Avery Thirteen

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

Dark, this one, opaque and nearly ebony. ("Ruby red" says the label. Nope, not mine, anyway.) Slim ring of cocoa tan on top. Aroma is sweet from the start, caramel, toffee, maple, hints of anise...wait, there’s more!...butterscotch and coffee. Quite an intriquing blend, here. Taste: hmmmm. this is a tough one, very complex and flavorful. Brimming with dark fruits, nuts, thick malt, molasses and carob...maybe. Very full in the mouth, long lasting on the palate, sits a spell in the mouth, and you like it there. Slippery texture, unrelenting flavor, very solid doppel, but it evades my expectations, based on the tastes of other wheaten doppels. Nothing wrong with a unique interpretation, though. This did dumbfound me from the start, as I didn’t detect the wheat, (actually, now I can taste it...it’s coming to the fore, and it’s tasty...why didn’t I taste it earlier?) and it comes of as more of a melding of a doppelbock and an Imperial Stout. Alcohol doesn’t bear down on the drinker, at least this one, until we hit the middle and that may be too late. Enough of this and I’m too numb to care, though.

I rather liked this one. Very pretty deep ruby with nice, compact and lasting tan head. Aroma a pleasant mix of caramel, molasses, bread, and clove spices. Flavor matched, a great balance between full, sweet malts and gentle esters. Perhaps not "typical," but since I don’t care for the typical bock beers, this would be a good thing. Really liked this actually.

Bomber from Greenwood. Sweet malty aroma with long-forgotten bockish grape of a lighter variety and brown sugar to level. Alcohol also present, caramel, too. Deep dark garnet body (slight purplish hue) with a rocky tanned head and firm carbonation. Taste is fruity and prominently spicy, sweet and only lightly bitter with a kick to the teeth from the alcohol. Soft and warming wheat with distinct yeasty and coriander notes. Is there rye in this? Light cocoa powder and still fainter sour cherry. Lightly crisp but no real trace of hops, murky thickness with an overly boozy end and impersonal throat warming. Mismatched caramel and stale grape aftertaste. There was a lot of potential here, but this is too raw and guileless; I’d like to see another attempt.

Courtesy of crilg. Clear bronze body and a clingy, buffy tan head. Aroma of black pepper, clove, faint rubber, toffee, rum raisin, vanilla, and sweet malt. Flavor is initially medium sweet with rum and black cherry characters. Sweetness builds and becomes a little cloying. Decent beer, definitely worth revisiting in a few months.

A two year old bottle I had lying around at work. A very brown colored beer with faint head. The wheat had faded a bit to the point I barely detected it in the aroma which at this point was predominantly spices and dark fruits and a decidedly more roasted malt character than I’d expect. A very similar body which held up surprisingly well given its age.

Aroma:strong molasse,caramel aroma... Appearance:Dark reddsih-brown,good head.. Flavor:Caramel,molasse,liquorices and alcohol....

Deep red-brown body, thin tan head. Horrifying cloying soy and honey notes taint the wet grass, spice, and banana characteristics that should dominate the aroma. Is this another ultra-sweet syrupy nightmare from Avery? Ok, the aroma’s not bad overall, but I’m pretty sensitive to the "Avery taint." The body is thankfully a bit drier, and very spicy, the esters and alcohol dominating the finish. The toasts and dark fruits complement these characteristics nicely; this is almost entering Dubbel territory. Great complexity and mouthfeel; I agree it is a touch hot. A pleasant surprise. And, with that, prospects of a nightmare diminish.

The aroma is a sort of rum-soaked raisin, plum, malt melange with hints of chocolate, spice and raisin liquor. The body is a dark mahogany with a firm and creamy, but thin tan head. Alcohol is the first thing you taste followed by cocoa, roasted malt, raisin and mild banana fosters notes. The finish is quite boozy and I’ve let this bottle sit a while. This is like the third time I’ve had this beer and I feel comfortable saying it’s a tad hot. Bearably hot, but less enjoyable for even so.