Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

This is a beast. The beer pours thick and deep brown. The aromas show the notes of hops and creme brulee. The flavor on the palate shows deep molasses and dark honey. This beer should sit for a number of years as it will get better as it mellow out!

Batch 2 (2004) 22 oz bomber. Intense caramelly aroma, alcohol, rich berries. Pours light brown/amber. Intense flavor, loads of caramel, sweet, alcohol, dates and molasses are detectable. It makes me shiver.

12-oz. Batch 4. Deep opaque brown pour with a half inch of moussy tan head and clingy lace atop. Nice looking stuff. Definitely some highly sour horse blanket and barnyard funk happening on the nose. Cherries and candi sugar there as well. The fruit sugar shows through for sure, now that I read the ingredients. Puckery sweet attack, all the way through to the clingy, cloying finish. All those dark fruits and sugars show up, whipped into a liquered frenzy by the boil and fermentation. It’s nice, they’re definitely on to something, but the punishing load of sugars makes this a very occasional thing.

2006. Bouteille, courtoisie de Hogtownharry. De couleur ambrée foncée et transparente. Nez de levures fruitées (raisins vineux, léger de prunes, notes d’abricots, de cerises et de dates) légèrement boisé (fût de chêne), de malt du genre caramel sucré (faibles notes de sucre bonbon), d’alcool moyen, légèrement épicé (notes de coriandre) et avec des notes de mélasse, de miel et de houblon floral aux notes herbeuses. Ronde en bouche avec un pétillement moyen-bas et une texture riche et sirupeuse. Goût de levures fruitées (raisins légèrement vineux, prunes sucrées, léger de cerises, notes d’abricots, de figues et de dates) légèrement boisé et épicé (notes de coriandre) et de vanille lors de l’entrée en bouche auquel se rajoute un goût malté très sucré de caramel, moyen de sucre brun, léger de sucre bonbon et de mélasse sucrée avec des notes de toffee sucré et de miel parallèlement à un goût moyen-léger amer d’alcool sirupeux moyen (notes liquoreuses de rhum) et réchauffant (à la limite du brûlant) ainsi que des notes de houblon herbeux en finale. Post-goût long, léger-moyen amer d’alcool sirupeux, de sucre résiduels, légèrement fruité (moût de raisins et de cerises) ainsi que des notes boisées et de houblon herbeux.

Batch 2 (2004). very very strong. Aroma is good but smells like a barley wine. I was scared of this one at first but i warmed up shortly after opening the bottle. Not great but not bad either. worth a try

Batch 2. 2004 18.1% bottle shared by my brother, who purchased this in Boulder, CO. Aroma is nice and vinous with some light cardboardy oxidated notes. Some sweet, nutty malts are also appreciated in the aroma. There are some boozy aromas retronasally. Smells like a big barleywine. Not too bad. Mildly hazy orangey amber colored body with a small, off-yellowish head. Not much for lacing. Vinous, fruity, chewy, malty start. Turns a bit nutty and caramelly in the middle. Still quite hot and boozy, but not as bad as I had feared. Warming finish, which is dry. This is big, malty, but lacks complexity. I can see why there are lots of haters out there for this beer, but it is a nice experiment.

Batch 3 (2005): i must note that although alcohol was detectable in this brew, i would have never guessed that its abv would eclipse 10%...murky reddish brown body with no head...aroma huge in cherry and other dark fruits, with undertones of raison, toasted chocolate, and light alcohol...flavor is dominated by such cherry and dark fruit, with huge amounts of fig and raison with light molasses and a touch of warming alcohol...the heaviness in sugar is the only thing that keeps this beer away from the big dogs..very well-done

Bottle at No5. Red with a beige head, fine lacings. Aroma heavy malty (/dark fruits, raisins, plum), light hoppy. Flavor heavy sweet, light bitter. Smooth and round, vinous. Full body, soft carbonated. Strong in alcohol.