Avery Mephistopheles Stout

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

Pours like molasses a five+ finger brown head that fades very slowly leaving a good lace. Pitch black color. Light-medium carbonation and very bodied. Sweet molasses nose. Flavor is sweet molasses, roasted caramel, roasted coffee aftertaste; warming, very high ABV is noticeable. Why is the really good stuff wicked expensive? $8.20 for a 12oz bottle from Colonial Spirits Acton, MA. Nov 06 batch.

(many thanks to footbalm for this top 50 brew.)so i popped the cap on this bad boy and could already smell the roasted malts,and dark fruits.(and this was before the pour.)after dumping a nice amount into my snifter glass i could tell this was one black ass beer.i held the glass up to the light and was shown nothing but a black body and nice dark brown head.the head soon swam to the sides of the snifter and left wonderful looking lacing.i took a wiff and gathered a mix of chocolate,roasted malts,dark fruits,rum alcohol,and coffee.i took my first sip and the first words out of my mouth were,"WOW,now thats a ten second palate right there.this thing just kept going and going.i picked up chocolate,marshmellows,coffee,rum,smoke,and alcohol heat.now there are only two things that keep this from being a perfect brew.1.the aroma has a bit of a "funk" smell sneaking through it.its hard to pin it down with any other words than "funk",but its there for sure.2.its a bit hot.i think some time in cellar would do this loads of justice.its a good thing footbalm sent me two.

Small, tight beaded tan head, sorry, i,m enjoying SRV live at the Macambo on DVD. He,s doing a cover of Jimis 3rd stone from the sun thats pretty much incredible, thats really how i feel about this brew! A lovely sipper, just mezmerizing,,,, enjoy,,,,,slowwwwwlyyyy.

Bottle, batch 2. Pours near black with a tan head. Roasted aroma with dark chocolate, wood and a hint at cherry like fruit. Palate is bit boozy and harsh, but it really doesn’t diminish the overall experience. Roasted flavor, a bit sweet even, with dark chocolate and a long coffee finish. Very nice.

12 oz Bottle Pours out a black topped with a small tan head. Aroma of sweetness and tast as well. I didn’t pick up the 15.1% at all. Very good. Thanks Pinkzambia for this. WOW nice

(2006) 12 oz. bottle shared by Zinister with myself and KAggie97 at the "Double Tree Houston" tasting. Pour is all black with a small medium khaki head. Really nice looking. Aroma is some black licorice and heat. Taste has a lot of alcohol and finishes with some really nice coffee / espresso roastiness. I did not get much depth or complexity in this, as compared to other top Imperial Stouts. Regardless, this is a very interesting and well crafted brew. Hats off to Avery.

This was a 16% ABV version which must make it a 2007 bottling. It poured about as black as you can imagine and only a very bright light in the back showed it to be actually a garnet red that reminded me of looking through a welders mask. It raised a very robust brown head, with huge bubbles and thick lacing. Amazingly attractive for black colored beer. The nose is powerful, with ripe fruit like cherry roasted malts, nuts, chocolate, and some coffee. The mouthfeel is like velvet, and the flavors are amazingly complex with a huge amount of ripe fruit. The finish is long and bitter, and the 16% ABV is very well hidden. This is a remarkable beer, for sipping only. I loved it.

Black with huge brown head, made of tiny carbonation bubbles. Aroma lacks a bit IMO. Dark fruit (mostly prune) and alcohol up front, (although no where near what you would think at 15%). Maybe some spicy hops in the background, but still leaning towards alcohol. Flavor is very sweet through and though. Chocolate/coffee mixture to start, turns quickly to mollasses/syrup with some coffee bitterness in the finish. Ton of unfermented/residuel sugar in the flavor. Very sticky mouthfeel, almost like straight syrup. Aroma really kills the score for me.