Avery Hog Heaven

To be honest, it kind of tasted like wet cat fur to me, not that I’ve ever tasted wet cat fur. Had a nice initial flavor, but then....wet cat fur.

I love hopped up BWs. Perfect style to add juicy hops to. This one is slightly overhopped for the amount of malts, by just a touch. Greasy hop smell with candy malts. Greasy hop flavor that washes over a fruity, tart flavor. Finishes with nuge hops. Alkee well masked. Smoothe.

Rated 1/8/07: Insanely hopped barleywine, what a wonderful concept for this style. Nice bitterly hopped aroma over a well malted backbone. Vibrant dark copper pour with some amber coloring. Huge off white head eventually settling to a half inch and tons of thick lacing. Strong steady carbonation, perfection for this strong style considering lasting head on a barleywine is a rare occurance. Filling juicy mouthfeel, nice easy bitter finish makes you wanting more. Amazing flavor, very hoppy resembling a well crafted IPA that gets over on a rather sweet malt content. There were a couple times where the sweet alcohol burn showed itself but it was soon covered up by that well balanced hop flavor. Really a fantastic brew all in all.

Brilliant crystalline scarlet. Defiant, near-solid foam starts at three fingers and never ebbs below a third its original height. Profound orange juice and pine aromatics... secondary scents of lime leaves, juniper, cinnamon, and bleu cheese tang. Frustrating sweet-and sour flavor, practically balsamic; an odd, keen fruitiness resembles green tomatoes or young Wisconsin parmesan. Potentially full, near-creamy palate is cut by acidity and buzzing carbonation. Sourish finish (more lactic than acetic) and cocoa powder aftertaste. Alcohol is well hidden; unfortunately, that tart tang overwhelms most of the bitterness and all of the malt... I am disturbed by the recurring themes of cheese and acid. Overall appealing to the eye and nose, but shrill and one-dimensional flavorwise.

Pours a medium murky amber with a large off white head and some nice sticky lacing. Aroma is rich fermented fruits and malts with hints of pine. Flavor is malty, bitter hops. A mild dry finish. Good stuff.

Pours a nice rich caramel color with very little head. Aroma is of citrus hops, sweet caramel malt, and light amount of alcohol. Taste was exceptional. This was a very well done barley wine with large amounts of citrus hops with a intensely sweet caramel malt. It’s as if the brewer melted caramels in here, it’s that’s intense. The intense hop and malt profile balance each other well and lend to a very well done barley wine. Excellent!

Beautiful amber color with a modest white head. Aroma of sweet malt. smooth and semi creamy on the palate. Nice malt and modest hoppiness. Very pleasant finish with some lasting qualities.

22oz. Bomber $4.99 Binny’s Orland 100 IBUs. I could smell the citrus the second I opened the bottle. Hog Heaven poured a dark ruby red that shown bright red in my palm when held to the light. Fairly clear. The color is really nice. There was a one finger slightly off-white craggy head that fades to a half finger but stops there. The nose makes my mouth water uncontrollably.There is a big sweet caramel backbone. As big as the caramel is the citrus hops just blow it away. There is bitter orange peel and fresh squeezed orange juice. A few pine needles in there as well. Slight alcohol as the beer warms. The smell is excellent. I can’t remember smelling so much orange in any beer I’ve had in the past. The taste isn’t as bitter as I anticipated. It’s nicely balanced but I was expecting a hop bomb. A solid caramel backbone hits hard first and is followed by a hop wave by mid-palate. There’s a more pine in the flavor than the nose. The pine pushes through the malt and really shows itself in the finish where things dry out. A moderate bitterness lingers till the next drink. Very nicely balanced. Big malt and big hops hold each other in check. Feels viscous as it crosses my lips but when in my mouth and on the swallow it’s really not. It’s on the heavier side of medium and slick. There’s a good amount of carbonation that pushes everything through. Finishes dry and lets the bitterness come through. Drinkability for a big beer is superb. Everything balances out so nicely that it would be extremely easy to drink this way to fast without realizing what you’ve been doing. I think back to Bigfoot and as I drink Hog Heaven I actually think I enjoy this a little more. It’s not as intense which is something I really like but the drinkability is where it’s at with this barleywine. Avery Brewing did an excellent job.