Avery Collaboration Not Litigation

smells hoppy, pours brown, darker than i thought, tastes part belgian part barley wine, part ipa. nice complexity.

Who can resist a beer with a great story? Not I. But I found that this one didn’t live up to that story. It was far from bad, but not what I had hoped. The brew starts off with a clear, dark copper/brown color, and a 1 cm head close enough to white to offer a nice contrast with the liquid. Nose is nice, malty, and mildly vinous, but not as strong as I’d like it to be. The flavor is similar to the nose. Nice notes throughout, but just not strong enough, especially in the front. Mouthfeel is good, and the beer provides a nice warming sensation, which is always appreciated.

My Bottom Line:
Brown sugar allusions and bready maltiness tiptoe around the toasty and roasty notes in this delicately spicy and sweet Belgian Strong Ale.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A sheet of foam tops the clear copper brown.
-The nose is rather timid, but does announce the flavor profile.
-Carbonation is perfect, aiding drinkability greatly and helping in creating an authentically Belgian mouthfeel.
-Alcohol is not a bother at all; this is dangerously easy to drink.
-The finish is a slow fade out of the flavor profile.

Bottled in January 2007.

Bomber. Mild sweet nose. Very rich, dark color and a solid, small head. The taste is somewhere between a belgian and pale ale, which I’m sure many belgian fans won’t like, but it’s right up my alley. The mouthfeel, however, leaves something to be desired. It’s too fizzy, even filling my mouth with foam if I drink much quickly. Too bad, because other than this flaw, it goes down very cleanly and the alcohol is completely hidden in the delightful flavors.

Draft at Falling Rock Taphouse, Denver. Midnight red with a very sticky, thick haed. Delivers a robust sugar/caramel sweetness but done in an exceptionally drinkable manner. This is an outstanding beer in the Belgian tradition. (#3132, 10/10/2007)

Bottle. Body-very hazy dirty brown body with a ½ inch loose foamy head. Nose-light malt extract, stale raisin, brown sugar, molasses, very very light smoked meat. Taste-high CO2, grape, earthy (wheaty), soil, hint of Dr. Pepper, clay, light tobacco, light metal on the back end, hint of coffee, cinnamon, burnt caramel, scorched butter. Big bitter earthy component that comes across to me as clay. Wood, unsweet fig, low-medium fruity esters from the yeast, light raw doughy flavor. Overall very very good, maybe the best session beer ever. Not sweet at all, not over powering. In 2 words: earthy and excellent.

Amber in color. Aroma of raisins, toffee and nutty, and of course a bit o’ the hops. Good mouth feel, yummy maltiness with a small balance of hops. Notes of dark fruits, and some nuttiness. There funny story behind this beer, ask Adam Avery.

Draught at Akkurat, Stockholm. Amber/orange color, offwhite head. Nutty aroma, some raisins, quite malty but with some hoppy notes. Malty, fruity flavor, some yeast and raisins.