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.

Pours a dark amber with a tiny frothy head. The aroma is reminiscent of a barleywine, lots of toffee. Flavor is very nicely complex, with a mixture of a dubbel and a trippel in the mouthfeel. Lots of figs and raisins, along with hazelnuts, cinnamon and caramel. Very malty and spicy, but surprisingly very little alchohol in the taste.

Moderate, curiously off-white head on a clear red/amber body. The first cold aroma: vanilla cinnamon ice cream. But then there was lots more: cotton candy, blueberry, grape, raisin, cocoa, vanilla extract (made with vodka). Of the flavors, the burn at the back was the biggest thing. Rich and malty, for sure, but it was difficult to get flavors through the burn. Substantially carbonated, warming on the mouth with the alcohol, good coating effect but not truly syrupy--really nice palate effects. Overall: the alcohol loses a point on the flavor that was gained on the palate, making the high alcohol effects a wash.

Kind of a train wreck, really. First the good news - it smelled great. Strong aromas of fresh berries, wine, and whiskey, with a very faint smoky back ground. The palate was bad - syrupy to point of being greasy. The taste was what I imagine a cough syrup and vodka cocktail would taste like. Some hint of wine, a touch of cherry, all bludgeoned to death by Robotussin. I don’t know, maybe some age would have hepled. (14.9, 2005 vintage)

Bottled in 2006 14.6% ABV; Nose of alcohol, caramel fruits, spices,, and malts; deep copper with a huge long-lasting light tan head; Body very thick and syrupy; flavor ofsweet maple syrup mixed with fruitiness, caramel, spices, and ALCOHOL which lasts to the finish.As it warms the alcohol gets far better covered and it becomes a lot more drinkable or did some of the massive alcohol load just EVAPORATE?

35,5 cl bottle. Amber colour with a weak head. Aroma of candy, redwine and hints of alcohol and caramel. Very malty and tasty flavour with some sweetness and berries. Very powerfull and tasty.

12oz. Bottle: Strong aroma. Smells like Robitussin. Also smells of fruit, berries, alcohol, and sour mix. Poured ruby in color with a big, foamy, tan head that lasted. Good lacing. Clear. Very Sparkling. Very complex flavor is lightly sweet but not bitter. Tastes of cherries, alcohol, toffee, malt, nuts, molasses, and sugar. Full body. Thick texture. Average carbonation. Sweet, raisin flavored finish. Overall, this really hides the alcohol content well. I did not think I would like this beer, but I did. Pleasant surprise.

This is indeed a beast of a beer - dark copper poor without much of a head, but good lacing for such a high abv brew - complex aroma of alcohol, toffee, caramel, raisins, christmas cookies - flavor is quite sweet, but is expertly balanced by a swelling hop presence that dominates toward the end - the flavor is full of dark fruits, raisins, dates, plums - brown sugar, belgian sugars, slight chocolate, and loads of caramel - alcohol burn at the end, but the high alcohol content is still fairly well-masked - many of this beer's qualities remind me of Raison D'Extra - hops hang around in the finish and make sure that the sweetness doesn't strain your taste buds - this is some impressive stuff, esp. considering it's so young - age this stuff and it will be amazing.