Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

Well, I don’t know how to rate this, cuz it doesn’t fit a Belgian Strong style by my estimation. I opened this thinking it was a Belgian. The first whiff of aroma upon opening the bottle (not even right up on the bottle) was all dark fruits, indicating a potential winner. The pour generated a near perfect head in my Chouffe glass, looked super authentic: deep red-brown with nice well-suspended particles, good carbonation rising to the surface of the thick goo. Unfortunately, the only Belgian character I got in the first 2/3rds of the drink was belgian yeast. I instantly thought this was all Barleywine and consumed it such. Peaches and other fruits with a definite hoppy finish. Perhaps to sweet and thick and syrupy, but certainly bitter enough in the finish with pine and floral hops noted, perhaps some bitter spicing. Some of the darker fruits started to come out later in the glass (the last third, prunes, plums, raisins), but it was too late (and this thing was consumed over 45mins of time at a starting temp of 48F). I rechecked the bottle, and it was the Grand Crue (14.9%, 2005 bottling). Thought I got it mixed up with Samaels, but no sir. This was a pretty good barleywine, but a weak Belgian Strong. Given my previous experience with The Rev, I’m not buying Avery can do Belgians. Man, and at these prices, they should be NAILING the style for 8 freakin’ dollars per 12 oz.

Ruby brown colour, white head. Toffee aroma. Thick mouthfeel. Tasty malty toffee with strong alcohol. Whoof!

Batch 3: 2005 -- Deep mahogony body with a very light tan head. Excellent aroma, caramel, tart fruits, almost port in quality. Deep, thick body, very similar in composition to a thick Imperial Stout. Caramel and fruits dominate with a nice alcohol burn in the ending.

2005 bottle. very bold hard hitting beer, very full, reminds me of a port wine for the alcohol burn and the complexity. pretty good beer if this if crazy and insane and everything else i talked about

bottle in IL. the aroma kicks ass. its butterscotch, and pears and carmel and wheat, malt, and light fruitiness. Flavors are strawberry, butterscotch, wheat, chocolate, carmel, honey, raisins, and boysenberry. lol. very yummers. very creamy mouthfeel. this is just a very very good beer. i love it.

Bottle at home - Batch 3 2005 14,9%. Red-orange, no head. A bit too much. A lot of flavour. Sweet - raisins, dates, caramel. Malty. Hoppy - both aroma and bitter. But too much obvious alcholol on top of the sweetness.

The Beast is a decent strong ale but it is a bit over the top for me. It’s just so darn sweet. Much sweeter then any barleywine i’ve ever tried (it’s a Grand Cru, but it’s very similar to a barleywine, like most Grand Cru’s). It has some really nice flavors in it though. Candied sugar, some brown sugar, molasses, maybe some citrus or something along with honey and more. Quite complex, which is a plus in my book. The alcohol is definitely present but nothing too crazy, except for in the nose. When smelling this beer you definitely get that alcohol burn in your nose. Pours a burnt orange with very little head and absolutely no lacing (not taken into account, most high alcohol beers are this way). I like this beer and it’s good to drink something over the top like this, but at around $7.00 a 12 oz bottle I can find much better values for the dough.

12 oz bottle. 2005 vintage. Let me start out by saying...Holy Crap. Poured a lovely reddish-orange sunset color. Smells distinctly of alcohol with hints of soy sauce, barbeque sauce, grape candy, and molasses. Flavor is similar. The soy flavor lingers after each sip. I may try dipping pot stickers in it. Unlike soy, however, this stuff is powerfully sweet, like a big cloud of cotton candy in each bottle. Full bodied, slick, and oily. You feel the warmth of the alcohol coating your esophagus and stomach. Quite a wild ride, this one. Gets some points for being unique, but it’s a bit much.