Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

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

Slight cardboard in the nose on top of stewed black cherries soaked in calvados.Smooth palate at first, silky and rich, then with a slight ginger like heat, followed by an "enveloped in fog" sort of effect. A very nice, though not perfect, ultra huge digestif beer.

Bottle (Cantillon Open Brewing Day): Alcohol, prunes, figs raisins and sweet berries in the nose. Grainy biscuits, grassy hops, hot chocolate and estery spices. Smooth warming body. Tasty.

Dark prelucid ruby red (w/light) dark mahogany (w/o light) with a light auburn colored head and a little islandic lacing. The nose feel is alcohol; total, the aroma is very rich sweet dark malts and a nice hop wave trying to come over them but fails to do so. The flavor is semi-sweet with some good belgian charactaristics, I didn't think they'd come through as much with this alcohol feel but it does. Spicy warm finish with some great complexities and undertones. This was a great unique beer (if you love the alcohol). I'd like to put one of these away for a decade and see what it's like.

Dark mahogany pour with a thick and creamy off white head with sheets of beer. Strong fruits and alcohol in the aroma. Big hops along with sweet malts. Hoppy flavors with strong malts as well. Clove or coriander making an appearence. Fruits aplenty. Raisins and molasses are the strongest fruits. And of course, alcohol is present. Huge body, strong palate of spice and alcohol, and a huge hoppy finish. The beast lives up to it's name.

Bottled, batch 3-edition. Cloudy orange coloured with an off white head. Acidic aroma with notes of fruits and dried fruits. Sweet perfumed fruity flavour with notes of dried fruits and hops. Dry hoppy finish.

Batch 3 (2005) 14.9% ABV - Deep amber/brown in color with ruby highlights (especially after I was drinking it for a while) and a slender head that forms about 30 seconds after the pour, then haloes... this Beauty (er, Beast) has a warm aroma of plums and cherries and raisins and brown sugar and molasses and alcohol. This has a chewy, creamy mouthfeel - very satisfying. The flavor is filled with the aforementioned fruits and has a spicy element, pepper and anise and the gods know what. The alcohol returns in the finish, making it a sticky sweet yet dry ending to an excellent brew.

I ’ve cellared some Batch 2 (2004) 18.1% ABV to be shared with other members of The League of Strange Beer Drinkers (except, perhaps, for frankenkitty, who downed a bomber [or more?] on his own!), but I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep my hands off of it for much longer.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Armanetti, Willowbrook, IL<font size=-1>

This must be Batch 3, because it rates 14,8%. Intense aroma, Intense dark golden appearance, strong exquisite falvour, excellent aftertaste, this is an excepionnally good beer, perfect for Winter dinners.

18.1% Version, rereview. Bottle bought last night and consumed with a friend. The Beast still has a lovely color and shows good head retention considering its size. I also think that the aroma is still pretty appealing with a nice sugary, fruity, malty (butter toffee, dough), raisins smell. But the taste is horrible. An eventual drainpour and I even tried this with a few friends. Just way too hot and the alcohol takes over everything. Disgusting to me. The 15.7% version which I rated fairly high, but it was over 10 months ago, tasted much better than this. Perhaps my palate has changed since then and I don’t automatically give high alcoholic beers high scores.

Batch # 3. Wow, a huge improvement. I would provide some notes, but its getting me to drunk to think.