Avery Samaels Oak-Aged Ale

Brewed by Avery Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Boulder, Colorado USA

Bottled in April 2007, Batch 3 Poured into the new Sam Adams Lager glass A- Pours a clear bright orange hue with amber highlights, head is a very thin layer of white condensed bubble that dissipates to a mere ring, minimal lacing S- Amazing aroma dominated by wonderful oak and vanilla aromas, sweet malts, molasses, brown sugar, dark fruits T- Taste follows suit of the aroma save for a strong overriding alcohol presence, the oak and vanilla comes out first followed by a range of dark fruits that are raisin-heavy, finishes with a sweet dryness M- Full-bodied, thick and chewy texture, lively carbonation D- At almost 15%abv, this is definitely a sipping beer to enjoy over time, i can only imagine how wonderful this would be with a few more years of aging

Batch 2, May 2006. Pours a hazy amber-red color with just a ring of head forming. Big toasted malt aroma, along with fruit, wood, vanilla and lots of alcohol. Sweet fruit and malt flavor, nearly too sweet, with a big alcohol bite. Lingering sweetness on the finish as well, though the alcohol fades and peaches and apples really come through. Not a bad brew, but a bit too sweet for my tastes.

Bottle batch 2. Hazy reddish body, with almost no head. Aroma is oak, caramel, alcohol. Flavor is oak, port, notes of dark fruit, spices. A nice beer, but not my favourite in the demons series.

Very clear deep amber and ruby coloured body with no head at all. Aroma of strong oak, vanilla, malt, caramel and brandy are very potent in the nose. Super full-bodied; Strong as hell flavour of sweet sugars, pit fruit and bananas along with a very potent malty taste along with some spices too. Aftertaste lasts long and hard - very sweet...almost too potent and chewy. Overall, a good beer for someone that wants a TREMENDOUS amount of flavour and a significantly sweet beer. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Norm’s in Vienna, Virginia on 28-October-2006.

Huh. First smell is of rotten raspberries..smelled it again and it smelled of apples and oak. Weird. Red/copper pour with hardly any head. Over alcoholed apple and peachy flavor with woody oaky tones.Syrupy cloying sweetness that still tastes like rotted fruit.

Bottle. Brandy color with one little clump of bubbles paddling around the middle of the glass. Aromas are heavy with apples and rotten junk. Taste is pure alcoholic trash... toffee and barrel and booze and...

bottle 12 fl oz (looks like 33cl) from ølbutikken. bottled in may 2006 batch 2. No best before anywhere on the bottle. Thanks for the tip reg. how long to store this beer, avery. NOT. pours a cloudy, hazy red-brown, small yellow head. aroma of yeast, slight vinous notes, slight eggs, slight sourness.alc well hidden in the aroma, but you can tell it’s stong. flavor is very sweet, but in a very very delicious way. this could easily have been a good liqeur, like bols advokaat, just much deeper in the width of flavors. caramel like swetness,that is however better tasting than any kind of caramel i know of. honey, syrup, malts, port wine. well balanced. alc does its work but does not get in the way. ends bitter and burning on the alc. not much hops if any. Overall this beer is strange. perhaps it has been stored for too long. The aroma is bad and weird, but the flavor is fantastic. Perhaps aroma was better one or two years ago for this bottle. A well balanced flavor profile, where the tastes have been blended together to a whole, that is very tasty. the bew sort of reminds me of that anniversary brew that comes in a metal bottle. i noticed a strange thing. after settling in the glass for 10 minutes, the aroma became much better than the initial impression. the cellarmouldy notes were far less prominent and aroma got closer to flavor. you’’ve got to sample the entire bottle, taking some time, to get everything out of this brew. nice.

Bottle, 2007. Pours deep red with a thin beige head. The aroma is vinous and oaky, very sweet. The flavor is far too sweet with some vanilla and dark fruits. Alcohol is there but not overly so given the high ABV. I wasn’t very impressed by this beer.