Avery Hog Heaven

Brewed by Avery Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Boulder, Colorado USA

On tap at the brewery on 7/17/09. Pours a light brown caramel. A ton going on in the aroma with lemon and grapefruit, caramel and vanilla. Taste was incredibly bitter, but it also had a really strange unpleasant funk. Also too lively on the tongue and a bit hot. Was really looking forward to this brew, but it came up short. I think I’ll have to age a bottle for a couple years and see if that is more to my liking.

Generously purchased and shared with me by HogTownHarry at Beer Bistro. Appearance: Golden brown textured like sun. Aroma: perfumy as hell, hops, slight alcohol, strawberry, malt, clover and pine. Flavour: bitter, super malt, strawberry, blackberry, tart with a lot of spice particularly cinnamon. Lots of alcohol in the finish but not intrusive at all.

bottle from k & j’s in lake dallas. poured an amberish orange with an off white head. aroma of malt, orange, grapefruit, and some cotton candy. flavor was orange, pine, spices, some floral notes. body was medium-full with medium carbonation and some smoothness.

Bottle... Poured a hazy, brownish/amber with a thick head. Floral hops and a sugary alcohol, yeasty quality on the nose. Thick, chewy and foamy palate, a nice residual feel after swallowing. Very sweet, leafy and malty. A warming alcohol note with a hoppy, bittering balance. Well spiced and herbal tea. Caramel and sweet cream towards the finish.

Amber brown in color and slightly transparent. Nose is of hops and slight malt. Smells really piney. Upon tasting I noticed alcohol in the profile but its not overwhelming. There’s a bit of a malt profile, but the hops are dominating. You can really taste those IBUs. Great barley wine especially if you’re an IPA fan. Tasted this next to a Rogue Old Crustacean. It fared very well. Most everyone liked the Hog Heaven better. I preferred the Rogue by just a bit. Still it’s a great beer experience. Try one if you haven’t already. Highly recommended.

Purchased at Greens on Ponce De Leon. 22 oz. bottle. Not sure how old it is because I couldn’t find a date on the damn bottle. Copper color with some brown mixed in. Looks pretty good, but not as dark as I usually like them. Huge caramel sweet aroma. I like the aroma, but it is very sweet. Slight hop aroma as well, but mainly alcoholic and sweet. Maybe this sat at Greens for awhile. Very very big caramel sweet malt flavor. Little too sweet for me. Has a nice bitter flavor towards the end, but it doesn’t develop as much as I would like. Sugar sweet flavor comes through as well. Nice smooth beer. Overall, a solid barley wine.

7/18/2009: Hog Heaven confuses me. It hovers in that area between Imperial IPA and Barleywine. It is deep amber-colored, so it is kind of too dark to be an IPA. Also, it is quite hoppy (earthy with citurs undertones) and bitter, but not really bitter enough to be considered an IPA, so I guess that would make it an American-style Barley wine. However, this beer really lacks maltiness and the usual depth of maltiness for a barleywine, so that makes it more of an IPA. In addition, it’s body is too thin for my preference for a barleywine. Clearly it seems to have a split personality, so it doesn’t really score well for me in either catagory. Maybe I’m just being overly picky, but nothing about this beer stands out and so it just seems mediocre overall.

Draught sample(s) at the 14th Annual Indiana Microbrewers Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana. Rating #1039 for this beer.

Well blended bouquet of grapefruit, marigold, and caramel. Copper with a medium yellow head, minimal lacing. Sweet then bitter, good balance. Dates, rose hips, honeycomb, and grapefruit rind. Woody apple core finish. Silky mouthfeel. Excellent! Great with hot, spicy food.