Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale

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

Wow. I am really glad that I made this the first beer of the night. Very intense. Burgundy orange colored. Very little head. Faint nose- probably the weakest element of this beer. First sips are headbangingly sweet. The mouthfeel almost feels syrupy, but not in a bad way. Lots of that belgian candy for sure. Warming as all get out and fit well for this unseasonably cool Spring evening in Dallas. Yummy.

(Batch 6 - 2008). Fairly good carbonation for such a heavy alcoholic laden beer.Pours very tall head with lots of big bubbles. Blood orange red color in body. Aroma of yeast, albeit it very light. Wonderful flavor packed with LOTS of sugars. If you eat dates you can pick out the date flavor especially. Warming in the throat after swallowing the first few sips and the warmth continues to linger on the palate for quite some time. . Body is not overly heavy. I can easily see someone getting carried away drinking this stuff. If you like Belgians you need to try this. Addendum to this post. As little as 15 minutes after drinking this I’m actually feeling a little numbness. This was after ONE bottle and I’m a pretty heavy person. Avery is the only brewery that has done that to me. Not even the legendary EKU 28!! Drink, but drink with intnet of not driving for some time. :-)

Clear, brilliant ruby with an extremely small, off-white head. Intense, lightly toasted and quite sweet malt nose. Big alcohol, lightly toasted bread, chocolate, caramel, molasses, honey and intermitent fruit. The body is full and supple with plenty to offer. The flavor is strong and sweet with a warm, biting alcoholic kick that makes the experience more enjoyable. There is a relatively moderate bitter hop balance that keeps the sweetness from becoming cloying. An interesting beast of a Belgian with great flavors and a spicy yeast strain. The heat may be a bit too warm, but just barely, and the complex malt structure is nearly divine.

Hearty malt aroma. I swear to you this head is greenish yellow, strange. Dark red in color. Taste is perfectly malty. Chocolate, cherries, and raisins all over. Big alc. taste that is almost too much. Nice sweet belgian yeastiness that sits in the background. Drinkable for this abv. An excellent beer, but almost took things too far concerning alcohol content and overall strength of taste. Would love to let this sit for a few years and then taste again. ReRate: New version is way to strong. Aroma isn’t quite as good.

Pours dark without much head. Smells very complex and malty. This is one of those beers that you can compare to port or cognac. Unfortunately, I do not like port or cognac. I don't see it as an American Westy or Rochefort. I know that it is higher in ABV, but this is extremely noticable. Very warming yes, but the overall effect is alcohol heat. It is almost like drinking Jack Daniel's (which I really hate...). This is overall a good beer and worth the experience, but the dominant alcohol flavor is too much.

2004-22oz bomber-pours a nice garnet red hue with mild carbonation. very little off white head around rim of snifter. Lots of ripe fruit on the aroma-green apples, belgian candy sugar, yeast esters. So much sweetness. WOW! what a huge flavor. Sticky and viscus palate. The aroma is mild compared to the flavor profile, which is very robust and slightly hot due to the high abv. This could use some aging, but its a definate treat. long smoke tobacco finish. good brew from Avery, but needs some time in the cellar.

Dark brown, raisin, rum, black cherry, alcohol present. Very port-like taste and mouthfeel. Finished with a sweet cherry taste. Warms up the chest and pipes. Best at room temp. Thanks Ern.

A lovely SWEET and malty beer from the good people at Avery makers of one of the world’s great brown ales. Stylistically I would put this close to a barley wine.