Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

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

mesmerizing clear ruby/amber color. The smell of raisins and plums rushes out of the bottle(as well as the strong smell of alcohol). Smooth sweet taste of raisins, plums, honey, and alcohol dominate this beer. Should be aged to cut the strong alcohol finish. Thick and syrupy with high alcohol content means that this beer should be drank sloooow. Thanks for the bottle Ryan!!

2006 bottle. Pours a deep burgundy to ruddy brown with a creamy very light tan head. The nose is immensely sweet. Alcohol, molasses, raisins. More like a liquor than a beer, not that I mind! Not a ton of complexity, but pleasant enough to smell. Thick on the tongue, bordering on syrupy. Lower carbonation, but not flat. The flavors are sharp and a bit more enjoyable than the nose. Big round sweetness. Full of caramel. Molasses, raisins, brown bread! Alcohol. A bit of something citrusy? Orange? Just a hint of that Belgian fruitiness. This is a nice enough beer really. A bit of a beast, heh, but there’s enough going on to support the ABV. Figs and some light dates or brown sugar pops out more as it warms.

Flaske: Årgang 2006. Fantastisk god karbonering og et fint skum i forhold til den høje alkoholprocent. Sød duft meget lig en klassisk engelsk barleywine. SMagen derimod er rosiner alkohol og mucovadosukker, men karboneringen gør den drikbar. Overraskende god i forhold til forventningen.

Pours a deep clear amber with a very quickly dissipating head. Aromas of soy sauce and alcohol. First sip brings flavors of dates and alcohol. Finish is downright burning. Powerful? Yes. Enjoyable? Not really. Tha alcohol is just way too apparent and there just isn’t much else going on. And yes even at the end, with a finishing gravity around 1.000, there was a cloying sweetness. Alas I feel some of us have been seduced by a sloppy 400lb. chick that looks like she could beat the shit out of us in bed!

12 oz bottle from Market of Choice, batch 4. Aroma was hefty on prunes, dates, molasses, caramel. Very sweet and appetizing smelling. Flavor was also very sweet, full of dark fruit, caramel, candy sugar and molasses. The booze was extremely well hidden, probably muted with the three years behind it. I could have drank another bottle of this, though that likely would have put an end to my night. Extremely tasty brew.

A dark oak color. Lots of alcohol everywhere...nose and tongue. A lot of stuff going on that i can’t remember and wish i took notes. plus i drank it out of a plastic cup. it was good but alcohol was fierce.

Like a candied, mascerated date -- this beer is full of drak fruit, cherries, dates, plum and apricot, along with alcohol, caramel and molasses, and rye. Small bubble and an infectous head that surges across the surface of the beer once it is poured. Surprisingly amber. Perhaps this specimen should have aged more, because its sugars are still very present and the alcohol masks the complexities. Aromas are piney and sweet. Then the palate is viscous and lasting. The maple syrup smack to the beer kind of cheapens the extensive work that must have gone into this creation.

Okay, look to your left. See the picture of the bottle? Anyone else think that the RateBeer sigil gives the Beast a funny-lookin’ mustache? Smell: alcohol, mint, almonds, alcohol, wood. Taste: way too alcoholic, syrupy sweet, nutty, caramel biscuits, but over all this, lots and lots of BURN. For some reason this reminded me of amaretto and woodruff in the main, but there is a wierd mashing together of flavors that doesn't entirely thrill me. Thanks to Dave--now I know I need to cellar my bottle!