Avery Mephistopheles Stout

Batch #2:
Pitch black coloured body with a nice-sized brown head that stays atop the beer nicely. Fully opaque without the slightest hint of light going through the body. Aroma of roasted malt, coffee, figs, cherries, blueberries and even more fruit - not bad at all. Full-bodied; Super thick mouthful; Very strong sweetness shows up first with cherries and brown sugar dominating everything. Aftertaste is more rounded, a good maltiness on top of a coffee and milk chocolate flavour. Overall, a really good Imperial Stout - shows more sweetness than I’d expect, but the flavour goes well and lasts quite a while. Worth sampling if you can find it...no really ’downs’ about this one at all. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased at Grape & Gourmet in Virginia Beach, Virginia on 17 November 2007.

batch 2 - purchased bottle @ Drafting Room ($12.95). Pours oily black with a rich tan head that doesn’t last long. Aromas is malt, cherries, chocolate, toffee, alcohol and hops. Flavor is intense. Lots of licorice, some sweetness and chocolates, roasted malt and then a cleansing slam of hops to attempt to cleanse your tastebuds. Mouthfeel is slippery, thick and nearly portlike. Comparable to world-wide stout from dogfish head.

12 ounce bottle purchased at Crown Wine & Spirits Ft Lauderdale, FL store #5 at $6.99

batch 2. Pours pitch black with a light tan head that resembled foam from a french pressed coffee. Aroma was decent but really doesn’t set you up for what is waiting for you. A big helping of espresso and chocolate up front, and a good cherry flavor popping up right after. I keep picking up different things every sip. A good bit of burn going down, but not enough to distract from the flavor. I can’t wait to crack open a bottle again when the time is right.

Pours pure balck with a little bit of dark tan head. I was unimpressed by the aroma. Good, but nothing particularly special. Then the taste. Wow. Thats about all I can say about it. Very complex sweet, fruity, chocolate flavor with just a hint of alcohol that does not give away its 16%. Thick mouthfeel with a nice, long espresso finish. Expensive, but worth every penny. Will definately have this one again.

First beer, third round, in a 5 round, top-rated imperial stout blind tasting to be held over the next year. Four beers with similar characteristics will be sampled in each round. Beers in this round were cellared for about two years. Round 3 - Full body. 12 oz bottle, Batch 1. Dark brown with a thin tan coating and lace sheets on one side. Sweet coffee and molasses. Very sweet (too sweet?) mocha and whiskey. Finishes grassy with light drying. Medium body; touch of carb tang.

Bottle courtesy of Madsberg. Black colour with a light brown head. Light roasted coffee bitter aroma with fruity and chocolate sweet notes and hints of molasses and vanilla. Chocolate sweet and fruity flavor with vanilla and light alcohol sweet notes.

200th United States Rating: Poured from a 12oz bottle (Batch 2) and served in a snifter. This brew poured a deep black with some subtle ruby highlights showing around the edges of the glass. Just a beautiful looking pour. A slowly fading head of tight, dark tan foam resulted from an aggressive pour, settling down to a thin layer of creamy bubbles. A bit of slippery lacing was left behind. The aroma of the beer consisted of licorice, molasses, dark fruits, charred dark malts, coffee, and also some dark chocolate notes. The flavor stayed true to the aroma but also added notes of sweet milk chocolate, raisons, and also an understated alcohol presence. The mouthfeel was full-bodied and viscous with a small dose of carbonation. I didn’t expect great things from this beer, but I was pleasently surprised. It employs a nicely balanced flavor along with great looks and a drinkability that would lead you to believe that the ABV was much lower than 16%. Well done!