Avery The Reverend

Brewed by Avery Brewing Company
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Boulder, Colorado USA

This beer went down remarkably smooth for a belgian quad. It had all the typical characteristics....roasted fruit, alcohol, yeast, etc....from start to finish, but it didnt possess anything that made it stand out above the others....not bad though.

Sweet fruity smell, seemingly raspberry underlying it. Dark red color to it with a thin, almost non-existant, white head. Flavor is strong on the malt goodness and over all sweetness.

Nose is minimal to me. Yeast, cinnamon, ginger, and alcohol in the mouth which work very well together. not a huge fan of the style.

probably drank it out of character. but i have had it from the cask and from those 22 oz bottles. nice beer as described. i can’t figure when you would drink it. complex and interesting.

ruby copper color, dense foamy tan head that disappeared quickly. whiskey and dried currants nose. dark candi sugar too. lively carbonation, whiskey, malty dark candi sugar taste. low bitterness. alcohol finish.

22oz bottle. Served at 49.7° in my NB worthy glass. Pours red with a small, hazy off-white head. Aroma of dark fruits, rum, and sugar sweetness. The body is pretty big. The flavors are of prunes, plums, with an unusual middle flavor that is almost tart and sour, the finish is back to mildly sweet. There is a bit of heat. This beer seems considerably less complex than many of the Abt/Quads, I guess there is some pretty stiff competiton in this class.

Clear amber body with very little of the white head that does not stick around, possibly due to alc. content. Sugary sweet aroma with some cloves that have been more apparent in other bottles and this one had DMS(corn)vegetal aromas which I also do not remember from past bottles. There is a little maltiness that comes around after it warms. This is the first time I've actually rated this beer,and I must say, it is not one of the better samples I've had, but I'll keep that in mind in this rating. Flavor is about the same as the aroma; Sugary sweet at first, cloves, then hops come around at the end with alcohol flavors, but overall well balanced in the finish. Aftertaste is clean with some hop flavor and bitterness. The alcohol is warming, not hot at 10% ABV and the carbonation is moderate for a "Belgian" style beer of medium body. Not terribly complex but dangerously drinkable. I know this beer is better than the bottle I've just had so I'll adjust my rating according to both this bottle and my memory of what I've had in the past.

You know, if somebody gave me this and told me it was an English barleywine, I’m not sure I’d try to argue, at least not that much. The big malts are there along with dark fruits but there’s very little of that spicy yeast character that makes Belgians taste like, well, Belgians. It does pour a lovely dark amber with a nice bit of white head. And it is surprisingly crisp, smooth and easy drinking for any beer let alone one of such high gravity but a Trappist ale it is not.