Avery Anniversary Fourteen

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

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

Bottle pours black with a slight amount of light passing through. Has a thin off white head. Aromas are malty with a slight hop aroma. Mouthfeel is is medium with a stinging sensation from the carbonation. Taste is mainly malt upfront with a slight hop presence on the finish. Overall this is not a bad brew. I had the chance to try one fresh about a year ago and it had a lot more hop aroma to it and hop flavor. Its aged somewhat well over the past year. I rate it on the merits of the two I’ve tried. Overall this is a fine brew. It was better fresh.

UPDATED: JUN 2, 2007 Intriguing nose right out of the bottle!. Near black pour with deep, garnet highlights and a head that seems to keep growing as it sits. Head is beige-tan, very full, and creamy, rootbeer float-like; lasting ability is tremendous and lacing is sporatic. Nose is one of the more interesting things I’ve ever smelled; pine resins catch the nose first with what seems to be an estery grapefruit note. Other notes include hazlenut, figs, molasses, light roast, some floral aftertones, and light yeast; so many flavors not usually found in one beer. Flavor is nice but doesn’t match the nose; so many flavors to list, anise, hazlenut, cocoa, dark chocolate, light roast, some molasses, light fig, and all surrounded by pine resins. Palate is medium-full, moderate carbonation, and velvety. Finish is a bit distracting, a little chalky and dry, dark chocolate, and zesty, bitter resins with some lingering floral notes and moderate warmth. I don’t even know where to start with this one, so many different things going on. Style... imperial porter, IIPA, and a Belgian strong thrown in for good measure. Chaulky notes really kill what could have been something extraordinary, but that being said, it was a nice twist on American brewing.

Pours a dark reddish ruby red brown, clear, with a thin tan head. Sweeter malt and alcohol. Some toast, slight roast, a little caramel. Some small cinnamon. Thinner low carbonation body. Boozy slightly sweet. A little toasty astringency. Some small roast. Not the deepest. Some chocolate. Alcohol finish.

this was pretty alright, for an avery. the dry hopping was pretty evident. it was otherwise pretty malty. plum colored with some dirty head. i was pretty drunk and tried to rate it at the time but couldn’t figure out how to log in on my friend’s computer. i’ll probably never have it again, so this crappy rating will have to suffice.

On tap @ Live Wire. Super nice looking brown head with a big old tan head. Aroma is hoppy with hints of brown sugar. Flavor is an interesting marriage between a strong amber ale and a belgian dubble. Very good. Im a big fan of Avery products.

This beer pours a deep brown/almost black with a medium tan head leaving some good lacing down the sides. Boy you get a nosefull when you take a whiff of this thing! It has a very strong burnt chocolate aroma that is very odd indeed! The flavor is chocolaty and roasty with a hint of hoppiness. That slight hop flavor tends to linger a bit too! This is not one of avery’s better brews... I expected a lot more from this beer and really all I got was strange and peculiar tasts. Cheers!

22oz bottle. Deep dark brown-red with a large rocky light brown head. Some nutty and toasty malt aromatics underneath a heavy metallic citrus and fruity ester character. Caramel, dark alefruit, and choco-roasty bitterness. Prominent hop component, floral and vegetal. Conflicted finish with residual hop bitterness, alefruit, and a dusty patina. Mouthfeel is a heavy medium, somewhat sticky.

I was rather surprised by this beer: the "strong ale" category is a mile wide but is usually pretty hoppy, and this beer is more grapey and Belgian tasting than American strong ale hoppiness. The beer pours a dark red-brown with a sweet malty dry roastiness in its aroma which was extremely pleasant. The flavor is big and sticky with a grapey mouthfeel upfront which transitions to a chocolate-y roastiness at the rather dry finish. Mouthfeel is clean and smooth. This beer is delightful.