Avery Barrel-Aged Series 1 - Brabant

Formerly brewed at Avery Brewing Company
Style: Sour Ale/Wild Ale
Boulder, Colorado USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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This looked like red wine when I was pouring it, but in the glass it was a deep reddish brown with a light brown head, good lacing. Fantastic aroma, sour, dark fruits, Belgian funkyness, plum and cherry, earthy. Malts are towards the end and have hints of chocolate and anise. Finish is dry with the feeling of grape skins. Weird, complex and very good.

Poured a dark brown with small head. Nose was heavy on red wine grapes and not much else. Flavor is dominated by the zinfandel barrel. Not very sour, its got a fair amount of vinegar, a little bit of spiciness, but as everyone haas already stated, this one needs more time to see if it can get more sour of if the brett can maybe change things up a little.

Gotta imagine this needs more time to let the brett or something do its thing. Tasted like it was trying to be sour, but couldnt quite get there. Dark pour, some sour notes but barely enough to get a "sour" tag, some tannin presence, cherries, wood andotes of the brett.

I had high expectations for this beer, given its high price tag, and it delivered. If you like sour and funky, this is a beer for you. Somehow I didn’t expect this beer to be dark when it came out of the bottle. Aroma is sour-sour-sour, with what I think of when I think of brettanomyces, maybe a touch of balsamic vinegar, and sour cherriness. Flavor is reminiscent of a Cantillon lambic, but amped up. There is also a "chalky" taste to it that seemed to fade once the beer warmed. Liked it more and more as I drank it. Quite good, but still over-priced....which, incidentally, beats over-priced and lousy.

Pours dark with nice big off-white head. Nose is sour with cherries and currents. Flavor is woody with sour cherries and red wine. Medium body with even some tannis still pulling through from the wood barrels.

Bottle. Aroma of sour cherries and a little funk. Flavor is sour but well balanced with a calming sweetness and mild funk. Very good. Very enjoyable.

Finally, I get to try this beer. The last time I had a dark and sour-ish beer, I didn’t enjoy it (Madrugada Obscura), so I didn’t know what to expect here. Anyway, pours dark brown with red highlights and a fluffy beige head. Aroma is big on the funk, but mild on the sourness. Vinous notes abound, mustard, wood, lots wine (and some berry), maybe even a bit of caramel and chocolate, but the funky fruity brett is the main player. Tastes equally complex with plenty of spicy red wine, old fruit, cheese, and mustard, but there’s a lot more caramel, chocolate, and toasty malt qualities than a sour beer would allow. Finishes very nutty with wood, toast, tangy fruit, and a dry sensation. Medium bodied, plenty of carbonation and fluffy mouthfeel. Tangy and almost sour with more malt flavors than you’d expect. I like it.

Bottle. Pours out a dark reddish / brown color with a tan head on it. The smell has some sour notes in it and a little bit of the smell from the zinfandel barrel. Fruity and somewhat sour taste. It has brett in it, so I think I am supposed to give it 4.5+ ratings; however that is not the case. This is simply an average beer that really does not stand out at all. Sure there are some unique qualities, but mostly its just yet another beer with a sour funk in it. Not really something I would buy again.. Maybe it would do good with some age on it, but I don’t age beer anymore because I find that if it tastes like shit, it probably will continue to taste like shit.

A very cool beer shared by footbalm. Pours a dark brown color with a large beige head. The aroma is heavy on Brett, vinous notes and wood. The flavor is similarly full of wine-like flavors, sourness and funk, Brett, light roasted flavors, not too much like a BSA. Later as it warmed a lot of Belgian yeast did come to the fore. Very nice and unique.

Pours a dark brown,like a porter, with a tall khaki head that leaves considerable lacing. Aroma has anise, chocolate, kiwi, musty oak, and some serious funk. Medium bodied, thick and viscous. Taste is complex. Maybe too complex for its own good. Opens with sour cherries, followed by chocolate and coffee notes. Musty oak, vinous zinfandel, bubblegum, horse blanket, peppery alcohol, dark fruits, and more funk. Unique, certainly, almost weird, but it’s very drinkable. There’s just too much going on here. Curious about how this will age.