Avery Samaels Oak-Aged Ale

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

2007 12 oz bottle in snifter. Surprisingly thin mouthfeel and body for such a monster of a beer. Just way too hot - an alcohol bomb. give it a year or ten. It would be nice to see how the alcohol mellows and if all the flavors of oak, vanilla, port, cherry, etc come to life. Not an enjoyable one.

Darker amber pour without much head, looks like a nice barleywine. SMoked and fruity scents come off the top, but there it is:the sour oaky funky smell, with vanilla and cherry too.Fairly flowery on both taste and smell and the vanilla/oak flavor is powerful. The presence of alcohol is noted most strongly in the finish and warmth in the throat. I guess the smell and taste of this brew remind me of a musty cabin room from summercamps of my youth

[944-20071207] 12floz (Vintage 2007 Batch 3). Aroma has a little fruit malt and boozy plant matter. Clear, dark red body with a medium-lasting foamy light tan head. Rich dark toasted malt flavour with a bit of oak yeast notes. Full body is smooth but has a kick to it. Wow, tasty.

2005 vintage. Pours a cloudy caramel color with a small beige head. Aroma of sweet malt, caramel, oak and and vanilla. Taste is sweet with flavors of caramel, oak and vanilla. Very nice barleywine that seems to have aged well.

Golden-amber colour. Strong plasticy alcohol nose. Very candyish...even a hint of raspberry in there amidst the icing sugar sweetness and copious booze. Far too sweet for me.

355 ml bottle, Batch #2 May 2006. Amber color, off-white head. Sweet. Caramel malt, fruits, dried fruits, honey and hops with a bitter finish.

Pours clear amber with an off-white head. Nose of carame, maltl and alcohol. Very sweet flavour of caramel, raisins, apricot and peach with notes of oak. Medium bodied to full bodied. Syrup texture. Ends up sweet and more dry.

Intense aromatics on immediately opening this bottle, huge fruit esters, and plentiful booze bounding out of the glass! Dark orange, edging into crimson, with a big , creamy head that died almost instantly. Aroma: alcohol first, then comes closer whiskey-ish connotations, some vanilla, pungent citrus, pale peach, the crack of a leather whip, the burn of a shot of straight scotch, liquid fire, an orange dipped in gasoline. Taste: Ah! Hot, hot, hot! BAM!, it bites you right off, then slides down, still hard as hell, finally nestling in, and warming your stomach. Fruit flavors abound, peach, orange, juicy malt, always kept company with hot booze, the stomach getting warmer and warmer still. Gets a bit too sweet for a moment, but this is not intended as anything mild, so one shouldn’t fault this ale for being forward. More I drink, more I like, and the easier it is to take. Gets tastier, too, as it becomes more tolerable. Thick, rough and tumble stuff, but rewarding, in it’s way. Definitely a night-cap brew, one to luxuriate the long late night hours away with. Mmmm, this a killer diller, but not impossible to like. Full flavored, full bodied, long, fruity, boozy finish. And wholly unique.