Avery Hog Heaven

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

1-15-08 tap
Medium thick amber color with thick head and pillowy lacing. Smell is sweet and hoppy. Nice big smooth creamy body - really impressed! Very drinkable. Flavor is nicely developed and not too bold. Nice finish.

On tap at Brouwer’s Hard Liver 09. Pours a light orange with a smallish head. Wow, does this ever have hops on the nose! A bit of oak (though I don’t think it’s aged), and hoppy as hell with just a bit of light, sweet malts to counter. This is more like an IIPA than a Barley Wine - very, very tasty. I really enjoyed it.

Bottle. Nice aroma of orange rind, grapefruit, on an unusual base that I decided smelled most like tomato juice in character to me. Caramel and toffee in the background as well. Flavor is pretty mellow for the big talk on the label, the hops don’t attack the mouth as advertised, but nothing wrong with it, relaxing fruit flavors. Nice beer, but I’ll always prefer a bolder barleywine, whether from the hops or the barley. 8-4-7-4-14/3.7

Rerate 6/17/08. My early ratings are hilarious. Goodness. Bottle. Aroma at first of lovely citrus notes, grapefruit in particular, but also some tangerine, and some pollen-like notes also coming in there right alongside the citrus, then transforms into rich caramel and toffee with lots of figs and prunes, and a ton of earth as well. Flavor is quite sweet (not that that’s a surprise), but still marvelously balanced by that citrusy, zesty hop character that always pops back to remind you it’s there. Then the finish is once again lovely toffee, caramel, earth with some bitter hops still hanging on. Despite my comments from my early days, this is actually very much my type of barleywine.

Interesting barley wine.....definitly a malt presence typical of a barleywine, but lacking on the hops. The hop notes were there, but not nearly potent enough. Overall a bit lacking. **************************************** Nose is actually more hoppy than last time (maybe a fresher bottle this time, or better aging) as is the flavor. Rich caramel finish with moderate to high bitterness. Bitterness is a combination of harsh and more laid back bitter notes. Previous rating of 3.5 is changed to 4.1

Here we go, I really enjoyed this. A little more citrusy than most Barleywines, but I see that as a good thing. Plenty of sweetness, and the dark color looks great. At only 5.49 for a bomber at 9.2 ABV this gets MAJOR points from a cheap drunk like myself.

this seems closer to an imperial IPA than barley wine. hoppy malty citrus grapefruit. long bitter finish.

2007 vintage on tap at Collins Pub (Feb 2009). Pours mostly clear reddish amber with a minimal off-white head. Nose is caramel and strawberry/orange/pineapple fruity hops. Tastes like it smells. Thick mouthfeel with a slightly bitter finish.

Bomber from Holiday Wine Cellar ($5.99). Pours a mud red-brown with small beige head. Aroma of hops (pine and sweet citrus) along with sweet malt tones. The flavor is initially malty sweet up front with the hoppy bitterness creeping in and moving to the back of the tongue. The finish has an interesting mix of sweetness and bitterness. Very nicely balanced, but like others have pointed out here, I’m not sure that this is a good fit for a barley wine. Regardless of classification, it’s quite tasty.