Avery Mephistopheles Stout

Glass: snifter Purchased at: OakTree BuyRite, South Plainfield, NJ (Thanks, Jason and Matt) Price: $8.99 Size: 12 fl oz ABV: 16% IBU: no frikkin idea Estimated Calories:300 C RateBeer Rating: 99 Aural: easy opening, little carbonation, dark, pretty pour Aroma 10 out of 10 Intensity: strong Balance: sharp Impression: amazing Malt Aroma: rye, pumpernickel, sugar, cinnamon toast, peanut, chocolate, coffee Hops Aroma: moldy mud, marigold, tea, tar Other Aroma: alcohol burn Notes: A rich and deeply layered scent - if the taste is anything like the scent, I’m in for a ride. Appearance 5 out of 5 Color: black Clarity: opaque Head Retention: wispy Lace: poor Notes: A bold, deep black, sans light, plus wispy tan head. Beautiful. Flavor 10 out of 10 Intensity: strong Balance: amazingly balanced Impression: nice Malt Flavor: wheat, barley, pumpernickel, chocolate syrup, whole wheat toast, peanuts, toffee, dark chocolate, espresso roast, dark coffee Hops Flavor: dry dirt, cilantro, peppers, tar resin, lemon Other: alcohol Notes: The taste is unequaled in stouts. It has an acidic burn of alcohol, deep, dark rich chocolate, amber waves of grain, plums, apricots, ginger, soy, spinach. It’s amazing. Palate 5 out of 5 Mouthfeel Sensation: drying warming Body: full Carbonation: average Finish Length: long Intensity: strong Balance: bitter Notes: Bitter depth of finish is one of the key reasons to find this beer again. It is murky with depth and history of flavors. General Impression: 20 out of 20 Craftmanship: excellent Freshness: fresh Personal Taste: loved Notes: Perhaps outshines even Mikkeller’s Beer Geek Breakfast.

Batch one. Dark beer in the snifter with a short lived brown head that shrank to a lasting whisp. Holy crap. This thing is a Demon. Huge nose of molasses, cinnomon roll, over ripe plums, and I’ll say vine-ripened grapes and chocolate covered cherries since I’m in a susceptible mood. This tastes like the juiciest, most alcoholic fruit cake your coolest grandmother ever sent you for Christmas. Dried fruit, rum, toffee, almost burnt caramel, molassess, Raisenettes, whiskey, alcohol, and so many other complex flavors. This is a real sipping beer; meant to be contemplated over a long period of time. Much like an abused spouse, I will want more of this.

Pours black with a small brown head. Aroma is of coffee and bourbon, lots of bourbon. Flavor is somewhat tasty, but its hard ot overcome the overbearing alcohol. This reminds me of an attempt at DFH WWS gone wrong.

Drank it in one of the best world cup qualifying matches I´ve ever seen. We were down 0-1 (had lost the away match 1-0) in the 24th minute of the second half, and then in less than 20 minutes we ended up winning 3-1, and qualifying to the next round!! Final Score El Salvador 3 - Panama 1!!! The stout was delicious, however, could only drink half as rcasta spilled it all when we scored the first goal. Anyway, this stout was way up there,wow!!! Maybe it will become my lucky stout.

Gracias al gordo nos pusimos la azul y le cayo 3-1 a panama. Arriba con la seleccion, arriba con la seleccion. La birria mucho aroma oscuro profundo y demasiado cargada.pura escencia. Mixa mixa con barrilito le doy mejor puntaje

12 oz in snifter, batch #2 of Nov 2006. Poured too quickly, 2 inch head and rising was consequently sipped. Brown head remained rocky for many minutes and left sticky lacing all over the sides of the glass. Opaque black in the glass, smells of sharp cocoa, definitely rum-soaked dark fruit which hints at the abv. Thick on the palate, molasses-like, complex... takes many sips to understand. I tried to let it warm up a bit, and during intermittent sipping it kept me warm from the lips to the bottom of my stomach. This would be amazing during winter, as it’s intended. Finishes bold and makes me want one everyday of Canadian winter.

Batch 2, Nov 2006. Pours black with a medium sized brown head. Very belgian-esque nose, lots of dark fruit with a hint of chocolate. The flavors have such distinct layers in this beer. First there is a sweet malt and fruit component. Next there is very wine-like middle ground where the alcohol becomes noticeable but not overpowering. The finish is blowing my mind, the most addicting roast coffee flavor I have ever tasted. An amazing creation. Let it warm and sip it slowly.

Bottle, Batch 3. Pours like viscous, black motor oil. The dark tan head is abundant and easy to stir up with a swirl. The lacing is just gorgeous. The aroma is very dry and smoky with hints of molasses and coffee. There are subtle plums and cherries. Alcohol is pretty noticeable in the after-nose and creates a warming sensation in the sinuses. Wow, the flavour has a lot going on here. It starts off with a nice, well-rounded mixture of sweet molasses and light-citrus sweet plums and cherries. As it proceeds to the esophagus, the alcohol becomes very apparent. It almost tastes of rum. Towards the finish, very bitter cocoa almost instantly massacres the taste buds as lots of smoke accompanies. The finish is very smoky with lots of coffee and cocoa. Sweet molasses and dark fruit become overpowered, but still noticeable. Alcohol creates a warming sensation. Mmm, this is such a big beer.