Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

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

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.

Bottle. Pours a clear amber with a small light tan head that leaves decent lacing. Aroma of super sweet syrup, raisins, caramel, plums, and alcohol. Taste is way to sweet and cloying with strong notes of alcohol. I can almost feel granulated sugar in my mouth. Another disapointment from the “Demons of Ale Series”.

Batch 4. Sweet Jesus. This is the only beer I’ve ever gotten a buzz from just by drinking one. It’s like you were driving a raisin truck that slid on molasses and then slammed into a spice mill that had walls made of brown sugar. Head is thick and rocky enough to inspire mountaineers to take notice. Also, the head is seriously powerful stuff, and gives a great indication of the range you’ll experience once you actually drink the liquid itself. The spectrum is amazing: brown sugar, caramel, candied fruit, vanilla, raisin, honey and apricot. I’m pretty proud it only took me 45 minutes to finish it and I never once slipped into a diabetic coma. Yes, Virginia...it is a beast.

Batch 4, bottle, poured a hazy deep copper with a thick light tan head. Very sweet aromas, toffee, pit fruits, a touch boozy. Extremely sweet flavor that covers the alcohol very well, but because of the intense sweetness, it made it quite hard to drink. At first I thought I got a bottle that they forgot to ferment! This stuff is crazy, sticky, sweet. It got better as it warmed in my tulip, allowed more flavors to come out, but I was very hard pressed to finish the entire 12 ozs. It was quite an experience, but I think I’m one and done. I can only imagine what the calorie count was in this Beast.

Bottle. Very expensive, but I do think this was an amazing experience. Reminded me somewhat of a good port wine. Small off-white fizzy head that mostly diminished. Good lacing to be observed. Body was clear and color was amber like. Quite complex aroma with notes of raisins, apricot, spice, toffee, hint of raspberry, vanilla, syrup and light hoppy notes as well. Full bodied with a sticky texture. Alcohol can be detected over the palate. Flavor was heavy malt sweetness, with some bitter notes. Finish is lingering sweet syrup like. Excellent.