Avery Anniversary Fourteen

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

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

Bottle. I purchased this for the RBSG grand tasting but this was one of the many bottles that did not get opened that night. Pours a deep red with a marshmellow head. Aroma is cocoa, citrus hops, and maybe some nutmeg or spice as well. I’m waiting for the head to diminish. Long lasting and puffy lacing. Interesting flavor. Smooth and cola like. Alcohol here is well hidden. This is a little like a highly hopped porter. Nothing outstanding her but well done and not the overly sweet brew that Avery sometimes puts out.

Pours out a nice deep reddish black color with a beige lacing. aroma is full of roasted malt, fruitiness and sweetness. flavor is very nice. has a lot of malt and a nice sweetness and hop balance. the alcohol was present in the finish. gave it a nice warming effect. overall this is a great brew.

Very dark redish brown with a thick tan head. Fruity and malty notes. Malt, chocolate, liqorice and fruit. Full body with a long, bittrsweet finish.

Pours a deep cola black with a large, rocky beige head that quicky diminshes to a film. Aroma is moderately sweet caramel, herbal, grapefruit and some dark chocolate. Flavor is plum, raisin, herbal, chocolate, floral, grapefruit and finally caramel. Full bodied, sticky texture. I realy liked this beer much more than I thought I would.

Bottled. Pours dark brown with a red glow and a huge, frothy, beige head. Fair lacing. Nose of malt, caramel and light hops. Sweet flavour with malt, dark fruit and molasses. Medium bodied. Slightly bitter finish. A nice brew.

Translucent body, the absolute darkest crimson shade possible without crossing into blackness. If it weren’t so dark I’d be able to easily peer through it. A thick light tan head is very well retained, never fully diminishing, leaving minor lacing. The aroma is absolutely teeming with diacetyl, what a shame. A maize/toasted grain combination overtakes the senses, really drowning out other notes. Oddly and most fortunately the wave of popcorn odor passes quickly. Toasted malt and jagged spicing are plentiful. Licorice root and cinnamon are noted. This really isn’t pleasant and seems flawed. In the flavor the obvious molasses and hoppiness is well recieved. The molasses acts as a bridge that spans the chasm between hops and malt and ties everything toghether nicely. Moderate sweetness works well in combating the excessive graininess and very heavily toasted malts. Bitterness is mild. The finish is sweet and hoppy. Palate is medium-full bodied, very well carbonated. Boring, though very drinkable. This started off strange but continues to grow on me.

On draft @ the Brew Kettle 5/25/06 and also rated separately in a 22 oz bottle 6/24/07: Burnt sienna brown w/ a lasting, thick, beige, creamy, foam head. Also laces very nicely. Chocolate and toasted malts in the bottle version, caramel seems to make itself more prevalent in the draft version. Clove seemed to be slightly present in the draft version, but absent from the botled version, both were moderately fruity w/ some raisiny esters in the draft version. The bottled version seemed to have more hop aromas of piney, floral, herbal, and resiny. The bottled version seemed to have some black licorice notes that I did not pick up the first time I had it a month ago, although the draft version had some brown sugary notes in the aroma. The flavor between both versions seems a bit different. The bottled version seemed to be more hop dominant with piney and herbal hop flavors up front, whereas the draft version seemed to be malt dominant. Both have chocolate and bready malt flavors, but the balance seems to be a bit better in the bottled version. I thought the draft version was slighly under attenuated and a touch more fruity. Both versions had an herbal hop finish with a roasty malt undertone. The draft version seemed to finish medium sweet, while the bottled version was pretty well balanced. Both had a nice, creamy, smooth mouthfeel w/ well hidden alcohol. Low med. CO2, and fuller medium body. I liked both versions, and not that they were 2 completely different beers, but there were enough of them. I don’t check my notes often enough and should have realized that I had already rated it, but what the heck, the scores were almost identical, actually 1 number off... Interesting! I quite like this beer on both accounts.

Pours thick, like motor oil in January. Opaque black with a thick tan head with medium legs. Nose of hops and chocolate. This thing look delicious just pouring....tastes of hops and choc but subdued by the body of malts and spices. A bit of alcohol on the taste but just a perfect amount. Smooth mouth and swallow with a wonderful, almost gooey thickness on the way down. This is a wonderful beer. It reminds me of the Collaboration. Will it cellar????