Avery Mephistopheles Stout

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

Thanks to DYCSoccer17 for sharing this. Poured black as midnight with a large dark brown head. Strong aroma of pine hops, alcohol, a bit of bitter chocolate. Flavor is aggressive and sweet with lots of chocolate, tobacco, cerry, vanilla, and alcohol. I wouldn’t call the alcohol "well-hidden", but it could be much harsher at 15.1%. Big, sweet, decently complex... pretty much what I expected from it.

Rating from June 2006 - Beer poured with an alright head and even a little lacing, which is surprising given abv. An immensely strong aroma, but smelled extremely sweet from alcohol and sugar. The flavor was cloyingly sweet and the taste was strikingly similar to maple syrup. Really. It was thick, but I didn’t want it to be. The syrupy taste just stuck to the inside of my mouth and I couldn’t get rid of it fast enough. So sweet, I had very little desire to finish my portion, even though it was a 12 oz bottle shared with three people (oh, thanks to eaglefan538 for saving me $8 to buy this). Now, this beer had the unfortunate luck of being tasted alongside Stone Russian Impy and AleSmith Speedway, but even isolated, this beer isn’t good.

12 oz bottle courtesy boutip, Batch #1, bottled January 2006. Completely opaque dark chocolate brown colour with a mostly diminishing fizzy and creamy tan head. Vinous, rich chocolate, caramel, roasty, cappuccino, raisin, and citrus aroma. Vinous, brown sugar, molasses, dark chocolate, raisin, and other dark fruit, and orange flavours with a fruity and alcohol finish. Full bodied, rich and warming mouthfeel. Alcohol is there, but definitely not 15% there. Very good.

Batch 2, Nov 2006. Near black color pour with a small creamy brown head that lasts a while. Dark roasted malt and coffee in the aroma, along with chocolate, licorice and alcohol. Flavor has all of that as well as some nice dark fruits coming through, and a good hop bite on the finish. Thick and creamy on the palate. This is a good brew.

jan 2006 bottle. jet black with thin brown head. extremely rich and chocolatey; it’s creamy and roasty. overrated; good, but not anything out of ordinary. it does hide alcohol very well.

Nice packaging! Although very similar, I think better than the Beast and Samael’s Ale: more eye-catching!
Obviously, Batch #1
Pours a rich black oily body and a tall dark khaki head. The aroma explodes with proposals of weighty molasses, bittersweet chocolate, a plethora of date sugars, a front loader full of black, chocolate, and other highly roasted barley. The flavor is IMMENSE! - It’s full of sweet dark fruits and barrel flavors, gallons of molasses, very roasty and heavy on the sweet spiced rum flavors. Mentions of fruit range from, a touch of tangyness from green apple and chardonnay grapes, into plums, over to figs, dates, and raisins, then into sweet Michigan cherries and Bordo grapes. I’m also pulling out mentions of Blackcurrant, blackberry, vanilla bean, mint, and rosemary. There is a dry and bittering submission coffee solidly tied into the finish. Honestly, there is a depth and complexity to this beer that is rarely found. Though, it may be too big and boastful for my palate.
The palate is as described, velvety, and Uber creamy. This is probably the most viscous beer I’ve ever set before me! It’s sticky like a flytrap and sweet like a Southern Belle… This is not a beer… This is a liquid labyrinth, and I’m at a loss!

2008 bottle from whip in 117 in flower mound tx. poured black with a copper head. aroma was nice with dark fruits, vinous notes, caramel, chocolate, and coffee. flavor was awesome with all the same qualities as the nose with the addition of alcohol. the alcohol is masked pretty well for being near 16%. i might have to go pick some more up to cellar for a bit.

12 oz. bottle, Jan 06, Batch 1. Black as night, big brown head with good lace. Immense aroma of black dark roast coffee, chocolate, and dark fruit is immediately apparent, followed by a vinous undertone. Rich and thick, so much so that it can almost be chewed. Carbonation is so light that it is almost still, but this does not detract. Complex malty flavors combine for a sweet character that is kept in check by a bitterness that is attributable more to dark bitter malt that hops. Bittersweet finish is satisfying and lengthy. Alcohol was never really too noticeable until after I finished the glass. It was quite obvious at that point! This would be good to compare side to side with DFH WWS, Stone Imperial Russian, Alesmith Speedway, Great Divide Yeti, and Great Lakes Blackout. It certainly is in that class.