Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

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

My 200th!! 2009 15.07abv. Pours a very pretty dark red/amber. Thick creamy white head. Smell of sweet malts and honey. Taste is way strong for my liking but it is complex and full flavored. Taste the booze but the 15% is hidden well. Wanted something cool for #200 and at $10 this one is it.

An unclear reddish-brown beer with absolutely no head. The aroma was sweet, alcohol, fruity, & glue. The taste is like sweet syrup, very up front, in your face powerful taste- like the beast on the bottle. Taste like an over the top Barley wine, too sweet for my liking, which I think suggests some considerable ageing would do this wonders. This is the second hyper style beer that I’ve had that tastes & smells like glue, I find that strange & maybe it is me.

2004 bottle of batch ONE. Direct from Adam Avery’s cellar to my friend, to my glass, to my mouth. 22 oz bomber pours Dark brown with light bubbly off white head. Incredible rich caramel aroma, hints of chocolate and bread. Full bodied, super sweet. Rich and well balanced with a deep molasses finish. Almost LIke a rich English barley wine with a belgian yeast underneath. This has aged incredibly well and it feels like it could hold up for a few more years at least. Definitely appreciative to have tried this batch one.

Batch 7 - 15.07% ABV Appearance: Pours a beautiful dark ruby with a pin stripe of white head. The body is clear with very light visible carbonation. Aroma: Port wine, vanilla, honey, dark booze, raisins, and spicy hops. Taste: Rum raisin ice cream and dark rum or sweet bourbon. In no particular order, I found vanilla, apple, maple syrup and wood. Finishes spicy. Mouthfeel: Syrupy and very coating. Overall: A great sipper dessert beer. Very complex and thick.

On tap at Naked City. Pours clear reddish brown with a nice lasting beige head. Boozy raisins, honey, and malt. So sweet and syrupy I was surprised that the finish had a little bitterness to it.

Batch 6. Pours a clear amber-brown with a small ivory head. Aroma is quite pleasant: Of heavy malts, overripe dark fruit. The candy sugar is more than apparent in the aroma. The flavor is surprisingly complex; the alcohol is obvious, but it cooperates with the other flavors, not overpowering them. Nice dark fruits (cherry) again and with force, candy sugar. The hops are what’s holding it all together. Very hoppy for a Cru, and it works beautifully. Without the hop counterpoint, this would be a sugar overload, even for us that like a little sweetness. Instead, it’s a profound slow-sipper that’ll warm you up whether you need it or not. Medium viscosity, creamy mouthfeel, bitter lasting finish. Overall, very good.

This tastes great, but it took me a while to understand that. First I had to get over the aroma, which was more intense than the flavor on most beer. It was really a kick in the face before the beer even touched my lips. After getting used to that, I loved it. Lots of different flavors. Complex as all hell.

2005. Pours a murky red orange with wisps of a light tan head. The nose is super rich, raisiny, caramel, cloyingly sweet, molasses, oxidized. Taste some prune, strong flavor, very rich and sweet, god awful. No Belgian character.