Avery Thirteen

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

Poured dark ruby/mahogany with a small fizzy light tan head. Strong aroma of raisins, brown sugar, caramel, european hops, and a bit of molasses. Flavor is strong and good, with notes of smokey molasses and dark fruits and a dry grassy bitterness. Finish is sort of off-putting, being a tad salty, ashen, and metallic. Alcohol is present but not overly so, adding a mild burn to the flavor and a warming sensation to the swallow. A nice weizen-doppelbock that could be even better without the metallic finish.

(22 oz. bottle from <A HREF=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/massachusetts/w target=blank>Julio’s Liquors) Pours dark crimson-ish brown, hard to tell if it’s cloudy or not because it’s quite dark. Surprisingly very little head, even when poured into a weizen glass. Aroma is booze and brown sugar. Mouthfeel is kind of thick and syrupy, maybe a little flat. A few traces of lacing. Flavor is about what I expected from aroma - big boozy sticky sweetness. Lots of alcohol taste with a very brown sugary malt sweetness. Gets a little chocolatey in finish as it warms. A little more bitter than a typical weizen bock. Alot of good weizen bocks are boozy and sweet but this one doesn’t offer much more than that. Could use a little more refinement and complexity, along with more wheat presence. Still a pretty good beer but a definite booze-hound. This bottle may have been past its prime.

Pours a deep mahogany with a loose, frothy beige head that diminishes to a thin cap and laces nicely. The nose if of toffee and cocoa with a solid boozy note that makes it smell as if it were bourbon barrel aged. Also present are spicy fruity esters that remind me of fruitcake. Light to medium-bodied and silky-soft, the mouthfeel transitions to a lightly boozy finish. The flavor follows the nose, with a slightly woody/bourbon note at the finish and in the aftertaste. I know this wasn’t barrel conditioned, but it certainly possesses some of the qualities you’d expect if it had been. This is a pretty tasty brew that is missing only that little "it" factor which keeps it from being truly great.

Bottled sample via oakbluff. Opaque brown in colour with moderate carbonation. Aromas of bubble gum, brown sugar and malted wheat. Balanced chocolate and caramel notes in the mouth, along with some black licorice, berry fruit, and alcohol notes. Heavy in the mouth to start, but dries out enough for some balance.

This goes back to my whole feeling about German purity and being true to styles. Again too bold and big, which is not always better. Sometimes they pull it off and sometimes they don’t, this was one of those examples. Too sweet, out of balance, with a woody rum type finish. I could not finish the bomber, slightly disappointing.

Crushed with Jakebra. Very interesting. Smells like a bourbon barrel. Flavor is sweet but finishes surprisingly hoppy. My first Weizen Bock, but I’m digging the style based on this one.

Pours a brownish red with a small tan head. The aroma is malty with whiffs of banana and alcohol. The flavor has primarily a roasted quality with some hints at banana and dark fruit.

750ml bottle via Arctic Solutions. Pours a dark Marhoganey brown/almost black with a chalky beige head. Love the aroma with notes of Vanilla, Toffee, caramel, molasses and plums. And i can taste all of those in the first drink. Full bodied moutfeel, chewy finish. Lots of roasted chocolate malts and Licorice in the bittersweet aftertaste. Alcohol is there in the end as well, but not overwhelming. AWESOME.***************11/17/06 rerate-original score was 9/4/10/5/18...I am not nearly as impressed almost 3 months later. Maybe i am picker nowalmost 300 beers later?***********22 oz bottle via DocLock (thanks!). Pours a dark reDDish brown with a average beige head. Nose is of vanilla, toffee, plus, cherries. Taste is molassess, toffee, raisins, berries. Very sweet at first but with chalkyfinish. Reminds me a bit of a stronger version of Boss Kozlak but sweeter....