Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

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

Yikes! What a beer! Definitely the biggest most pungent and robust nose on a beer I’ve ever had. Super rich with brandy/vinuous notes, coconut rum, dark fruits, banana, burnt sugar, alcohols. Mostly sweet but surprisingly not cloying, big on fruits and burnt sugar, some spicy hops. Lightly carbonated but still smooth and easy on the palate, almost slick, certainly heavy bodied. Slight alcohol burn in the finish, pretty well balanced for the strength. Dark amber color, no head. Lingering chest warming.

2004 vintage, 18.1% abv. Pours a clear, dark ruby red with tints of brown. Head is initially very large and off-white, but quickly dissipates to this thinnest of rings. Very sweet and thick aroma: plums, brown sugar, pineapple, toffee, green grapes, raisins, licorice, and quite a bit of alcohol. Moderately sweet flavor, with thick molasses notes nicely accompanied by subdued, spicy hops, dates and candied fruits. Mildly, yet sharply carbonated underneath the syrupyness - as I savor it in my mouth, I am unsure if it is the bubbles tingling my tongue, or the alcohol. Finish is moderately bitter and alcoholic. It tastes as strong as it sounds, and the alcohol is anything but well-hidden when tasted this young, though it is not too overpowering or astringent. A very warming beer for those cold winter months, or for sharing with the family on a Christmas Eve.

Thanks to MilkManDan for providing this treat. Deep, dark brown. Surprisingly non alcoholic aroma. Rich and sweet smelling, with loads of noble hops. Flavor is rich, quite sweet, with some serious alcohol flavor, but its not too much. Glorious swirling noble hop flavors. I’ve never tasted a beer that has such a full, rich noble hop flavor, they’re quite sexy. I really like this.

2/21/2004: Pours a clear deep brown with a thin, and finely-lacing light tan head. Richly caramel, soy and alcoholic aroma with some western hops and Belgian yeast. Body is rich, thick, and syrupy, with lots of sweetness and complexity. Smooth with plenty of alcohol, but it is well masked. Thanks to belgianhomebrew for bringing this to the Atlanta gathering. Re-Rate 8/20/04: This has as much sweetness as one could ever want in a beer, yet it's not very cloying. Aging this for six months has helped to mellow it some. Still reminds me of peaches dipped in sticky caramel and sprinkled with dark Belgian candi sugar. This makes a great dessert beer, but definitely a sipping one. Thanks to TChrome for the bottle!

12oz. Bottle: Strong aroma. Smells like Robitussin. Also smells of fruit, berries, alcohol, and sour mix. Poured ruby in color with a big, foamy, tan head that lasted. Good lacing. Clear. Very Sparkling. Very complex flavor is lightly sweet but not bitter. Tastes of cherries, alcohol, toffee, malt, nuts, molasses, and sugar. Full body. Thick texture. Average carbonation. Sweet, raisin flavored finish. Overall, this really hides the alcohol content well. I did not think I would like this beer, but I did. Pleasant surprise.

Co-rated with Scraff... This beer rocks! Murky, ruby colored ale with a khaki-colored head. Decent, swirling retention. The nose is of alcohol, smoke, molasses, dried plums, olives, caramel, toffee... everything sweet, malty and alcoholic. The flavor delivers a hefty dose of warm alcohol as well. Although the sweet malt and sugars end up winning the sweet/bitter battle, the beer is fairly well-balanced by the very decent hop profile and alcohol. Vineous with notes of brown sugar and raisins. Ultra full-bodied with a sticky, alcoholic mouthfeel and lively carbonation. Lengthy, bitter-sweet, alcoholic finish. Great aging potential. The abundance of alcohol in the aroma and flavor doesn't scare me off or offend me... especially in the middle of a very cold Winter. World class stuff!

Dark ruby/brown color (glowing against a light) with a decent tan head. The aroma was very candyish...lots of maple syrup, plums, raisins, caramel, pine. The flavor was extremely sweet...candy sugar, maple, pine, plums, raisins, caramel, with lots of alcohol. The aftertaste was dominated by the pine hops. The feel was quite thick, crisp carbonation, wet feel with a dry finish (!?!) I think that this beer would be incredible with less alcohol. The burn was obtrusive, and became distracting as the beer warmed. Anyway, this beer is very good.

Batch 4 I believe. The first big avery beer that has really clicked with me, other than the IPAs. Sweet licorice aroma. Long lasting thin head. High alcohol but very drinkable. Sweet, not cloying. Maple and licorice. Hints of molasses and raspberries.