Avery Collaboration Not Litigation

Pours deep brown with an amber hue and a small fizzy white head. Semi-sweet malty aroma with a hint piny hops. Flavor is as expected from the aroma. Lightly sweet malts with some piny hop overtones. Kinda middle of the road overall, a bit over-hopped for the style.

22 oz bottle. The 2nd batch. Golden with a big white fluffy head. Yeasty, spicy aroma. Dark fruit flavors with a sweet malt kicker.

Bottle. Meidum high fluffy and lasting white head. Hazy dark orange body. Apple pear plum raisin aroma with peppery notes. High carbonated fruity herbal flavor with caramel and honey. Long aftertaste. A bit strange but not unintereesting.

(750 ml. bottle - batch #2, Feb 2008) light brown/deep amber with hints of red. Off white head. Bready aroma with dark fruits. Flavor is dark fruits, yeast, sweetish malt. Great beer- and a great attitude behind it.

Good bready aroma with rocky white head. Good retention. golden amber appearance with solid melanoidn presence. Slight yeast taste, but to style. Good all around beer.

Bottle, pours a dark red, with a tan head. Malts and yeast are dominate, in the aroma. Fairly easy to drink, alcohol is not too noticeable, a nice and decent brew nothing ground breaking a bit of lingering sweetness.

Light hazy golden amber, caramel, malty, citrus, yeasty, hoppy, nice balance.

Almost every beer enthusiast knows the story behind this beer, remarkable for its straying from the American tradition of litigation. Sadly, I had hoped it would be a bit better - a beer to match the story. But from what I’ve seen, heard, and tasted, Russian River’s Salvation is only dragged down by Avery’s Salvation. Those that have mixed the two to try and reproduce the "Collaboration Not Litigation" reported blends with higher proportions of Russian River’s version were simply better. I did not have the luxury of owning a bottle of either Salvation, but found this blend to be somewhat off-putting. A cloudly, maple wood colored beer, a fuzzy, scummy white head - the drab garment of an unexciting drink. A smell similar to an Imperial Pilsener issues from the glass, deep yet fresh, with a sweet corn fragrance and a touch of hops, copious booze and a little sweet pine. Nothing fancy, but vibrant. The flavor is heady and boozy, smacking the drinker around a little, before hitting them with a wave of chemical flavors, a few token wood and cheese notes, and a general feeling that this beer, like some kind of cave or back alley, is "dank." I’d much prefer to stick to the pure Salvation, though I admire what this beer says about the amicable nature of beer drinkers and brewers; law is second to good brewing.