Avery Hog Heaven

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

Serve in Snifter

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Nice pine citrus aroma, first sip hint of hops then syupy matlyfinnishes a bit bland

Pours a dark amber, thick beige head. Big bitter dark fruit tatse, you could really taste the alcohol bite and deep dark fruits with it. Good for what it is but just Not my style still.

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.

UPDATED: JAN 14, 2010 Bottle from Majestic at Eastchase. Strange hops to sweetness thing going... Update: Gotta love my old Facebook BeerSeek ratings. Smells of faint fruit, some hops, and caramel. Taste is bitter up front, fruity hops, and cinnamon. Warm finish.

Meeting at DØ, Aarhus Syd, DK. Bottled, 151008. Copper with small head. Aroma of grapefruit, spruce and some malt. Flavor is caramel and lots of hop spices - citrus and grass. Alcholic note

This really didn’t sit well with me. It pours attractively, robust amber-brown with little head, semi-syrupy. The aroma is big, most notably piney, with some Pine-Sol and alcohol notes, though not in an unattractive way. The flavor was sharp, moderately sweet and with a huge bitter hit in mid palate, floating back in a moderately metallic finish. Malts obvious present, but not sufficient. The palate maybe isn’t super thick but didn’t strike me as anything too suspicious. Very hoppy compared to the average barleywine, with too many nuttin-but-bitterness moments for my tastes.

UPDATED: MAR 28, 2007 2003 bomber. Pours a light brown with some darker mahogany colors lurking. Yellowish/burnt brown towards the edges. Tons of lacing as it goes down. Moderately small dark beige/brown head. Lots of carbonation in the bottle (typical of Avery). Slightly cloudy. Smells of rich roast, slight amounts of licorice, lots of alcohol, some burnt walnut, and of course, barley and hops, though it is a more refined, drier barley smell. Opens up restrained and quite balanced, good strong orange flavor. Alcohol present, but it waits until towards the finish to really jump out. Body is quite complex and medium-full, tending more towards medium. Lots of hops, dry, strong toffee and a lively carbonated, salty texture. The finish is alot like the porter, only stronger and more apt for the style: dry hops mix with lots of alcohol and roasted barley. Some problems with astringency, needs aging much like the North Coast Old stock, but dosent have enough malt to show as much potential, just needs to even out a bit in the finish. FINALLY an Avery Beer I get along with!

Although it looks stunning in the glass I found this beer less than the sum of its parts. The malt and hops didn’t play well together leaving you with a high ABV beer that you want to gulp down as opposed to linger and savor. I do think it may get better with age, perhaps letting the opposing flavors mingle.

Bottle: Poured a clear amber color ale with a small foamy head with minimal retention. Aroma of caramel sweet malt is omnipresent with some citrus hops. Taste is a mix between sweet caramel malt and some bitter hops. Alcohol is way too hot for my liking and body is definitely too thin for the style. I’m starting to wonder if it’s just me or are most of Avery beers a bit too hot for their own good.

Amber appearance. No head. Quite bitter finish. Very warming flavour. Alcohol is dominating the brew. An average Barley Wine