth, reminding you of the greatness you just drank. Avery’s main flaw, in my opinion, is that their high alc beers often don’t mask the ethanol at all. I guess they figured out how to do it, because this 15%er not only tastes like 10%, but is balanced against the rest of the flavors and redolance so well. The balance of every nuance of this beer simply cannot be overstated. Easily Avery’s best beer to-date, and a world class brew as well. Batch 2. 12-16-06 Pours same as before, black with huge brown head. Aroma is very sweet, very alcoholic, hints of coffee. Taste is dominated by abrasive alcohol. Astringent. Possible coffee, licorice in there. Sticky mouthfeel. Finish is sour. A complete reversal from Batch #1

12oz bottle. Thick, dark, pitch black, opaque, etc... Strong anise, dark chocolate, vanilla oaky, toffee aromas. Full bodied and oily slick. Wow, this is full. Thick slick body with a full blown burn. Raisins and a plummy, pruny flavor. Fruity. Deep dark red fruits. Black cherries and currants. Lotta burn. Lotta bang!

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....

Batch 1. Pours a thin looking black syrup with some red hints and a nice tan head despite the alc and age. Aroma is huge roasty malt, big alcohol, chocolate, very vinuous, some anise and licorice. Taste is a bit of oxidation up front, sherry, taste is a nice big chocolate with an oily body, roasty body, lightly bitter finish and alcohol warmth.

Clear very dark brown body under a thin tan head. Black patent, coffee roast, and a hard-to-describe cakey/cherry fruit aroma. Some alcohol. Big sweet cherry coffee flavor with chocolate on the back of the tongue. Strong spicy alcohol throughout. Lasting finish with creamy sweet chocolate, grapefruit hops and coffee roast. I like the beer’s big sweet chocolate and warming alcohol but that’s all it has going for it. The aroma isn’t that interesting.

A very black beer with a very brown head that is very large. The aroma is huge cherry flavored chocolate. The body is very nice and thick and very complex. Lots of alcohol and red fruit up front with a nice big smooth chocolate finish. The cherries come back into play in the aftertaste. This is very very fucking good.