Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

12oz bottle batch 4 2006. Cloudy dark brown in color with a ruby hue. Well coated lacing was left on the glass. Big nose of alcohol, candied fruits, molasses and brown sugar. Tasted much more like a Barley Wine opposed to a Belgian Strong Ale.

This must be Batch 3, because it rates 14,8%. Intense aroma, Intense dark golden appearance, strong exquisite falvour, excellent aftertaste, this is an excepionnally good beer, perfect for Winter dinners.

Batch 4 bottle:Pours a deep cloudy (interesting) golden brown, thing white head. An aroma so interesting it almost burns my nostrils, extremely acidic, fermented grapes, strong alcohol. There’s a bouquet of other fruit in there, but I can’t get past the alcohol. God it’s so sweet. Prunes, spice, caramel, some oak, and combination of strawberry and black liquorice. The flavor has a lot of complexity but it’s sweetness is overwhelming. The palate is thick and unbalanced. Smooth but some what biting.

Batch 4 Bottle. Nose is heavy and deep with grapes up front, alcohol all around. Other fruit esters of strawberries, cherries, and a unique, but distinct tropical fruit presence of cantaloupe and pineapple. Lots of spice and oak, some caramel and chocolate. Ruby with a huge frothy off-white head that bobs and swirls and laces with purpose. Flavor is cloylingly sweet, almost headache-inducing, like slurping down corn syrup. None of the depth of the nose, just sweet candy-like cherries and alcohol. So much potential down the drain. Syrupy palate, nice but not enough to balance out such an outrageously unbalanced flavor.

From bottle - Batch 3 - Pours a thick, cider looking color, with a late forming head. The head is offwhite and only lasts for about 15 seconds, then recedes back down into the beer. Strong nose, of yeast, soy sauce, vegetables, marinated steak, alcohol, honey, and some dark fruits. Really odd combonation i know, but thats what im getting. The taste has some rum charteristics. Sweet flavors with yeast, some honey. It is thick, and has a alcohol burn toward the end. The aftertaste is interesting, it is sweet, raisins maybe, some other type of fruit, there is alot going on with this guy. To me, it is a sipper...big time. But overall it isnt to bad.

This was such a good beer to drink and one that kept me on my toes. It had lots going on in the aroma and the flavor and a few ounces could not do it justice. So much fruit in the aroma that was only matched by the alcohol. This beer offered so much but the drinker should take note of the ABV!

Tropical, rummy notes. Ruby/amber hue, slight head. Extremely complex balance of flavors, the interplay with the different sweetnesses are amazing. Nice slow alcohol burn, almost drinks like a slightly effervescent sherry. Really enjoyable...a beer everyone should try at least once.

(bottle) Pours dark amber with an off-white head. Very sweet smell with some pineapple, raisin, and a lot of alcohol too. Taste was very, very, sweet with caramel, plum, raisin, and a hefty dose of alcohol on the finish. Mouthfeel was fairly full, but this beer was far too sweet and alcoholic.