Avery Samaels Oak-Aged Ale

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

Appearance: Pours a dark amber with a small gathering of froth at the top. Fairly translucent with visible rising bubbles in the body. Aroma: Whifs of banana creme pie, vanilla, tobacco, raisin and other dark dried fruits, and fruity children’s cough medicine. I find a little freshly split oak as I get my nose closer to the beer. Taste: Dark cherry, banana, turbinado sugar syrup, astringent woodiness, alcohol warmth (dark rum or bourbon), and a spicy hop finish. Mouthfeel: Really warm and sticky. Almost like biting into a sticky bun soaked in rum or something. Overall: An amazing first class sipper. This beer is way to complex and strong to drink any faster than that. Whoooo!

12oz bottle, batch 4 bottled in 2008 and clocking in at a hefty 15.53%. Pours a dark, clear amber with a small beige head that leaves a soapy film and a small collar on the top with little lacing. The aroma is very sweet with tons of caramel and a slight sherry character. There is plenty of wood in the nose as well with the oak and vanilla coming out especially. Overall a sweet boozy nose. The taste is more boozy than the aroma for sure. The caramel, vanilla and oak are there in the beginning but they give way to a serious burn in the finish. There are some fruits in the taste as well, with some grapes and figs...soaked in booze of course. The mouthfeel is fairly well carbonated for a beer of this ABV, though it’s still extremely slick on the palate. Very little doubt about that high ABV though - it definitely makes itself and warms you up after each sip. This is definitely a sipper as it shows the alcohol (and the wood character) very prominently. It’s very sweet as well and overall has a pretty limited drinkability.

Via trade. 2005 vintage. Pours a sharp copper orange with traces of a dirty head. Aroma is strong, very rich, cloyingly sweet, caramel, soy sauce, alcohol, fruity, English feel with lots of esters. Flavor is very rich, sweet and thick, maple syrup, fruity too, too much. Bleh.

Picked up at a secret location. Seriously...I can’t say where I got it, but I can say that this is a $11 12 oz. bottle with red foil over the cap. Batch #5 bottled in April 2009. Copper color with an off-white head that faded away quickly. Slight haze appearance. Smells like an old orange! Has that old citrus aroma. Very pungent. Not bad if you ask me. Slightly sweet smelling, but not really so. Warm alcohol flavor. This thing makes my whole mouth warm. The vanilla definitely makes itself known. Woody flavor, and the citrus doesn’t come through much. Slight citrus at first, and then the wood and vanilla immediately show up. Smooth palate. The alcohol definitely has an impact on the palate. Not a bad palate or flavor, but this is a sipping beer. Overall, decent barley wine if you ask me.

Pours a slightly hazy brown with a full yellowish head. Streaks of lace. Richly caramelly bourbon-vanilla aroma. Flavor begins with caramel and vanilla, segues into a fruity alcohol burn with a woody oaken finish. The first few sips taste great, but after those few, the high alcohol content really gets in the way. I begin feeling a revulsion to the glass. Very smooth, definitely warm, but almost unsippable on account of the alcohol. There’s a reason I drink beer instead of whiskey. In the 2oz format this would be rated much higher, but as a bottle, not for me.

(Draught at Akkurat, Stockholm) Dark amber colour with brief, beige head. Malty, vinous nose with dried fruit, port, caramel, oak wood and varnish. Heavy, malty taste with notes of dried fruit, cherries in brandy, port and hints of wood. Generous bitterness overhadowed by a vinous, warming alcohol touch in the finish. Full body, very sweet. Not really for the faint hearted. Very nice beer.

Draught at Akkurat at their reopening. Fluffy white head. Dark brick color drawing towards a dark rose wine. Full body with much sweetness, spices and lots of alcohole. The aroma is like a oak aged sherry with lots of everything you want in a old ale. Big but balanced bitterness. Perhaps not the optimal summer ale but very good.

Pours a hazy, murky amber with a small beige head. Aroma is sweet malt, oak, vanilla, alcohol. Flavor is very sweet caramel, vanilla, wood, and raisins.