Avery Mephistopheles Stout

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

Bottle order for and shared with me by Robbie in Daytona. Poured in a snifter with a deep black color with a moderate brown head that lasted and produced good lacing and sticky legs. Very good complex roasted malt and toffee aroma with a alcohol tone. Full body with a sticky smooth texture. Full roasted malt and rich dark berry flavor with a smooth sweet alcohol finish that lasted. Great after dinner drink with a good strong cigar.

Bottle @ Oliver Twist, Stockholm. Pours a black color with a tan head. Roasted malty slightly vinous aroma with hints of chocolate and coffee. Sweet smooth roasted malty chocolate and coffee flavor with some woody hints. Also some weak hints of dark fruits. Long warming slightly alcoholic finish with chocolate and molasses in the aftertaste. Very lovely.

First off, a huge thanks to Ohio Dad for this one!! It’s no secret that I love big beers, be they stouts or IIPAs or anything, for that matter. The pour was blacker than a raven, so black, in fact, that it seemed to glisten in the glass. The head was minimal, as expected, and perhaps the brownest I’ve seen. The aroma was huge, with tons of dark malt, chocoff, Black strap molasses, rum-soaked plum pudding, some cherry, and some oaky bourbon. The palate was extremely dense, like molasses, throwing huge taste sensations at the taste buds. I got chocoff, dark malt, molasses, rummy black forest cake, plums, prunes, and some maple syrup. This beer is huge. The only reason I am deducting a tenth is because the final swigs get a little on the cloyingly sweet, sticky, and hot side. This is very similar to the Samael’s in that regard. By way of comparison, I had an Impy the same weekend I drank this one that was a bit better holistically, and I will rate that one shortly (and that one is from Kalamazoo).

Batch 3. Pitch black with a lasting medium brown head. Aroma is rich and fruity, plums and raisins, with brown sugar, a touch of hops and quite a lot of alcohol. The flavour is sweet and roasted, with a lot of alcohol, and a somewhat simple charcoal/roast malt finish.

Batch 2 bottle. Head is initially small, frothy, brown, mostly diminishing. Body is black (almost opaque, flashlight tested). Aroma is moderately malty (roasted grain, molasses, chocolate/fudge, caramel), lightly to moderately hoppy (grapefruit, resin), lightly yeasty (dough), with notes of alcohol, charcoal, ashtray. Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Medium to full body, velvety/syrupy texture, lively carbonation, heavily alcoholic. Not close to the blockbuster that batch 1 was, unfortunately. I’ve tried this batch twice and just don’t like it. I pulled my punch on the first re-rate, thinking it may have been a bad bottle (due to the ash odor), but recent bottles of other Avery products also have a hint of cigarette ash, so I decided to try another bottle (bought a month or so after the first). Same issue. That combined with the more intense alcohol and stronger aromatic hop character, and yeah...sorry, guys...just ain’t diggin’ this anymore. Batch 1 was indeed stellar when fresh, though (4.6).

12 oz bottle obtained in trade with illinismitty (thanks man), Batch 1, bottled January 2006. Sampled at cellar temperature from a Maudite snifter. Thick, thick mocha-malt head, fine-bubbled and lasting, atop a jet oily body, dark icicle-lacing, gorgeous....tar, port, cherries, old pipe tobacco, bit of vanilla-oakiness, succulent and already speaking of some age, hints of alcohol but they are fine and warming, dark cocoa when warmer and alcohol becomes oppressive to an unpleasant extent....Plenty of bitter dry hops in the body, juicy fruity wine and tannins, lots of oaky vanilla and a big alcoholic burn late, orange peel and sour cherries, thick espresso bitterness, so much going on it’s the kitchen sink approach but it sort of works, huge caramel sweetness amidst the dark espresso and hops.....Thick, rich but also syrupy and burning, a barleywinish palate that is just too harsh for me, with a light soy quality that grows stronger towards the dry, corrosive finish....there’s no questioning the quality that went into this, it certainly shows oceans of flavor especially, and I enjoyed it in many respects, but there’s too much harshness and fuesel alcoholic quality when it approaches room temperature for me to ascribe greatness.....little subtlety, lots of burn doesn’t do it for me in this style, or in any. Mixed.

Bottle. Batch 3. Creamy lightbrown good fully lasting head. Black colour. Heavy malty and hoppy aroma. Intense vinius and perfect balanced flavor. Loads of vanilla. Alcohol well hidden. Long fantastic complex finish. Creamy palate.

Thick and chewy aroma is very boozy - plenty of alcohol and plenty of sugar as well as some hints of grape, smoke, roast and chocolate. Opaque brown body is topped by a low, large bubbled, tan/brown head that recedes rapidly to a partial cover and ring. Caramel, soya sauce, chocolate, dark pit fruits and plenty of roast in the flavour. Notes of burnt wood. Sugary sweetness is constant and lasting. Alcohol is very apparent. Full body is syrupy, sticky and thick especially due to low carbonation. Comes across as a dark premium malt liquor. Bottle sampled at the post-mondial 2006 tasting.