Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

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

Opened an vintage 06 at the same time a an 08. The 06 is head and shoulders above the 08, in every aspect. I think that this high gravity beer needed a few years to settle. The new version is extremely hot, alcohol prominent in aroma and flavor, dates and prunes, molasses, very sweet. The 06 is much more balanced, better balanced.. particularly in carbonation. Alcohol still present on the nose, along with sweet malt. I was excited to open these together after making a trade at dark lord day 08. This beer is far too sweet and an alcohol bomb. Not sure what they were really going for here.. My rating reflects the 06 vintage.

thanks to buckeyesammy for this one, he cracked both and 06 and on 07 at the same time. the difference is noticeable straight away. the 4 pours much lighter and with a head lacing and fingers the 5 is dark and visually void. in aroma the 4 is much more mellow and nice the 5 is booz and rotting fruit. in flavor the 4 is super sweet, the 5 while still sweet it is a toasted complex sweetness verses the "saccharine" . rate is of the better of the two

Batch 4 bottle from 2006. BSA? Really? Looked like a BSA but tasted more like a barley wine. Gorgeous pour with a super strong aroma of alcohol and molasses. IMO way too much syrup and sugar in this beer. The ABV didn’t really bother me that much, it was the overpowering sweetness that ruined it.

Batch 3, 2005 bottle, aged 3 years. Pours a cloudy, red clay amber color. A small, foamy, cream colored head disappears completely. Sugary legs coat the glass on a swirl, but no lacing remains. The aroma is sweet but boozy, with massive notes of caramel, honey, candy sugar, bourbon, rum, and orchard fruits. Vanilla, golden raisons and molasses join the party, completing a deliciously complex nose that borders on liquor-esque. Flavors are also intensely sweet and complex, but incredibly well blended. As it is in the Samaels, the vanilla is pervasive, tying all of the various elements together. Drinks surprisingly easy for such a massive beer. I’m glad to have tried an aged, lower ABV version, as any more boozy notes would prove to be too hot. This beer definitely benefits from some mellowing/oxidation. Excellent dessert beer when served in small quantities.

This just happened to be the next beer in line in my fridge...probably not the best one to have to end the night. Pours a cloudy brown. Amazing aroma of a dark sour fruits. Incredibly sweet and almost like a syrup. Just too sweet though, like drinking sugar.

tastes great! like drinking a glass of brown sugar.............................................

I can see why this is such a love it-hate it beer. It really does smell like a creamy sugary cough syrup and the body is incredibly heavy. I still think this beer is great though. My bottle was aged three years and the flavors are beautiful, absolutely fantastic. Every dark fruit you could ever imagine is in this beer. Seriously every single one. Think about the smell when cherries go rotten in your fridge but they still smell very sweet and a little rotten, that is exactly, verbatim, what this beer tastes like. If you can find it, it’s well worth $5, just because it will take you an hour to drink.

(2007 vintage, Bottle at Pikkulintu on 2008-05-15) Amber colour. White medium-sized head. Lots of malts in nose. Alcohol in full-bodied palate. Malts, hops, liquorice and even salty liquorice in taste. Alchol even warms a bit. Some more hops begin to taste when beer is warmer.