Avery Ale to the Chief

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

Aroma is spicy, floral hops and a bit of sweet alcohol. Pours a clear copper with a lasting large white head that leaves a nice lacing. Taste is caramel malt, and citrus hops. Well-balanced. Surprisingly, the alcohol was noticable in the aroma, but not the taste. Very drinkable.

22oz. bomber served in a Duvel tulip. Plenty of carbonation, opened with a pretty good pop. Poured a reddish gold with a thick white head. Fresh citrus/pine hop aroma. Solid malt backbone. Smooth mouthfeel. Restrained hop bitterness. Some citrus in the middle. Dry hop finish but not mouth puckering. Very drinkable at 8.75% abv. Nicely balanced beer, not a hop bomb.

Pours a somewhat dark burnt orange color with a small quickly dissipating off-white head. Aroma is rather tame with apricots, dirt, caramel, and Somethiing slightly off...like a warm rainy day or something. Taste pretty sweet, brown sugar, breadcrust, sweet potatoes, gentle earthy hops, and a wee bit of of citrus. Finishes pretty nice and gently bitter with a big toast taste. Bland palate unfortunately, the carbonation and the body feel completely unrelated. Points for uniqueness in the not-quite-double pale/IPA-ish category.

Amber with thin white head and big pine/citrus aroma. Flavor has the malt up front with hope profile quickly following. Citrus/grapefruit and pine hop flavors have a big presence but the beer is well balanced.

Bottle from Total Wine. Pours a beautifully massive off-white head over an orange/amber body. The head effectively remains intact and reveals solid lacing. The aroma is piney and floral with hops. Flavors include more resinous hops and slight caramel. The hops and malt are well-balanced. Medium carbonation and medium/full body. Good beer, but quite linear in flavor.

Light amber-orange color with a taller big bubbled head that settles quite quickly to a fingers worth of fairly tight light beige bubbles. A few specks of lace. Sweet pale and lightly toasted malt scents backed by orange soap, light pine, melon, along with hints of resin and alcohol. Smells like many a strong american ale. Full, lightly oily to velvety feel. Big citric hops flavors. Catching a touch of caramel, but really seems to lack malt balance. Quite acidic at times and a bitter finish and linger. Hints of melon do seem to roll around. Late in the linger a touch of malt reappears, albeit a bit late. I enjoy it for what it is, a hopped up strong ale, but the lack of much malt depth, at least for this malt-maniac, is a letdown. Seems messy, much like the politics of the times.

22oz bottle. Bells tulip glass. Citrus, caramel, and woodsy aroma. I’ve missed hop bombs with my recent trip to Belgian only beers. The intial taste is tangerines, grapefuit, and wildflower honey followed by fruity, earthy, and bitter hops, toffee-like malt, and a resinous, citrusy finish. Alcohol is hidden completely. Thick bodied, but a mostly clean finish due to the hops. Maybe a little flabby...

Lightly hazy copper beer, with a moderate, soapy lace - aroma of herbal tea sweetened with honey, medium hop presence, and potent grapefruit - grapefruit hits the palate first, followed by caramel-ish sweetness, peppery hops, and spicy alcohol - a little oily on the palate - lacking depth - brash and one-dimensional - I shouldn’t have expected anything else from Avery - why I continue to drop 8 bucks on bombers of their beer, I’ll never know.