Avery Mephistopheles Stout

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

03.12.06 12oz bottle, HW OH. Gorgeous, thick, black, more head than you’d expect for a 15% brew. Aromas are wild, full of licorice, char, band-aid, Twix, prune, cig ash. Up front, I’m enjoying the aromas, but also let down from what were lofty expectations. The first sip washes that all away. Massive on the palate, it’s syrupy, thick, sweet, and utterly decadent. The feel exceeds expectation, invites another sip. It’s thick, sweet, yet lovely with coffee, cocoa, caramel, toffee, cherry, dark chocolate, bitter roast. Outstanding balance, especially for such a massive brew. Finishes soft and silky, not the least bit cloying of overly rich, not too hot, either. Tons of tobacco and char fill a long and pleasant finish. Great beer.

Lots of hype swirling around this beer at the time I drank it. I would certainly say that it lived up to what I was expecting and then some. Extremely dark red color with a milkshake thick head. Huge beer. Chocolate, raisins, toddy, cherries, vanilla, and some sweet alcohol notes (kinda like bourbon on one whiff, then rum on the next). Just plain liquid DECADECE.

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.

Thick, deep tan creamy head. dark brown body. Aroma is something to concentrate on. I was ready to dismiss it as too young or something... but it has rich, velvety chocolate, alcohol, coffee, molasses, light soy sauce. Tastes very roasty and thick, but with a sweet anise presence throughout. Raisins, cherries, roasted chocolate. Mmmm.... this goes down a bit too easy.

One big bad mofo of a beer. I really like it though. Very much along the lines of Dogfish’s WWS, but different in some way that I can discern. I’m glad I bought a couple because I have a feeling this will age nicely. I like that its well carbonated-not too much though.

(queue Superman theme song)(500th rating) I’ll begin by saying this first batch is such a giant slut. How many states has it reached? Doesn’t look like it’s that thick but once you taste it it’s like drinking oil. Jet black with fair about 1/4 inch of brown head. Aroma is dark fruits and roasted chocolate and coffee. I didn’t really believe all the long reviews about the complexity of the taste but there is really a ton of things going on here and it all seems to depend on the size and length of sip. First thing you get is overwhelming sweetness. Not surprising for a beer of FG of 1.030. Such rich chocolate and coffee flavors going on that it’s truly a dessert. Not really noticing any hops. Every once in a while you’ll catch an off flavor but it’s definitely dominated by overly sweet chocolate and coffee. There is some noticeable alcohol on the finish, but the lingering taste is roast and smoke. Definitely a beer that you can only handle by taking small sips, which is a good thing because the smallest sips pack all the flavor. I think the bottom line is when you brew a beer with such a whopping OG and especially FG it’s gonna taste amazingly big. The fact is that it tastes really good and sweet. Some may say that’s a flaw but I love it. btw, Dr. Faustus was one of the few books i liked in college. ps. "Mephisto’s Entourage" is one of my favorite Misguided Angels of Death songs.

Bottled 11/2007. Black, thick liquid topped by a creamy tan head of half a finger that does not diminish, despite lacing beautifully. It’s a beautiful beer. The mouth is fairly thick with creamy carbonation. I smell viciously burned malts, chocolate, pleasant booze, lots of dark fruits. I taste lots of fruits, like stewed cherries and prunes, chocolate, bitter and burned malts, and an undertone of booze. The fact that it’s an undertone in a 16% beer is impressive. Deep, rich, fruity, and rather balanced. Not as complex as some other big IStouts. Very winy as it warms up, in both aroma and flavor, resembling a carbernet sauvignon in mouth feel and flavor, although it is still clearly beer with definite hops and heavily roasted malts.

Big big thanks to Philip for being the generous guy he is, and hooking me up with this! Wow, great stuff. Opaque motor oil pour, topped with a medium sized mochachino head. Good retention present, and there’s some pretty lacing. The nose is a huge kick of anise infused booze, stirred with dark chocolate, espresso beans and some fig. Indeed! The flavours in thisguy are so huge, that you HAVE to sip it. This one small bottle is plenty for 3 people. Flavours are caramalized fig, tripple espresso bean, dark bitter chocolate, with booze and dark rum. Wow, this is good, great, grand. Thanks so much to Philip for hooking me up.