Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

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

Dark hazy orange amber with a thin beige cap. Sweet raw cane-syrup aroma with ominous ethanol as well. Extremely sweet raw sugar and sponge toffee palate, syrupy mouthfeel, with a salty finish. There is a funny coppery flavour in the finish that just doesn’t fit. The alcohol is fairly well hidden, but it climbs the back of your nose after each swallow. This quickly became much to cloyingly sweet for me. I would not return to it.

Bach 4. Pours a very red amber with a small dark tan head. Strong, sweet aroma of alcohol, and fruit. Notes of raisins, a bit of apple, a definite vinous character, a note of molasses, and a bit of intermingled spice. Flavor is very sweet upfront, with lots of honey, candy sugar, and a bit of caramel/toffee notes. The alcohol and hops hit mid-palate and subdue the sweetness quite a bit. Finish is long and bitter-sweet. Palate is full, syrupy, mouth-coating, and pleasantly warm. Alcohol in this brew is totally unoffensive, but nice and warming. Might want to try this one again in a year or three though, right now it’s just a bit too sweet for my taste.

2006 Version. This brew is not for me. Smells like wood, and pours amber with minimal disapating head. hints of apples, white grapes, Figs,& raisins this is a warm beer. overall its just to damn sweet.probly gonna cellar my other bottle. Was batch two fortified???

2004 Vintage; Batch 2 (18.1%)

Date: 4/28/2007 Event: DarkLord Day 2007 Location: Evening tasting in jquire’s room at the Hampton Inn. Thank you for hosting Jeff! Serving: 22 oz bottle shared by TheBeerCellar2. Thank you!

Aroma: Alcohol. Appearance: Clear bourbon color, no head at all. Flavor: Sweet caramel malt and alcohol. There are some other flavors hiding in there as well (i.e. dates, rasins, etc.), but it takes some time to get past the intense malt sweetness and hefty alcohol. This sucker is HOT! Burning sensation everywhere. Palate: Medium-light body; thin mouthfeel. Overall: Yikes! I’m almost sorry we uncapped this beast! I’m not sure if this one will ever cool down enough to be truly enjoyable. Score: 7/3/7/3/14=3.4


Bottled in 2004 - Batch 2

1/21/2009: Okay, time to revisit this beer outside of Darklord Day aftermath... This beer has a deep, rich honey color with a beige head with a somewhat quickly dissipating head. Wow, based on the aroma, this beer has truly gotten better. It is heavily malty and moderately sweet with a discernable citrusy hoppiness and only a mild showing of alcohol. The flavor starts really sweet and caramelly and then becomes strong, alcoholic, yet drinkable. More of the flavors can now be discerned at this point. I like the contrast between the caramel-toffee maltiness, date fruit, and lightly citrusy hoppiness. This beer will put you down fast due to the alcohol, but it is actually drinkable at this point and doesn’t taste like rubbing alcohol. It has definitely balanced out and isn’t nearly as sharp as it was. The Beast is finally starting to tame after 5 years and is almost enjoyable!

1 pint 6 Fl. Oz. bottle (O.G. 1.138; Alc. 18.1% by Vol.) shared by Tmoney99. Score: 7/3/8/4/16=3.8

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.