Avery Mephistopheles Stout

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

Bottle (Batch #1, Jan 06) : Courtesy of Philip via trade. The aroma on this is huge. Just popping the cap at arms length was enough to start getting a dose of the aroma. Lots of roastiness, moderate cherry, molasses, chocolate, grapefruit hops, and alcohol. Pours a dark brown, virtually black, with a brown head that has good retention. A film of lacing clings to the side of the glass. Very sweet and malty. Lots of molasses up front with moderate chocolate. Moderate cherry and dark fruits. Roastiness is very subtle in the finish and seems to get stronger in the aftertaste once the sweetness fades. Alcohol is light in flavor and moderate in warming affect with a light burn. Just the slightest touch of grapefruit hops in the finish. Alcohol flavor increase slightly as it warms, but never becomes overbearing. Big syrupy mouthfeel, but creamy at the same time. This is impressive.

I’ve heard all sorts of rumors that this beer is not aging well. Well since it’s not bottled conditioned, I don’t how long it will hold up, but one year later it’s still damn tastey. Sweetness is real big, but has toned down just a touch. Roastiness in the finish is more pronounced along with a touch of expresso that I didn’t notice before because it was dominated by the extreme sweetness. I don’t know that it has improved numbers-wise, but it’s just as good...just a tad different than before.

batch 1, a beer couldnt look better to me being poured into the glass, a deep dark brown, totally opaque, with a thick chocolate colored head that left lacing for about a 1/4 inch down the sides of the glass as it receded. chocolate, burnt malts, raisin and anise make up a very sweet and light aroma, nothing in it is overpowering, just gently blended together. a gentle warming remindsyou of the abv, but there is no hint of it in the flavors. the body isnt as thick and viscous as some other IS’s, but the aftertaste is sublimely sweet, with the espresso coming on early followed by a sweet milk chocolatey flavor that lingers in your mouth. this beer has as much going on in terms of flavors as any i can think of...chocolate, burnt malts, toffee, licorice, vanilla, and a hint of the cherries, along with a bit of a merlot flavor towards the back end before the espresso kicks in. this is definitely the kind of beer i will love to pour into a snifter and just sit back and relax with..even with only 12 ounces at a time, there may be more beer here than i can handle at one time as it so robust and full that more than a small sip at a time is too much. many cheers to avery for constructing this wonderous brew.

"WOw wow did they get this one right. Pour as black as can be beautiful tan head. Aroma was strong chocolate and roasted malts, dark fruits were there. Flavor was of chocolate and coffee, roasted malts and alcohol. Very Very well done."

12 oz bottle special thanks to slob. Deep, deep dark pour with a very brown head that faded. Aromas were wonderful. Caramel, Toffee, Plum, Roasted chocolate, Rum Cake. Flavors very sweet and cherry up front. More Dark fruit and chocolate in the middle with a strong alcohol flavor. The finish is the alcohol warming mixed with coffee. Remains sweet all the way through. What a great beer! Thanks a bunch Bert!!!!!!!

Batch 1 bottle. Thanks to my homie RLB for giving me this an aeon ago where it has waited patiently in the fridge since. Aroma of chocolate and coffee and cherry. Poured a dark black with a creamy tan head. Flavor was a nice amalgamation of chocolate and coffee swirling with the sweetness of cherry and dark fruit. Palate is rich and creamy with a nice bitter coffee finish. This is the 3rd time I’ve had this but only now have I felt it was fair to rate it. I liked it before but thought it to be too hot. The maturation of this brew has truly let it’s complexities meld into a fine brew. A great touch to Christmas day.

Bottle shared by DYCSoccer17. Without a doubt the absolute gem of the night. Pitch black pour with no light ever hoping to get through. Nice wisps of dark brown head that swirl in my snifter nicely. Aroma is anise and alcohol burn. The flavor is far better. It explodes with the richest chocolate sweetness I have ever experienced; in a beer or otherwise. Cherry really comes through with this sweetness. Alcohol does play a role as well, but a good one. It seems to just amplify the other flavors. Very thick, dense beer. If I had been standing up when I first tasted this, I think I would have had to sit down.

No. 100! Bottle. Pours an almost blackish brown but once it’s in the glass it’s an opaque black, with a deep mocha brown ring, no head. Aromas of very dark roasted malt, some peat, black cherries, espresso and baker’s chocolate. Very biting hoppy mouthfeel at first which then goes into a thick, velvety, malty, almost medicinal flavor. There’s some distinct cabarnet and whiskey notes in there towards the end. A light, tangy and citrus/blackberry combo as an aftertaste. Definitely the most complex beer I’ve ever had... this one’s a boulder of a beer.

Bottle, 2006 vintage (#2), 16.03%. When opening the bottle, a burnt, chocolate aroma immediately finds its way into my nose, leaving anticipations of something wonderful. The oily pour does it best to strenghten the anticipations, filling my glass with a black liquid, topped by a dense, finger-thick tan head. The head diminished slowly, but it never disappeares, there’s always a thin layer of bubbles covering the beer. The aroma feels quite sugary when inspected closer, but with all that burnt malt, chocolate, coffee and dried fruits, it’s needed. There’s a touch of alcohol and licorice in it as well, and there’s molasses too. The hops, who must be there somewhere are well hidden in the aroma, but more evident in the flavor. That’s a pity, I love it when my stouts smell a bit like sticking your head deep into a hop-sack. In the mouth, it’s thick, oily and warming, with flavors of heavily roasted coffee, dark chocolate, lots of sugar, a pleasant hoppy bitterness trying to balance the wast amounts of malt, and there’s also dried fruits and, of course, alcohol. It leaves an alcohol bite in the mouth, deliciously combined with bitterness from both hops and the burnt malt. As the glass is emptied, I find a fragrant touch of vanilla in both the aroma and flavor, almost like if it was oaked, and reading the commercial description, the thoughs of rum-soaked raisins comes to my mind. Even thoough it took me close to one hour to finish this 12oz bottle, I felt like I was drunk. Damn, I love those rather unbalanced, strong, dark beers with all its flavors and aromas, and even though I never drink to get drunk, (that doesn’t say I don’t get drunk) they give this good feeling of being relaxed and slightly out of control with my own mind and body. It cost me 66.6 DKK to buy this bottle at the lovely shop Ølkonsortiet in Aalborg, Denmark. I think that’s a fair, appropriate price:-). Hell, after finishing this one on a warm, March afternoon (warm to Norwegian standards that is), I feel almost as content as I could be.

One could ask what could have been done better with this one. First thing that comes to my mind is that there should have been more evident hops, meaning both hoppy bitterness, flavor and aroma. Especially the latter. Second, the alcohol could be toned down a bit. It’s not annoying, it’s just a little bit too much of it. Third, maybe it could be more complex. It might be just that it’s a bit low on hops, but I’m not sure. And finally, the bottle should be bigger. :-) All that being said, as I fought my way to the bottom of the glass, I raised my rating from 4.1 to 4.5, and I don’t think a bigger bottle would have lifted my rating, but at least it supports the idea of not rating at festivals and tastings. (Even though I do rate at festivals and tastings.) Big thx to Avery for brewing Mephistopheles. (080316)