Avery Samaels Oak-Aged Ale

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

2007 vintage. Best... demon... series... ever... period....


Ok, I thought nothing would displace the original Meph in my book, but this years Samael did it. Sweet hop and malty nose with creamy white head on a heavilty carbonated brown body. Ultra sweet with faint hops and a nice oaky flavor to it.

12 oz bottle, Batch 2. Pours a clear copper body with lots of visible carbonation. Tight bubbled creamy beige head left lots of sticky lacing. The aroma is a balance between caramel and toffee malts and oak with accents of alcohol, vanillin, and brown sugar. The flavor is super sugary sweet at first, very much like eating that Sugar in the Raw stuff. The oakiness, toffee, vanilla, and hefty alcohol emerge on the finish. I must say, the alcohol is pretty well hidden. Mouthfeel is thick and cloying with lots of sugary stickiness up front. The alcohol does thin it a little, and leaves a light burning sensation. Pleasant soft carbonation. This one really surprised me. The alcohol didn’t overpower and the the huge sweetness was tempered by the oak. There was a pretty good amount of oakiness for being just made with chips also.

Bottle, marked April 2007 batch. Wow, two straight ICT ratings, huh? What’re the odds? Promising appearance: dark, ruddy orange color with a fairly thick tan head. Aroma is oak and lots of alcohol. The alcohol is present more in the mouthfeel than the flavor as it’s very warm going down but not overpowering. I’m not generally much of a barley wine fan, but this isn’t bad at all - tons of oaky flavor and very sweet but well-balanced.

Woof, this is one oaky SOB. Attractive deep red color with a medium tan head leaving full sticky lacing. Aroma is big on oak, with the vanilla-phenol type character. There’s also perhaps a citric hop component, and a more noticeable sticky brown sugar note. The flavor starts initially with big oak that dominates through to the finish, which is immensely bitter from both hops and the oak. At first I felt it was overdone, but as I slowly sipped this one (it started around 60 deg and is getting close to room temp halfway through the glass), a brown sugar sweetness became more apparent, and the huge bitterness ebbed some. Warming, dense palate with a lingering lip-smacking sweetness (literally, I can taste the syrupy sweetness on my lips). Obviously strong, mild burning warmth in the chest, but on the well pretty well masked alcohol.

Bottle. 12 oz. Unclear reddish brown colour with nearly no head. Lovely aroma of sweetness, caramel, alcohol, oak, wood very smooth, strong and complex. Extremely sweet alcohol flavour with notes of oak, caramel and malt. Ends up very candy-like with a warm feeling from the alcohol.

Picked up a single bottle at Cellar’s Wine & Spirits in St Paul, MN. Pours a dark hazy caramel brew with a thick off-white head that dissolves to a thick film. Very good lacing on glass side. Aroma of sweet dates, molasses, bourbon whiskey, vanilla and oak. Taste nearly knocked me out of my seat. Thick, chewy, high level of vanilla and bit of cherry cough medicine. Syrupy finish with a tart aftertaste. Then after a few seconds the bourbon whiskey comes back and bites good. Definately an excellent sipping type beer.

Malty aroma. Average frothy off-white initial apperance. Cloudy orange body. Heavy sweet initial flavor and a finish flavor of mabelsirup and a long duration.Medium to full palate.

Bottle. Pours a clear amber with a small short lived white head that leaves minimal lacing. Aroma of super sweet syrup, caramel, oak, vanilla, and dark fruits. Taste is way too sweet and cloying with a very harsh note of alcohol. A rather disappointing offering from Avery. This beer proves that bigger isn’t always better.