Avery Hog Heaven

Poured from a bomber into a chalice. Slight sweetness with a good hop edge lying behind it for the aroma, a clear red color in the pour. A quickly fading head leaving good lacing behind crowned this beer. The flavor starts with a hint of sweet, with a slight alcohol flavor lurking behind it, followed by the bitterness of the hops. Nice long finish on the beer, and one I would recommend.

Draught. Clear copper with a frothy head leaving striped lacing. Toffee malt aroma with a fair amount pine. Sweet sappy and earthy flavor, well hopped, with some oily mint/wintergreen notes and a mildly astringent resin finish. Sticky palate, but a nice sip.

Aroma was very impressive, but the taste did not match the aroma. Definitely on the IPA side of barleywine. Age could help.

Sweet fruit nose filled with hops. This IS a barely wine that is dominated by hops. Lots of pine and citrus, some mango and kiwi...strangely enough This is almost like a IIPA with a sweet fruit finish. I’m not sure this is worth cellaring as the hops are part of the attraction. It drinks well, but I found the aroma to be a bit odd.

I won’t digress in this review, because I found the Hog Heaven hardly worth my time. An orangy red glow emerged upon the pour, reminiscent of papaya flesh, rather clear as a whole, and topped in a simple off-white foam. Almond extract was prominent on the nose, along with juicy hops of the pine and ruby grapefruit kind, banana, and perhaps most interestingly, overly sweet karkade. An overarching scent of what I can best describe as "damp cavern" was also noticeable. The flavor is decidedly bitter and dry, reminding of generic grapefruit and burnt toast flavors. Black pepper, sugar and more karkade are present as well, but provide very little supporting complexity to the unpleasant sticky bitterness. A slightly salty aftertaste remains. I’ll admit this isn’t my favorite style, but I found this effort particularly poor.

Bottle. Nose is lots of caramel malt, syrupy sweet with hints of pine and maybe some figs. Pours brownish amber with a thick and fluffy head leaving nice lacing. The malt/hop balance is hugely successful. A bit of citrus rind folds into a sweet repose and back to a bitter delight. Palate is robust, hearty, and sits well. Another success for Avery.

22oz bottle - Pours lightly hazy copper with a medium sized diminishing head. The nose has some mild caramel malt notes and lots of citrus hops presence, which is a good indicator of the flavor. This is a hoppy beast of a barley wine. But then if you read the label before drinking, you saw the 100 IBUs note and know that ahead of time. There’s enough malt to give it a good, solid body and provide some balance. It’s not at all hot like some barley wines are. I thought the hops kind of ran over everything else, but it’s still very good.

Picked up a bottle from Cellars LexLarp in St Paul. Pours a ruby copper with a foamy tan head. A very good lined lacing. Aroma of coconut, roasted caramel and pine hops. Taste of sweet floral hops, roasted caramel malt and coconut. A very sweet barley wine. I look forward to re-rate this one in three years.