Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

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

Broke this out for storage for the Bittings gathering. 2004 vintage. This was still young and looking forward to aging many years. Orange clear, no head, light carbonation. Sweet candi aroma. Burning malt flavor. Sweet and ridiculous. Almost like a herb liquor. This one is for burrying in the back yard and digging up in about 20 years!

Batch 2 (2004) 22 oz bomber. Intense caramelly aroma, alcohol, rich berries. Pours light brown/amber. Intense flavor, loads of caramel, sweet, alcohol, dates and molasses are detectable. It makes me shiver.

12 oz bottle, 2005. Clear rosy brown with a tan head and lacing. Closer inspection reveals a suspension of tiny particles. Caramel, apple pie and sherry. Very sweet up front; honey, grape soda and port wine. A touch of carb helps cut through the cough syrup body. Finishes with rum raisin and fruit cake. Too much sugar, too much alcohol. I tried this about nine months ago and tastes much the same except slightly more cloying and concentrated.

Wow i liked that one. 2006 version. kinda a deep brown color, nice foam, dried fruits, alcohol and cough medicine nose. pretty sweet flavor at first with again dried fruits berries and almost like Vanilla extract flavor but then the alcohol kicks in when it warms, really nice really nice

Bottle 2006. One taste and you know why they called it "beast". Lots of mollasses and raisin in the nose. Nice deep reddish color. A huge burst of flavor in the mouth. A great winter warmer.

Batch 3: What the ? This brew pours like liquid caramel, soupy and opaque brown. Gives off a decent head that reuces to a full creamy ring of lace. Aromas are strong and sweet w/ a defined herbal essence. Viscous and soupy full texture w/ mild carbonation. This stuff is so thick I could choke. Big fat caramel malts so decadent it could be describedas bacon fat. Flavors of molases, cherry, kiwi, cocoa, ripe peach nectar, leather, grapes, melon, the list goes on and on. The finish never stops giving as this brew is very generous. Theres a bit of peachpit and a slight tartness on the finish. Overall: this is a Barleywine, no if’s, and’s or but’s about it. It’s sweet as jellybeans and chews like gummy bears. Not much of a hop presence.

Bottle from batch 1. Yes, as many have stated, this is a beast. I drank this by myself and it got me pretty pissed. Big aroma of prune, sweet malt, light yeast, cotton candy and lots of booze. Plenty of spice as well. Massive body, very sticky, lots of fire going down the gullet. I wouldn’t necessarily call it disappointing, I expected it to be this big and overbearing, but I thought it might have settled down a bit but I guess not. Still worth a try.

Huge nose of port, sweet overripe fruits and syrup, notes of candy coated apples and blackberries, very vinous with a faint note of alcohol. Deep crimson body with a small tannish ehad which dissappears quite quick. Overly sweet and syrupy flavor, notes of herbs and rotten figs and plums, alcohol leaves a warming sensation. Very greasy and thick mouthfeel. A real sipping beer.