Avery Anniversary Fourteen

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

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

Tap at Downtown Bar and Grill. Deep brown beer with a thick tan head. Very persistent. Very sweet pruny malt aroma. Brown sugar, molasses and toasted grain. Lots of dark fruity sweetness with an overtone of blackstrap molasses. There is also a soft but insistent smokiness in the aroma that is quite lovely. Flavour however, is a bit disjointed. Sweet dark fruit, prunes and plums followed by loads of earthy/woody bitterness and a fairly harsh astringency on the back. Warming brings up a salty/savoury component, but the whole thing seems poorly integrated despite some nice individual components. Quite boozy as well, which I rarely enjoy.

Pours a nearly opaque with dark mahogany hues and a thin, airy dark tan head. Aroma of sweet dark caramel with a hint of dark chocolate and big grapefruity hoppy notes with some doughy Belgian yeast. Body starts with a nice dark caramel malty sweetness and some plum and raisin complexity along with good bready yeasty balance and plenty of fresh citrusy hops throughout. FInishes with a crisp hint of lingering roasty bittersweet dark chocolate. A very unique and enjoyable Belgian/American strong ale. It’s kinda like a double IPA with some chocolate malt and Belgian yeast. I just wish this would be bottle conditioned.

Dark red brown colour with a beige head. Aroma is sweet, roasted, coffee, alcohol. Flavour is roasted, burned, coffee, alcohol, hop, fruit. Nice beer.

Huge beige head, rather fine bubbled and irregular, leaving some lacerings over deep dark beer with a ruby shine. Dark malts, alcohol and fusels, USA hops, cardboard, caramel and something perfumey-soapy. Generally speaking delicate and discreet nose. Bitterish, both hoppy & roasted, and a spicy flavour, reminding me of cumin; melanoidins. There’s quite some toffee & caramel, even molasses, but the hopgift quickly smothers it all. Good balance for an impressive brew. Very slick and well-bodied, alcoholwarming; Better balanced, discreter than most Avery brews I discovered, and for a rather massive ale, at that. Thanks, David A!

22oz bottle. Dark, sharp brown with some light at the edges and toast colored tan head that’s actually looks out of place atop this beer, for whatever reason. Resinous, sticky malt nose, moderate hop presence (others were getting a lot, but not me), the chocolate malts, toast and molasses on this are really nice, quite strong and pronounced, though. More subtle would be the caramelized plum and perfumy/floral notes. Vinuous, smooth and almost creamy, but I would prefer it to be unfiltered, since I actually can pick up a sortof soda pop texture that wouldn’t be present otherwise. Overall, though, a really nice recipe, and certainly unique.

UPDATED: AUG 24, 2008 My Bottom Line:
This Imperial India Dark Ale (if that means anything) promotes intense herbal, piney hoppiness atop the fruitiness of berries and roasting molasses. This is a nearly-balanced strong ale full of Americana.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam circles the blood-laced black.
-A little less alcohol and this would make a tantalizing quaffer just like Baird’s First Impact or The Alchemist’s El Jefe.
-The hops provide a lot more flavor components, including leafy and citrusy angles.
-Carbonation is frothy, which actually helps drinkability in the case of this behemoth.

Bottles.

2007 Bottle (bought at Wallys). Pours with a large, frothy, lighjt brown head. Aroma of candi sugar, darek fruits, dates, spices, light chocolate malts, and some hops. Taste is sweet, with dark fruits, and some apricots. Good stuff. Smooth mouthfeel with light bubbles.

Bottle. A very dark brown beer with a red shine and a big beige head. The aroma is light yeasty, roasted, caramel malt, fruity, hoppy and light alcoholic. The taste is yeasty, light roasted, fruity, sugary and hoppy. Medium body with a sweet dry, light alcoholic finish. Quit interresting and good!