Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

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

Amber and clear. Has an off-white head, mostly lasting. Aroma is malty, sherry, caramel, alcohol, real strong. Flavor is heavy sweet, moderate bitter. Warming alcohol.

Huge thanks to Ringo for this one. This pours clear reddish brown with a minimal head. the color is like brandy. The flavor is thick, sticky w/ no hints of alcohol. It's extremely well done. Thanks

2007 bottle poured into a trappist glass. Poured a bog water brown with small to medium tan head. Aroma was of raisins, honey, dark fruit, molasses and brown sugar. Flavor had a lot of sweetness, which I liked. Flavor of raisins, molasses, caramel and dark fruit. Light toasted presence. Alcohol presence was strong, detracting from the flavor a bit.

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

Batch unknown. Bottled. Strong surupy notes in the aroma. Flavour is warming, sweet and very sticky. Finish is way too yeasty and sweet. The beer gets a little sickening after a couple of bottles.

Bottle - Batch #1 (15.7% abv). Reddish brown color with a laced light brown head. Strong spices, sweet, Christmas-like flavors (dates, candy spices, nutmeg), vanilla, and cinnamon. Warming and noticeable alcohol. Rating from 2004 notes. Thanks to Nuffield for this one.

Clear, rosy red color, good pale tannish head that fizzles down to a thin wafer right away. Aroma, big sweetness, cherries and brandy, and big, fat booze. Medicinal and a tad bit harsh...thick with alky-hol, hot and horribly burnished. Taste already: BAM! Massive flavor, huge, sweet fruit, and monstrous control of the palate. Tingles and tickles the tastebuds, maintains dominion over the mouth, has a clinging, cloying finish. Damn, it’s like they robbed from the vats of the Christian Brothers, really, or cribbed a few notes off of Ernie and Julie G., nearly cognac, this one, but lacks in drinkability, and the taste isn’t delectable enough to make me happy all the way through this bomber. I’ll slowly savor it’s sweetness, and abide by it’s booziness through the end of the evening

Big thanks to squidget for sending this my way! I tend to enjoy Avery offerings, and was happy to have the chance to sample this unique beer. Dark copper red color, decent head that faded fast. Aroma was molasses touched with jet fuel. In the mouth, thick, syrupy molasses competed with a strong woodsy note. But the predominant flavor was a fusel alcohol note. This was a nitro burning funny-car of a beer. I don’t mind big alcohol, but this wasn’t smooth. It flamed like the beast it was named for. These aren’t flavors that die back with age, these are flavors that grow more violent over time as the supporting aromatics fade. A fasicnating beer whose alcohol content was pumped up too far by brewing sugars versus malts. Would still like to try another bottle in about 10 years to see if my prediction about flavors holds true.