Avery Anniversary Fourteen

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

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

"Fourteen--Avery Anniversary Ale--""A Very Dark, Different, Dry-Hopped Ale"""--2007--2 oz. Bottle. 9.46% ABV--60 IBU’s.(4.5 / 5.0) Amber Ale--Imperial? 6 @ $7.99 Each. Mild lace thin espresso head. Clear thin dark black color. Roasted mild floral hop fruit front. Mild sweet creamy bisquit fruit roasted caramel mild cocoa body. Smooth hop no EtOH end. Complex. Sampled 10/28/2007.

22 oz bottle pours mahogany with a dense soapy head. Aroma is fruity. Oak, cherry chocolate, brown sugar. Chocolate brown sugar flavors with tar, licorice, and alcohol. Sweet and really tasty at first. But then it just becomes too sweet and too much alcohol. Slight bitterness in the end. Bah, its too much.

Served in my Delirium Tramens tulip glass. Pours place with a light brown head. There is there is some roast, chocolate coverd caramel malt aroma. Floral, perfumey hops sneak past what I’m guess is a bunch of Belgian yeast ester. I think its the yeast the makes up most of the flavor as well. Raisins, cherries, plums. A sharp bitter edge. A little bit of a let down here.

$5 pint at Pizza Port Carlsbad. One finger head that dies to a dense creamy blanket over the deep dark opaque reddish brown liquid. Alchohol nose is strong, a bit phenolic. Taste of raisins, brown sugar, which covers the mild hop bitterness. A bit too heavy for me, I hate to say, but maybe with cheese it would be much easier to swallow.

Fluffy head on a big body. Some spice and citrus hops on the aroma with a lot of sugary sweetness. Taste is smooth and sweet with some molassess and grain with some earthy hops. Nice and aging well.

bomber. pours a dark brown with a nice thick tan fluffy head.... which stays throughout as a thin tan head. aromas of molasses, candi sugar and dark fruits. huge malt character on the palate, with flavors of currants, molasses and sweet sugar. very soft and carbonated on the top, while very bitter on the back and sides. the dry hopping comes through on the finish quite well. this one sticks with you, but in a very different way than the usual hopped up IIPA. very flavorful and unique. quite excellent - I’ll buy another one before they are gone for good.

Bottle. When I was at the store, I wasn’t sure if I had rated this one yet; the label is similar to the one for Thirteen and I had kind of lost track of what number anniversary they were on. Fresh, fruity hop aroma; very nice. Opaque body with a very large tan head. Weaves a tapestry of lace. My palate really had to adjust to this brew. The first sip made me wince, but it settles into a pretty good brew. There’s a malt and hop combination that aren’t perfectly compatible. However, it is unique, and when you’ve rated 1,600 beers, finding something unique can be a challenge. I really do like this beer; it challenges the status quo. The label speaks to "a very distinct yeast strain". Perhaps that is what makes this brew so different. Kudos to Adam Avery for his contributions to the craft beer movement.

What an oustanding beer, opaque color, very dark brown, couldn’t see through the glass, modest tan head with great lacing, very sweet nose with notes of honey & molasses, lots of body, certainly more of a sipping beer, one to be enjoyed, rich & complex flavors, a hint of dry & hoppy notes to add balance, flavors of honey, molasses, caramel & burnt toast, bitter & hoppy finish with more malt to follow, a fantastic brew