Avery Thirteen

Formerly brewed at Avery Brewing Company
Style: Weizen Bock
Boulder, Colorado USA

Draught pint at Sunset Grill on 8/4/06. Not sure why I forgot this one.
Chalk-colored grey/off-white head is small and shows low to moderate retention, eventually receding to a ring/partial-cover. Dark, cola-brown liquid shows soy/tan highlights in the light and has a medium-high clarity with quite a bit of large-bubbled carbonation rushing about. Little/no lacing created.
Chocolate cola notes quickly mix with cotton candy and bubble gum. Seems this is going to be some sugary stuff based on a quick sniff. Some assertive roast always seems to do this style well, but here it seems pushed over by the pale malt sugars or just plain non-existent. Wheat is pretty few and far between and more of that would soften this insipid sweetness oozing from the liquid. Not to mention, there is hardly any bock-like yeastiness on the finish, perhaps just a pinch of light vinousness. Honestly smells more like a simple, amped-up dunkel with some weizen yeast qualities, though very light at that. Some light banana cream notes and too much cola and bubble gum. Where the hell is all of this cola coming from? Aroma strength, furthermore, is not very strong, though nor is it alcoholic/fuselic.
Less bubble gum, thank god, in the flavor. In its place, there is more sticky caramel, light fudgey chocolate and yes, cola. Little/no sourish bockiness, a rather gassy, overcarbonated body which is too sugary/sweet no matter how much CO2 you cut it with and hardly any real wheat dryness/softness. And as it warms, the slight alcohol warmth turns in to a more raw fusel sharpness. Black pepper-like phenol astringency further clouds the finish and some dry, bland breadiness emerges as well.

(660ml bottle) The kings of high alcohol beers - good grief?!?! Boozy, fruity malt nose. Too strong - almost gasoline fuel. Not to bad a burn considering the ABV. My biggest problem with this brewery is that they CAN BREW but choose to compete in a childish Who can make the highest ABV annual? Ridiculous.

Bomber. Pours a brownish color with a bit of a head. Interesting beer. Aromas reminded me of a dunkelweizen. Estery aromas as well as some roasted malt notes. Vanilla and malt flavor with some decent sweetness as well. I’d like to try this again.

Rerate. My other bomber is going to be rated now, both from boboski as bonuses in a trade. Pours a clear mahogany with a half finger quickly fading brown head. Aroma of chocolate covered bananas, yeast, spicy alcohol, sugar cookie, and light soy. Flavor is slighly saltier with the soy, but the chocolate covered banana is still there. Spicy alcohol has mellowed a bit, and some raisins and sugar cookie are present. Medium to full body with low carbonation. Still pretty decent, but I’m not sad that I have no more of this. Old Rating follows. 22oz bomber, Brewed in 2006. Pours a deep ruby with a one finger tan head. Aroma of some chocolate and roasty malts, light banana and wheat, some dark fruits (figs and dates). Maybe a little ETOH as well. Flavor has some faint bananas and yeast that are blown away by strong roasty and chocolate malts, a little soy sauce and a little too much warming alcohol almost to the point of being harsh. There are also caramel malts in there. Moderate soy/bitter lingering finish. Full bodied with moderate sharp carbonation. Letting this lie down for at least another six months wouldn’t be a bad idea, but maybe I dunno what I’m talking about. I’m having trouble rating this one--I can’t tell if I do or don’t like it--for now it’s staying as a 3.4 7-4-7-3-13--3.4

Bottle from Uber Tavern. Cloudy dark red/light brown with decent head. Nice subtle sweetness with aroma of banana and a little yeast. Decent take on a Weizen Bock...but lots of room for improvement. Smooth and very drinkable with no dominating tastes...a bit too sweet. Tastes of roasted malts, wheat, chocolate and an alcohol bite are all subtle; almost seems a bit watered down.

22 oz bomber pours brownish black small tan head. Roasted chocolate, smoke, and alcohol aromas in the nose. Medium bodied and smooth with dark complex carmel molasses flavors, bready, toffee, and spicy. Damn tasty.

Bananas, wheat and roasted malt in the nose. Considerable alcohol presence detected. Some molasses as well. Mostly clear very dark red; almost opaque. Quite sweet, with a high alcohol profile. This is a very good beer. Underrated if you ask me. Small, tan head. I was looking for my weissbier glass and couldn’t find it. I guess that means I need more than one. So, I am using a cross between a flute and a footed pilsner glass; Carlsberg logo. I could swear this beer has a hop profile. The alcohol is a little overbearing; that would be my one knock on this brew. If it were maybe 3/4% lower in ABV, it would be perfect. Another winner from Avery.

Pours a dark brown that looks red in the thinner parts. Head formed well initially but dissipated quickly, while the lacing remained the entire time. Aroma was yeasty and raisiny, with a bit of a smokey malt quality. Flavor was similar, but a little roastier than the aroma suggested, with more dark rye bread flavors too. The carbonation was a tingly, but that’s how the wheat beers are it seems. It mellows over time. The mouthfull was plenty thick, about as much as a beer like this should be. Overall, I think the yeasty and spicy flavors were slightly too dominant, but this beer was still very nice.