Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

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

Pours dark brown, mostly cloudy, practically no head save for some trace tan foam at the top. Not much carbonation, can’t see any bubbles. Appears syrupy like a liquer. Dominate smell is half-dried plum, dark sugar second, and rhubarb, grape coming in last. I only detect a tinge of alcohol in the aroma and I have a great sniffer. The beer explodes in the mouth, drawing in nice and easy, and quicky turning very strong, like you took too big a drink, because it’s smooth then develops. This stuff is like taking a swig of a 17% liquer, so it hits you like that. You would never take a mouthful. It has a neat effect. It’s smooth, then fizzes a little on the tongue, and sweet plum, sugar, malt, and a little hop bitterness all develop in the flavor in rapid succession. Quite a feat I would say to make a beer that entertains like this while one is drinking it. Definately one of my favorite strong ales. The beer goes down smooth enough with only a little burn. It really doesn’t taste like alchol much at all, like a lot of beers of this strength do. It’s a little hard to swallow, you kinda have to pucker up and gulp it because your palate is telling you, woah buddy! Is that beer?

This refers to the 2005 version. Very malty nose emanates from this dark honey colored beer with thin tan head. Woo, this is sweet stuff! Tastes like a barleywine to me with its rich plum taste, and it lingers like a cough syrup. $6/12oz

bottle dated 2006 I guess is batch 4 poured into a snifter has a fully hazed orange brown color and nice lacing on the surface with a ring of tan foam on the glass. aromas of alcohol, fig, brown sugar, plum, dates, and just is a pleasant aroma to take in. right from the first sip you know this is serious, took me a while of sipping to become accustomed to it and start to taste some of the flavors. good carbination through the tasting would re lace with a light swirl, sticky sweet but not quite to the overbearing point, brown sugar, molasses, malts, so many layers of dark fruits. really enjoyed one of these but it will take a while to find the need for another bottle.

Hazy orange red amber color. Light tan head. Spicy noble hops, fruity yeast esters, caramel and alcohol in the aromatics. Very spicy bite accentuated by high alcohol presence. Some residual fruity esters and hop spiciness in the finish. Mouthfeel is thick and hot.

Batch 4 2006 Whoa momma. First off this puppy has a 14.9% ABV in it, but it is masked by a complex and thorough palate. For some it might be a bit too syrupy or sweet, although I think right now that might have to do with it’s age. It pours a reddish hue with massive bubbles that I could almost stick a pencil through. Okay, maybe they are not THAT big. I wish I could lay this one down, but I am in a wandering stage right now in life, so it would only be able to sit for a few months instead of a few years. I think that the thick flavor is necessary to hide that nasty alcohol flavor that too many brewers leave in high ABV brews. This is a beer drinkers beer and not for the faint hearted, though we all know it would probably be best after it is allowed to mature.

Batch 5 Bottle, Thanks to Ramenen had it for my 36th birthday: A real beast drink with care at 16% it is very well balanced, complex licorice, woody and oily tones.

04 Pours copper/red with a small white head. Aroma is cherries and sweet malts. Flavor was definately still hot with a hard alcohol bite. Some fruits and yeast also present. Still needs some aging.

Batch 6 Pours clear dark amber, thick, alcohol, dark fruits, molasses, little caramel, little roasty, little hop.