Avery Mephistopheles Stout

Brewed by Avery Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Boulder, Colorado USA

Serve in Snifter

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UPDATED: OCT 4, 2007 Batch 1 bottle, many samples at the EBF in Boston, 2/11/06.
The head is nearly retentive. Tan and foamy, though dense when you first pour it. It laces quite well, which for a filtered beer is incredible. Ok enough appearance, if Avery was bottle conditioned or unfiltered it would be a 5. This is the next best thing.
The aroma is the best part, with raisins, dates, toffee, brown sugar and caramel all overexuding themselves. It’s like they beat every last drop of aroma they could from the malt. Thick, rich and, carrying very well (nor does it diminish as you get near the end). Clear and chewy, with a soft carbonation and mild chocolate sweetness filling the middle part of the malt ride. Finishing, it adds sherry, vanilla, and light chewy graham crackers. Not as rich and soothing a mouthfeel as Bells Expedition or Dark Lord 04, and not quite as stylish as Free State Owd Macs, but really well-executed, not overly acidic or hoppy at all, with tons of raisins and kahlua-like chocolate-coffee notes. Impressively masked is the alcohol. 9/4/8/4/18

Batch 2 bottle shared with SuIIy and JoshuaB on 2/2/07
It wasnt even the alcohol that made this one much worse than remembered. But a rather beany, powdery, breadiness that lingered on the finish of the flavor and seemed ingrained in to the beer. Very dulling to the fruits and roast and chocolate. Coffee was too liquorous and the beer a bit too syrupy. I can’t say I hated it, but it’s just too forceful and does not have any of the smoothness or elegance that batch 1 had (at least while it was chilled). Texture, while big and sugary, still suffers from the cheap carbonation. None of the cherry-vanilla-chocolate liqueur smoothness that I remember so vividly from the first batch either (that divine aroma it had). Not horrible and much better than you usually get from Avery, but not something I’ll be buying again. 7/4/6/3/12 Score reflects the second batch.

Bottle: Batch 3: Really deep dark brown pour. Small to medium brown head, changes quick into a thicker brown lacing on top of a pitch black beer. Smell is deep, I mean deep: lot of deep black liquid liquorice and dark strong coffee/espresso, roasted oatmeal, hint of manure, some long roasted barley malts (almost burned), lot of dark dark roasted burned ingredients. There’s no hint of alcohol, nice. Taste is a strong mix of roasted spices, roasted barley malts, dark liquorice, roasted barleys, roasted chocolate, some dark chocolate, some dried dark fruits, some soya, roasted (autumnal) herbs and grass, light bitter, bit sticky, hint of caramel and brown sugars but overpowered by the roasted taste and alcohol. There is also a decent warmth. (decent considering the alcohol percentage. Aftertaste is nice light bitter with roasted barley and roasted grass. Though the grass comes through more and more, the roasted barleys and chocolate seems to combine their powers and make something like a praline/bon-bon kind of aftertaste (with a (roasted) grassy tint). Low carbo, very soft mouthfeel with a fast and top notch growing spicyness, full body and a creamy texture. Damn, this is strong (the cool label somehwat sugests to) and tasty, but you definitely taste the strong alcohol notes.

This beer changed my life... the flavors and aromas were so complex and wonderful. With each sip you get 4 different stages of flavor with the finish leaving you speechless.

Batch 3, 12 oz, trappist glass. Smoky scent upon opening, midnight black pour, tried once before, but even more tasty after 5 years of aging. Robust boozy flavor that is used the right way, an overall pleasure to drink.

Dark black with a subtle red tinge, nice chocolate head that leaves a little lacing. Aroma is oak, licorice, coffee, chocolate, vanilla, and booze. Warming to the palate with a slight slickness to the mouthfeel. Taste starts big and chocolately, followed by some vanilla, lots of oak, a little licorice and a bitter roast coffee finish. Has a bit to much overall booziness which makes it a liitle harsh, but has a good depth and will probably age nicely.

Batch 7 Pours black with a beige head. The nose has bitter chocolate, hint of raisin and red grape skin. A touch of oak/bourbon barrels. Full body. Tastes starts with booze bourbon, followed by bitter chocolate, raisin and finishes with coffee. Quite tight, with a lot of booze muting the other flavors. A very complex beer. I look forward to seeing how this cellars ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Aroma of dark roast coffee. Pours a deep black with a thick tan head. Taste has a dark roasted flavor with an intense caramel sweetness. The palate is rather dry for a stout but it is also very thick. Burnt bitterness lingers well after the taste and you can taste and feel the ABV! ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

UPDATED: APR 17, 2012 Draft at Eulogy. Batch 2011. Opaque black with a thick tan head. Strong aroma of black licorice and sour black coffee. Very thick body. Dark chocolate. Bit of an acidic bite. Slight smoke element. Quite complex. Something to sit and let develop. Certainty worth the wait.

Batch 4. Aroma is strong roasted coffee, dark cherry, almond, dark chocolate and earth. Appearance is pitch black and coats the glass like... well, like pitch or overdue motor oil. Head is thick, tan foam. The first taste is boozy, espresso and toast. The aftertaste is a liquor burn with, again, rum or whiskey-spiked coffee notes and earthy, full, fire-roasted chocolate flavor. This beer grows on you, and by the end of a bottle turns out to be pretty fantastic.

batch 7 purchased at sylvan liqour in sylvan lake michigan.pours completely black with quarter inch tan head.aroma of chocolate,anise,smoke and has the smell of a coffee that had been burnt to the bottom of the pot.flavor is chocolate covered cherries,anise,smoke and expresso.full bodied with a slick mouthfeel and a long bitter finish.ive been waiting quite some time to try this and ive not been dissapointed.if your an imperial stout drinker you got to try this.powerful,complex and definitly a sipper.

On tap at Blackthorn Pub - Holly,MI...Oh my, this is huge...would easily make a Bud Light drinker convulse into a Faustian nightmare that he might never awaken from. That’s OK, because those guys are as common as flies on shit. However, for those of us with a mature beer palate this is one not to be missed...