Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

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

[945-20071207] 12floz (Vintage 2005). Very boozy grainy roasted malt aroma. Clear, very dark red mahogany body with medium-lasting foamy light tan head. Dark roasted malt flavour has a sweet sickly finish and burnt wood notes throughout. Full body is smooth and rich. Interesting. (7/4/7/4/15) 3.7

[2069B-20090402] 12floz bottle. Sweet figgy rich roasted malt aroma with fruity currants. Hazy, dark brown body with a medium-lasting foamy light yellow head. Sweet currants continue in the flavour with a boozy rich malt and sweet figgy fruits. Heavy full body. Good. (7/3/8/4/15) 3.7
Overheard: "It was rocket fuel the first time I had it."
(Vintage 2005; w/ garthicus, HogTownHarry, jerc)

2005 bottle shared with GregClow, Hogtown Harry, Jerc, and Blankboy, thanks big time to Harry and Dave B for the chance to try it. Wonderful fiery red, bubbly small head. Huge alcohol aroma, very rich, malt. Lovely taste: lots of alcohol but enough malt to back it up, very sweet and spicy. Much easier to drink compared to the D’extra from Dogfish head earlier in the night. Nice beer.

Appearance: Pours a clear rusted red color. Surpisingly, a rather full tan-colored head bloomed leaving a thick rings of lacing with each sip. Bottled in 2005, btw. Smell: Honey, tawny port, and with an alcohol waft that bristles the nose. There’s some fruit to be found in the aromatics as well, for me it was orange (zest) and cherries (the ones from the jar, swimming in sugary juices). Taste: Again, sharply honey-flavored initially, which then transitions into an intense malt profile sided with the super-sweet Belgian sugars. Of course there’s the mark of the dark fruits prevalent in so many of these types of beers. Hops provide a slight bitterness, but for me it can be hard to find at times amidst the stronger alcohol and sweetened components. Remarkably though, the taste of alcohol is rather "gentle" for the high ABV. Mouthfeel: Finishes like a velvety port wine, but there’s a noted astringency to it. Massive in body, almost obscenely (though lusciously) syrupy. There’s also, to absolutely noone’s surprise, a tingly alcohol finish. Drinkability: It’s delish - just keep it to one, and a 12-ouncer at that. If you enjoy succulent sweetness and higher ABVs, then I’d recommend this one. However, if you have an aversion to either of those, than I’d steer clear. All I really got to say about it is: whoopeee!

Bottle: Strong butter toffee and caramel aroma. Nice addition of banana bread to the nose. Pours a transparent reddish-brown with an off-white head with a yellow tint. Fair retention. Very sweet and malty. Has a little extra sweet barley wine flavor to it. Raisin, caramel, toffee, and banana bread. Light bitterness in the finish. Kind of a sweet, sticky, banana bread aftertaste. Alcohol is noticeable in the finish, but not overbearing. Has a warming effect. A little sticy and syruppy. Really like this one.

12 oz. bottle of Batch 3 (2005): 14.9% ABV: The beer pours to a deep ruby red body with a very thin tan head. The aroma is very alcoholic. Dates, raisins, light fingernail polish remover, interesting sugars. Must be the turbinado and dark Belgian candi sugar. I don’t get any hops in the aroma. The flavor is an intense turbinado sugar covered date. Very sugary. A complex dark fruit medley. Although the palate is really sugary, it feels good to drink. Nice and warming. Not worth $6 / 12 oz bottle, however.

The beast is right. Alcohol aroma and alcohol kick for flavor. Busted out some Jack Daniels and man the Beast is like taking a shot of Jack. Powerfull beer.

An incredibly sweet beer. Strong but not over-hopped, it certainly does not remind one of most beers of this style. Still. It’s good stuff.

Spicy nose, dark amber color, low tight head. Quick caramelly malt body with a slight yeast component that gets pushed aside by a fat, rich hoppy and spicy end. Huge pepper effect with some cinnamon too. Full body and a decent beer all around.