Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

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

Had the 15.7 version.Strong alcohol in the aroma.Pours dark with some hints of red.Medium tan head.Nice mix of flavors.Chocolate,sweet malts and a hint of raisins.Very full mouthfeel with a nice alcohol finish.Probably my favorite from the demon series.

Batch 4. Sweet Jesus. This is the only beer I’ve ever gotten a buzz from just by drinking one. It’s like you were driving a raisin truck that slid on molasses and then slammed into a spice mill that had walls made of brown sugar. Head is thick and rocky enough to inspire mountaineers to take notice. Also, the head is seriously powerful stuff, and gives a great indication of the range you’ll experience once you actually drink the liquid itself. The spectrum is amazing: brown sugar, caramel, candied fruit, vanilla, raisin, honey and apricot. I’m pretty proud it only took me 45 minutes to finish it and I never once slipped into a diabetic coma. Yes, Virginia...it is a beast.

2006 bottle. Insanely sweet - but for whatever reason, I like this! Maybe the year-plus of age did it some good. I didn’t have any high hopes at all - in fact, figured I would end up dumping it. But sure enough, the heavy warming effect is very enjoyable (why can’t I be drinking this in the snow instead of the summer sun!?!?) Flavor is mostly black currant with some toffee, honey, and caramel. What a surpise! I always seem to like the ass kicker beers but I can definitely see this being a love-hate.

2007 bottle, consumed 01/09/08. Lovely clear caramel color with orange and gold highlights. Well carbonated: makes a nice head that reduces after a few minutes. Aroma is BIG: I can catch whiffs of it from over a foot away as it sits on the table. A bit like solvent or glue , unfortunately, but that’s just in the background. Sweet oranges or grapefruit and a honey/mead character are the strongest nose components. Thick as it slides into the mouth. One sip and you know you’re drinking something substantial. There’s more flavor here than in a 12 pack of macro swill. Hot spicy honey explodes in the mouth. Sharp sweet sugar appears. Alcohol vapors waft into the sinuses. Slight citrus bitterness appears and fades. The burn lasts a very long time after the beer has gone south, reminding you that it’s going to do the same thing to your bloodstream. Not an easy drinker by any means, but then it’s not supposed to be a lawnmower beer, is it?

Pours a deep red with a thin, lacey brown head. Powerful aroma of spices, hops, dark fruits and berries. Once it hits your lips its so good.....The first sip explodes with dates, raisins, Belgian candy, molasses and any other type of dark sugar. The malt presence follows, with hints of roasted and biscuit flavors. Hops are also detectable, although the sugars dominate most of the palate. Oh yeah...the alcohol. Not present in the first sip, but you feel it in the throat, and then the overwhelming warmth that follows. Mouthfeel is incredibly thick. The only downside is that it should be aged (this is for the 2008 vintage). The overall flavor profile needs to mellow for a few years.

2006 bottle. Foggy orange pour that creates a tan head that sits quite nicely for a long time. The first thing that you notice on the nose is the alcohol presence. LOADS of sweet notes follow with honey and sweetbread. Very thick feel as you mull this one over. "Intense" does not even begin to give the proper credence to this. Alcohol flavor is there but the most striking feature is the complexity of the sweetness. Incredible amounts of sweet flavors from honey, to molasses, to sweetbread. This sweet flavor is felt for minutes upon minutes, almost causing a knee-jerk reaction. This was quite an experience. Having aged for 3 years, it developed quite an attitude.

Tropical, rummy notes. Ruby/amber hue, slight head. Extremely complex balance of flavors, the interplay with the different sweetnesses are amazing. Nice slow alcohol burn, almost drinks like a slightly effervescent sherry. Really enjoyable...a beer everyone should try at least once.

12 oz bottle. Pours a red-gold with a smallish head. Delicious aroma of caramel, bruised pears, dates/raisins, and very mild, earthy hops. Palate is sticky and mouth-coating. This beer pounds your tastebuds with sweetness, giving you all sorts of forbidden fruits to play with. These include apples, pears, figs, plums and dates with a healthy dose of caramel for good measure. Wonderfully complex, it warms as it goes down (2007 vintage listed at 16.42%, but you don’t feel it much until afterwards) and leaves you wondering whether beer is the work of some god, or something more sinister. Will enjoy this again soon.