Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

Brewed by Avery Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Boulder, Colorado USA

Poured a dark brown into the glass with no head. Aroma was super sweet of heavy thick malt. Taste was pretty much the same. Big caramel, dark fruit, and brown sugar. This was way too sweet. I like big rich beers, but this wasn’t all that enjoyable. Huge alcohol in the aroma and taste. Fun to try once, but I am glad that somebody else bought it and shared it with me.

12oz bottle from PP bottle shop: $10! ($8.50 at Bevmo, but have to be nice to PP, because they are nice to me). Batch 6. Nice malty aroma. A hint of yeast, possibly a small hint of autolysis. Pours cold with red amber color and a small small bubble off-white ring around the edge of the glass. Taste is sweet. A bit of alcohol burn. Taste is sweet and very medicinal, probably because of the high ABV. A little vinous too, possibly because of the high ABV and possibly because of the raisins. The Belgian yeast notes are subtle hidden under the alcohol. Beers of this magnitude are rarely easy to drink more than a few sips. I can’t help but wonder what 3 or ten years of age would do to this? Dave is incredible after 10+ years, but I’ve heard it was undrinkable for many years. Oh well, at least it’s another >10% rating.

Be careful with this one. It pours a brooding brown, dark and opaque––a façade befitting a beer with such a sinister name. The thin and wispy off-white head bubbles and stirs on the surface, like froth on the banks of the river Styx. I raise the glass to my nose, it seduces me with scents of dried grains, hay and a plethora of sugars: raisins, molasses, and turbinado. The appearance and scent lull me into complacency, which is savagely torn apart when this brew touches my lips. The flavor ravages my taste buds. It is overpoweringly sweet, with subtle notes of leather and cherry, accompanied by a slick oily texture. The finish sinks its claws into the back of my throat and drags them deep into my belly creating an alcoholic burn, which is sensually painful. This beer is truly worthy to be called the Beast.

Tasted batch 1, batch 3 and batch 5 in verticale tasting at avery brewery on bottle. Wow great beers. Very high alcohol. Worth while tasting vertical, even as a 5th beer

bottle 355ml shared with FatPhil & JK54B at Pikkulintu 250808 deep amber fruity dried fruits sticky but fresh in the middle lasting barley wine like aftertaste

355ml bottle (Pikkulintu, Helsinki) - 2007 bottle
Very sweet bready aroma. Deep red, tiny head. Biting alcohol, but otherwise soft and sweet palate. Finish has alcohol burn. First taste is sticky sweet malts, burnt, and almost tarry in part. However, on the whole it’s very hard to describe. Big like a barley wine, but made superconcentrated. Tons of malt - some marmite. I got a gluey aroma after a while. There’s a guilty pleasure to this - I kind of like it but think I shouldn’t.

Is this a cider? Lindeman’s lambic? Damn it smells sweet. Molasses and raisins are obvious. Alcohol too. I’m taking deep inhalations in the glass and I think my sinuses are opening up. Dark orange color, clear, very little head. No lace left. WOW!!!! Damn that’s... sweet, strong, fruity, sharp, ALCOHOLY. It is the beast, that’s for sure. It’s batch 6, which claims 16.31% alcohol. There was a recent thread questioning certain brewers’ claims of ABV, but I believe every bit of this 16%, and maybe more! If you’re into the harsh, super sweet and super strong, you will probably enjoy this. I’m not so sure I do, however. It ain’t a drainpour, but if I popped it open at midnight after a session, there’s no way I could finish this glass. Not my style.

Wow i liked that one. 2006 version. kinda a deep brown color, nice foam, dried fruits, alcohol and cough medicine nose. pretty sweet flavor at first with again dried fruits berries and almost like Vanilla extract flavor but then the alcohol kicks in when it warms, really nice really nice