Avery Anniversary Fourteen

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

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

Pours very dark brown, with a few shades of amber in the thinner parts of the glass. Head is a rich, frothy pillowed layer that lasts a long time. Lace coats the entire rim, almost like one of those Nitro pints of Guinness would. Nose is somewhat clean, grassy, fruity (banana?), and dessert spices. Palate is a big malt with Dunkel-Weizen like fruit in the there, with some of the banana clove that you would normally expect from a dunkel-weizen or possibly weizenbock. Rich malt flavors mix well the alcohol warmth and tangy hops on the finish. Walnuts, raisins, and a suggestion of dark rum can be found as well. This is a very, very interesting beer to consider as it is tasted. Very complex and hard to pinpoint the exact flavors.

This was a very strange beer. It was dark black with a tan whip-cream-like head. The smell made me think chocolate. The taste followed suit but had some real hoppiness going on. Sorta grassy, piney, and almost like chocolate mints. This beer was tasty but very complex. It felt like my taste buds were being assaulted! Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 05-22-2007 15:51:34

Poured from a bomber to a snifter. A: Pours a very dark brown that appears black. Very large light-brown head with good retention and some web-like lacing. S: Very sweet malts with lots of dark fruits (raisins, cherry and berries) with a bit of chocolate and some hops. Smells very good. Kinda has the smell of a barleywine more than a BSDA. I never would have guessed the style upon smell. T: Just like the scent, lots of dark fruit, chocolate, molasses, maltiness and hops. Hits sweet and leaves a raisin taste on the finish with a note of chocolate and malt. Not as hoppy as it smells. I’m really loving the taste, but it’s not very consistent with the style. M&D: Mouthfeel is perfect, medium-heavy bodied with a great amount of carbonation, but not so much that it’s distracting. It’s pretty drinkable, the alcohol doesn’t come out much. A bomber is perfect for one person. Overall: Although it’s not consistent with the style I really love this beer. It’s very unique and hard to find these days. It’s drinking great now, so get it if you can!

Draft at Blind Tiger. More of a black IPA than a strong ale imo. Great hoppy characteristics, both in aroma and flavor. Very enjoyable.

UPDATED: MAR 2, 2010 2007 22oz. bomber. Served cool room temp into a Duvel glass. Pours medium dark brown with a large light brown head that retains a cap down the glass, and leaves some nice clumps of lacing. Big aroma starts with semi-sweet chocolate chips, heavy molasses, raisins, licorice, caramel, vanilla, a touch of hops and some spice. Flavor is excellent, chocolate, molasses, brown sugar, dark fruits, cherries, some hoppy bitterness, a touch of caramel and toffee, and some spice. Quite complex. Mouthfeel is full with moderate carbonation. Alcohol taste is present, even with two years on the bottle, but it doesn’t surprise me coming from Avery...they never try to hide the alcohol content of their brews, although the alcohol is certainly mellowing over time compared to when I had this fresh. I really love Fourteen, out of the numerous Avery offerings I’ve tried, this is my favorite. Buy it if you can find it!

16th May 2008. Smooth chocolatey start with a faint molasses tone. This leads quickly to fruity hops that are not bitter. A little like a barleywine but this is something different.

Dark brown/black with a dense and large yellow beige head. Huge chocolate and roasted malt aroma. Great malt and hop balance for such a big beer. Great chocolate flavor - love it.

Bomber. Poured deep reddish-brown with a dense cap of tan head.. set up nicely and left pretty lacing as it descended. The aroma picked up toasty redder fruits, toffee, and molasses with accents of brown sugar and vanilla.. oxidation is starting to set in, and the hops have faded, but some earth and citrus remained.. soft overall and very enticing. The flavor found even more molasses along with raisins and other assorted dark fruit at the core.. some toasty vanilla and brown sugar were laced throughout.. light earth and citrusy bitterness paired with prickly, warming alcohol on the edges.. finished long and mostly malty. Medium-bodied and warm on the palate with moderate carbonation.. spicy and warm, but well-balanced. This is breaking down, but it’s still tasty and interesting.