Avery Fifteen

Formerly brewed at Avery Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Ale
Boulder, Colorado USA

wow, crazy smell...American wild ale fits this brew ... very funky, sour, tangy , insane? ... is refreshing and strange but weirdly refined and funky .. Great outside the box thinking that makes me as happy as firing off some knuckle children early in the morning... Very nice stuff!

Pours with a small, fizzy white head that goes quicky. It leaves behind a murky, but bright pinkish cream colored body. A bit of lacing left by reminants of the head. Aroma is complex funkyness with currants, lemon, butter, figs, spices, green apple, and lavander. Taste is strong of hay, horse blanket and some plastic. Not a drain pour, but not amazingly inviting. Some honey and dark fruits NOT mixing harmoniously with the brett. That said it is pretty easy to drink, and the pepper comes on strong after a couple of sips. Dry mouthfeel with lively carbonation. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a bad beer, but it lacks anything interesting enough to justify it as anyone’s anniversary beer.

A cloudy gold body with plenty of head. Light funkified sour aroma with fig and faintly floral undertones. The body was a barnyard dry grainy thing with some of the fig hanging around. Followed by a faintly sour finish. I think I detected a little lemon in the sour character. Not what I was expecting, but I do want to leave some hanging around for a few years to see what happens.

Draft at Mad Mex; I have a wide tolerance for all styles of beer, but this one fell outside my range with its sourness. I admire the spirit of experimentation behind it.

Tap at the brewery. Pale body with a lace-leaving head. Brett funk on the nose. Rather sweet and a touch of sour on the tongue. Finishes quite dry as one would expect a Belgian. I thought this beer was quite tasty, but I may have to try the bottle after the ratings I see.

Bottle. Absolutely clear pour (except with the swirled dregs), amber tinted gold with a big frothy white head. Nose gives hints of brett funkiness with light spice and some phenolic notes. Flavor starts out with light funk but drowns into a spicy bandaid flavor. Hopefully this clears up in time with more brett presence. Smooth on the palate with some spice in the finish. 6-4-5-3-11

At 9 months. VERY active carbonation, clear amber with a big frothy head and nice lacing. Nose is more funky and less phenolic than the last tasting. Subtle lactic notes, peach, and grapefruit. Flavor is full, still somewhat phenolic but with a more well-rounded yeast character. The figs and white pepper finally show up in a prominent way. Looking forward to trying this again in a few months. 7-4-7-4-16

At about a year, drinking even more wonderfully. Huge brett presence with peach, figs, and an overall floral tone that pulls everything together. Somehow the brett hasn’t thinned the beer out a bit. An almost syrupy-thick palate brings leather in droves with peach and light jasmine tones following. 8-4-8-5-17

Pours a very light clear amber color with a small soap bubble head and lots of carbonation. A complex and sweet aroma of spice, yeast, hop and fruit. Flavor is much drier. It seems to try to do too much and ends up a bit confused. There is quite a lot of pepper and musty flavors. Unripe apples, as well. Alcohol comes through higher than the indicated ABV. I am nearing a dozen and a half beers from this brewer and will look for more from them. This beer is disappointing.

Bottle. A medium golden color with a foamy white head. A bready, grass, and lemon and light grape aroma, but it was marred by an all too familiar bad beer (musty, basement, farmyard) smell. The flavor was even more disappointing with a heavy veritable flavor. I’m sorry I spent $7 for this bottle.