Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

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

Batch 5- Umm wow thats strong stuff. Actually i really enjoyed the boozy finish to this, but wow...the rest of this is just too much. Too many flavors going on, too stickingly sweet, I just could not get the taste off me. An interesting beer but could not even finish the glass.

Batch 3. 12 oz. poured into tumbler with dark brown cloudy body with medium, tan head. Head dissipated quickly. Aroma was a preamble to the sweetness. Malty, caramel, and anise most noted. Turbinado and Belgian sugars dominated palate. Smoother than expected given ABV but Batch 2 is in bottle for 3 years now. Enjoyable for special occasions. I’ve ordered more through local distributer but not sure what batch I’ll get. Will update rating if any differences noted.

Batch 1 - I sware to god, the turbinado sugar makes all the difference in this beer. This is really nicely done. Not extremely complex, and really on the larger side for the style, almost like you would think of an amped up Quad. Cookie dough, fruit cake, molasses and other various spices, really test the limits of balance, with this much alcohol in a beer. It almost tranisitions into an apertif, this is like a lighter version of cognac

Bottle. Batch 5, 2007. WOW....poured a clear copper with an excellent beige head with nice retention. Aroma hits you with strong malt, molasses and alcohol spice. Flavor was of sweet malt, hop flavors, and alcohole spice....Very full bodied beer on the palate, heavy.....low-medium carbonation......VERY tough beer....very good beer.....very nice looking beer...

Pours dark brown, mostly cloudy, practically no head save for some trace tan foam at the top. Not much carbonation, can’t see any bubbles. Appears syrupy like a liquer. Dominate smell is half-dried plum, dark sugar second, and rhubarb, grape coming in last. I only detect a tinge of alcohol in the aroma and I have a great sniffer. The beer explodes in the mouth, drawing in nice and easy, and quicky turning very strong, like you took too big a drink, because it’s smooth then develops. This stuff is like taking a swig of a 17% liquer, so it hits you like that. You would never take a mouthful. It has a neat effect. It’s smooth, then fizzes a little on the tongue, and sweet plum, sugar, malt, and a little hop bitterness all develop in the flavor in rapid succession. Quite a feat I would say to make a beer that entertains like this while one is drinking it. Definately one of my favorite strong ales. The beer goes down smooth enough with only a little burn. It really doesn’t taste like alchol much at all, like a lot of beers of this strength do. It’s a little hard to swallow, you kinda have to pucker up and gulp it because your palate is telling you, woah buddy! Is that beer?

Bottle (2007). Sweet plum, raisin and alcohol aroma.. Chestnut color with a small off white head. Very sweet body with loads of fruit, prunes and raisin flavors. Sweet fruity palate. with strong alcohol notes.

2007. Walked it around the house to see in different lights. The color really changes with the light so let’s just say a clear red amber with a creamy tan head that has lasted through my house tour. The aroma reminds me of the leftover mash of plums, chokecherry and rhubarb Mom tossed out when she made wine. The flavor is intense, like a light version of the brandy cordial I’d get a sip of as a kid at Christmas time. The flavor has a great way of just slowly receding, not changing, not becoming an aftertaste, just pleasantly fading away.

2006 12oz bottle. Pours a hazy crimson-hued amber with a tan head that dimples as it slowly fades. The nose is insanely complex, with suggestions of raisins, honey covered dark pitted fruits, vinous malts, orange zest, molasses and a peppery overtone. The first sip overwhelms the palate with intense sweetness and high viscosity. The carbonation sizzles on the tongue as the syrupy liquid coats tooth and gum. It is boozy and vinous, more like a barley wine if I had to guess, but Belgian Strong is a vague enough category for it to fit. The raisins, dates and multitudes of sugars used are very much apparenet. Alfalfa sprout has a significant presence in the finish. The palate duration is very long and sticky, leaving flavours of honey, jagery, pepper, candy sugar and plum (and other dark fruits). Outstanding offering from a brewery that has yet to dissapoint me.