Avery Fifteen

650 ml, Apr 08 vintage. Clear burnt orange-golden with a small creamy head that leaves thin frosting on the glass. Aroma is citronella, mushroom, peach, apple and orange peel with some slight evergreen. Flavor is white wine, tart apple, citrus oil, and light alcohol. Cheap white wine and citronella finish. Light body is dry and too fizzy.

This is one to try a few times, that’s for sure. I fully enjoyed my first bottle, though I think I did expect the whole thing to be a bit beefier - more a testament to my expectations than anything. Aroma is total bret that makes it feel rather peachy. Flavors are jammy, peachy, and a hint of spice. I expected the fig to show though a bit more, but it still was good. My wife loved it. I think I’ll get a few more, one to try super cold, and a few to let sit for a year or two to see what happens.

Pre-Note: The beer is better at colder temps rather than near cellar temps.
Dirty orange color with a bright white fuzzy-looking head. The nose was very nice though maybe a tad too sweet..but it exhibited nice brett notes, lemon-lime, cardamom, white pepper, and jaimaca. Fizzy intro...Somewhat muddled flavors at the start and noticeably more bitter than is usual for the style. The sour brett characteristics are there in a subtle sort of "Orval" way, though this is no Orval. After a while i find myself wondering if the flavors are muddled or if the bitterness distracts you, making it hard to distringuish the different things going on in the flavors...because I feel as though I should really like what’s going, I just can’t break it down to why i like it., This beer is very similar to 3 of my favorite ales, Orval, Burton Bridge Old Expensive, and Heavyweight Chuck...primarily in the way that these beers use the brett profile..unfortunately, i think i need to put this Avery 15 at the bottom of that list...though the more i drink it, the more i am seeming to like it...it’s the bitterness that throws me..I don’t think it’s compatible with the rest of the beer. In Fact, this beer might be awesome in 9 months to a year, when the brett gets stronger and the hops subside...will be cellaring some for sure. I want to add though that I very rarely find something i really like in an Avery Beer...and I think i finally found something i really like...I am just going to need to be a little patient. Note: Even better on tap, less bitterness and brett notes more pronounced.

Bottle from Sam’s Clybourn. Clear apple juice color with a little foamy head. Nose is strongly of tart apple jiuce, Brett funk, some rotting wood. My problem with this type of beer is the exclusive use of Brett as the fermenting agent. It leaves it without the clean and refeshing acid kick that would put it over the top. Taste is muted and spicy, lots of malt character, though no real tartness. Reminds me of It’s Alive!, in a bad way. Meh.

Poured from a 22oz bomber and served in a tulip. This beer poured a cloudy dark golden with a huge head of off-white fizz that slowly faded away. Decent lacing. The aroma of the beer was made up of figs, spicy yeast, and a strange, musty funk. Not very appealing. The flavor was peppery and mildly funky. Stale figs, wet wood, and pepper. The mouthfeel was medium-bodied and highly carbonated. Funky, but not really in a good way. Some experiments are bound to fail.

Crazy ole funky farmhouse yeasty concoction here. Tastes really fresh with lots of pepper. Weird bitterness. Overall, not bad. Probably not a repeat pruchase, but I don’t regret doing so anyway.

650 ml bottle. Pours a clear golden yellow with a minimal white head. Rich funky nose with a touch of citrus. Medium body. Complex blending of sweet and bitter notes with a good measure of wild yeast funk. Highly carbonated. Definitely one to let warm up a bit.

The pour produces a hazy gold colour with a sudsy off-white head. The nose has ample funk, sugary sweet malts, sweat, dirt, peppery spice and some wet hay. It is certainly musky and has an underlying apricot-jam aroma. The flavour is absolutely filthy, with wild yeast hitting you right away, later moving toward an even muskier and sweatier finish, that is crisp and short. There are flavours of citrus, wheat, banana/clove, peppery spice and FIG. The palate is thin, sharp and very dry in the finish. Different and nice, but a little weak. The finish is a little metallic, but it’s far more funky and dirty.