Avery Samaels Oak-Aged Ale

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

Pours a reddish hazy brown wiith a tan head. Aroma is rasins booze oak spices tannins and sugars. Flavor is boozy rasins fruits figs oak tannins and candi sugar. Finishes boozy sweet and bitter. I like hot barleywines so this is wonderful.

Pours a nice hazy amber with small white head that departs quickly. Nose is of caramel, raisin, and a certain vinous quality. The complexities brought on by the malt sweetness are surprisingly inexhaustible. A slight hint of grapefruit comes near the end, though it is largely overshadowed by the numerous facets of sweetness; caramel, molasses, and brown sugar. Flavor is extremely sweet, reminding me of the quintessential hop lacking English barley wine. This makes for a very complex array of sweet malty facets such as plum, fig, caramel, and brown sugar. A slight dryish hoppy presence makes its way in near the finish again, but pales in comparison to the malt character. Palate is very syrupy, staying rich throughout. Finish is coating and somewhat dry. I was pleasantly surprised by this one.

Pours a clear amber. Taste of roasted caramel, dark fruit. Very boozy, complex beer. Slight maltiness, warm bourbon taste/mouthfeel. Good but not great.

Draft at BEVERIDGE PLACE BODACIOUS BEVERAGES BREWFEST ’09. Pours a bright reddish brown. Very sweet malty aroma hinting of vanilla and caramel, with a touch of oak. Tastes sweet with incredible oak flavor. Full bodied and a thought it was a bit syrupy for an 8-9%, until I realized the ABV. This has a balanced finished that leaves me looking for more. Nice work again, Avery.

poured on tap from papago with a warning... slightly hazy rich amberish copper with a fairly dense light tannish head and a ton of webby lacing. it smells of dates, another odd unidentifiable fruit, booze, bugs from the wood, brown sugar and a touch of sweet smoke. the flavor reminds me of brandy soaked medjoul dates... along with piloncilla sugar, vanilla, earthy wood, oxidized red apples, toasted nuts and a spicy alcoholic finish. sweet throughout but oddly not off putting. a yeasty aftertaste paves the way for the alcohol warming sensation. the body is pretty thick though the booze keeps it thinned a bit. there is a bit of a chalky texture and a coating left on the lips which i don’t usually care for...

initially, i thought i wasn’t going to care for this... even the folks who served it to me, knowing my disposition against sweet beer, warned me about it. i have to say, after it warmed it really started to show some depth and character reminiscent of zaya rum or a nice ice wine (sans the cloying sugar) which i enjoyed. it’s definitely a beer for sipping while engaged in conversation or a few games of scrabble... 6/4/7/3/15/3.5

I have to chuckle a bit each time I get asked by someone if I have ever had “x” beer before. When my answer is ‘No”, their stature is one of shock, amazement, and disappointment; even more so when it is a readily distributed beer. I am but one beer geek. Though I do the good work, I only have so much time, money, and fridge space for my great beer quest. Such as it was one evening when I was finally presented with the Samael’s Oak-aged Ale from Avery Brewing.

Gorgeous burnt garnet and rustic amber while streaks of aged mahogany and copper decorate his person. A wisp of a head disappears into a delicate ring while no amount of aggravation produces lace. But, like a reckless storm, it does release a massive onslaught of sweet alcohol warmth tinged with dried fruit, warm honey slightly burnt, candied apricots, and thick molasses. Cinnamon sprinkles scatter while I partake of his sumptuous depths. Sweet, thick, and smacking of ginger snap cookies with cinnamon sprinkles. Molasses and pungent caramelized sugars dominate, though a crispy graham cracker and ginger snap backbone creates a pleasing contrast of spice to the sweetness. Pepper and black licorice linger in his breath while creamy buttered yams sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar join the crazy palate parade. Seriously, it has been a while since I have tasted such a wide array of flavors, and yet they work together perfectly. I am thoroughly intrigued and pleased as the diminishing contents in my glass can attest to. Being an oak-aged ale, his soft, earthen character offers quiet support from the background with faint whispers of vanilla and oak. Each kiss of Samael’s lingers sumptuously, tantalizingly, driving my lustful desire for our next embrace.

Wow. Truly an amazingly complex, rich, and diverse beer. Avery makes every note of flavor and character work beautifully. I have not been pleased with all of their beers, but their Samael’s Oak-aged Ale is a tour-de-force I most definitely must enjoy more often.

Bottle as shown. Pours a cloudy dark amber with a small frothy off white head. A lot of yeast flakes floating around. The aroma is a strong alcohol upfront with malt and oak. Good sticky lacing along the glass. The taste is raisin malt with caramel bourbon the alcohol very present. A very good barleywine from avery.

Bottle, 12 fl. oz. Pours a golden/orange beer with almost no head. The aroma is wood (whisky) and vanilla. The flavor is sweetness, boldness and alcohol. The palate is bold. Overall impression is strong, bold and complex. Good beer.