Avery Mephistopheles Stout

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

Bottle. Poured a black color with a tan head that left light lacing. Aromas of vanilla, fruits, and chocolate with hints of alcohol, smoke, and wood. The flavor was coffee, dark fruits, light nuttiness, and alcohol. Medium to full body that is very warming going down. Thanks to Springslicker for closing up the Tennessee Tasting with this one!

Bottle. 2006. Very sweet, very sludgy, Good, but not great. Black, opaque body. Greenish/tan head. Heavy malt aroma of molasses and roasted/burnt malts. Notes of chocolate and alcohol. The flavor is heavily sweet and moderately to heavily burnt malt/coffee bitter. Full body with a syrupy texture. Plenty of carbonation. The alcohol is quite evident in the dry finish. A big beer and that’s about it.

V - Pouts thick oily black with a one to two-finger dark tan head
A - dark chocolate with dark rum and cherries
T - slight burn from the alcohol then a mellowing into chocolaty bourbon. Anise is noticeable at the end.
P - leaves a lasting film and warming in the mouth.

12 oz bottle from Binny’s I think (Orland Park, IL). This has been in the cellar for a long while. Pours a pitch black opaque pour, a big brown head that laces well, stays moderate size, thick pour. Aromas are roasted malts, coffee, dark chocolate and sweet molasses and caramel, sweeter without a bitter edge from tons of coffee and roasted malts, almost a syrupy sweetness. Initial is bitter, roasted malts and coffee come in stronger with a decent smokiness in the body, some dark chocolate and the bitterness really sticks to the palate. A dose of raisin, caramel, toffee, and some syrupy molasses.. chocolate really starts to come in further into the beer, roast asserts itself, with some coffee and a bit of smoke.. which fill out well a few more sips in. The aroma is a bit offputting for me, a little boozy and sweet, but the flavors help redeem those elements. Pretty tasty, looks good, just isn’t towards the upper half of it’s genre for me.. to each, their own.

Dark black with a big creamy brown head. Chocolate and espresso aroma is nice, but not overwhelming. Awesome taste...sweet, can definitely taste some cherries/fruit and a great espresso finish. Big on the alcohol for sure. Would mellow well after time.

Black pour with a thick brown head. Big malty nose with some dark fruit and coffee and a touch of vanilla. Flavor is very, very rich malt with hints of sugary coffee, plums, figs, and vanilla. Big alcohol presence and a syrupy palate. Very complex, very big and dark, and very good.

The Mephistopheles pours a jet black color with a minimal head that dissipates rather quickly. The aromas hit your hard and fast. Tons of chocolate and caramel malts come at you--I think it smells a lot like Speedway. The flavor was a shock to me--much sweeter than I expected. The taste is a ton of grainy brown sugar and chocolate--and that’s about it. I thought this was a little lopsided--and I know I couldn’t drink more than one of these in a sitting because of the overpowering sweetness. I am looking forward to aging the second bottle I have to see how it changes over time.

(Bottled in 1/06, batch 1, from <A HREF=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/massachusetts/w target=blank>Julio’s Liquors, cellared for 11 mos. after purchase) Excellent, gives WorldWideStout a run for its money...Pours very, very dark brown, virtually black, opaque. 1/4" of brown head recedes to a thin covering that stays well. Aroma of rich roasted coffee, fine chocolate, port-like sweetness, currants, raisins, figs and reduced molasses. Mouthfeel smooth, sticky in finish. Outstanding lacing, both rings and sheets. Flavor of port-like sweetness, coffee, semi-sweet and bitter chocolate, roastiness and hints of dark fruit and burnt caramel. Like an appertif. Has that wow factor. Not the mouthfeel or quite the complexity I get from DFH WWS but still a kick-ass Imp Stout. Some alcohol apparency but not bad considering the ABV. Nice.