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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Bottle. Black colour wih an off-white head. Aroma is sourness, brett, malt, chocolate, oak, cherry stone. Flavour is brett, sourness, berries, oak, yeast, malt, chocolate. Nice beer.

A deep dark brown sour ale with a thick brown head. In aroma, a superb molassy anf grassy sour mash, with white grapeskins, Orval Brett, cork and pepper and alcohol warmth. In mouth, a smooth yet sour dark malt with dark fruits, molasses, soysauce, fruity acidity, warming and nice. Tasted with Probstk. Bottle from Federal Wine in Boston, approx. a year old.

Deep brown pour. The nose has a soft, lightly oaky nose with a touch of light licorice and some dried plums. There is a bit of balsamic character on the back along with a bit of light tarriness. There is a touch of dry coffee character and a bit of light burnt rubber flavour. The wildness is quite subtle with just a little bit of light vineousness. Their brett strain is really weird – it gives off a strange rancid character that just doesn’t really work for me. As it warms there is a bit of light chocolate and a touch of peppery character that picks up a lot as it warms up. A bit of light licorice and as it warms it actually comes together pretty nicely. The musty character integrates with the fruit and light cocoa. It is a weird brew, but it works reasonably well.

Pours a barely transparent dark mahogany with a thin, wispy-lacing beige head. Aroma of sweet toasty dark caramel and vinous tart fruitiness. Starts with good dark malty viscosity and sweettart vinous oaky complexity before a tart black cherry finish. Pretty complex and should age well, but could use a little more sweetness for balance.

Bottles: one via a trade with Carythedude, the other from Lumpy (who I think got it from Kevin). Brewed on 2/10/09. Pours with a black body, with a small, off-white head. Aroma is tart with notes of wine barrel, horse blanket, sweetness, dark fruits, cherry. Taste is sour, with barrels, plum sweetness and cherries. Syrupy mouthfeel, light bubbles. Quite good!

UPDATED: APR 6, 2011 First pour is surprisingly dark, with a chestnut brown tint and a crusty-looking peanut colored head. First hint of the nose is just mindbogglingly appetizing.... currants, brettanomyces, red grapes, nutmeg, nutty bran and cardamom... wine-like for sure, with a supple Belgian yeast character that reminds me of a hefty trappist loaded with plum, currant and brown sugar, but touched with the natural brett-like character of tannic grape skins. Spritzy first sip is peppery and active on tongue, effervescent and bubbly, the tip of the tongue tingles... huge note of bready currants and moderately sour nuts and toast (as in sour cream)... interesting... not hitting everything like I would have hoped... halfway through a small bottle I’m still thinking that the nose is stellar while there is something to be desired flavor-wise. Body is decent but unimpressive - there’s little that stands out and makes me remark... that fullness and roundness that I’m these days finding essential for enjoyable beer, well it’s not here, so the entire palate experience is very muted and forgettable. A little too much of a toasted bran and burnt currant character, but nonetheless delicious and interesting. A positive experience drinking this one, I’m happy to report.

Bottle at The Ginger Man. A very nice wild ale. Dark chocolate colour, with small Caesar off-white head. Good lace. Some chocolate, a wild ale taste all he way, good bitterness, with a tart finish. While nicely drinkable, had to share out a 330 ml with other patrons as I got it in the first half of the bottle. Would work with food.

Bottle. Pours dark brown with an average, fizzy, light brown head, somewhat lasting with fair lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (bread, caramel, straw), light hop (flower, herb), heavy yeast (barnyard, horse blanket) with notes of band aid, bubble gum, plum, oak, wine, and cherries. Medium bodied, creamy texture, average carbonation, and a bitter-dry finish. Long duration, light sweetness, moderate acidity and bitterness.

Pours deep bornw with ruby edges and 1-finger tan head. Nose is complex; a medley of tart cherry, oaky, malt, earthy figgy fruit, and sour mashy wet basement. Tastes tart, with prominent cherry, dark malt, earthy, peaty, and oaky notes, and more and more blackberry as it warms. Becomes very much like a solid blackberry merlot late, and smoothes out to become a fine accompaniment to my Don Tomas Maduro cigar. Well done.

Lacy tan head slowly disappears from the cola coloured, almost opaque ale. Fruity, grapey and jammy potent nose that translates into a rather tannic, again jammy palate where dark fruits and their skin find their way in an earthy, woodsy ensemble. Very well attenuated at this stage, it has grown wild flowers and soft coniferous notes from the brett, but the wood character takes more room than the wild yeast and its vinous aspects are most noticeable. Blueberries, cherries, blackberries and black currant are all apart of the fruity subtleties developed by this union. Feels not overly alcoholic, but very strong, perhaps more so than its close to 9%. I’d actually be very curious to try the basic ale that went into the barrels before its sojourn, there seems to be little character left from ex ante barrels, but what it became is fun. Thick palate with little carbonation. Closing notes of chocolate and new world red wine. Solid, I’d be most curious to try such recipes from brewers I appreciate more than Avery because this was beyond my expetations.