Avery Old Jubilation Ale

Brewed by Avery Brewing Company
Style: English Strong Ale
Boulder, Colorado USA

Serve in English pint, Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Dark amber, nice offwhite head. Aroma brings some hops but most of all malts, buttery, some x-mas spices, chocolate, coffee, figs, vanilla and toffee. Gtreat malty flavor, some toffee, vinous and with a great body, hoppy, pleasant finish with some pepper. Dry palate.

2004 Bottle at The Avery Experience. Caramel mahagony hues with a medium frothy tan head. Caramel and brown sugar aromas with light roasted grains evident and a fruit hop nose. Caramel malt and acidic alcohol flavor with a fruit hop finish, and some vanilla faintly detectable. Medium bodied and warm spicy palate.

Special thanks to ilovedarkbeer. Smells sweet and fruity with cookie malts, cherries and hazlenut. Beautiful dark red-brown color with some small particles floating around. There is a small creamy head with excellent lacing. Taste is of chocolate malts and is somewhat bitter at the end. Taste reminds me of a Porter a bit. Medium to full body with a dry mouthfeel and a bit too fizzy carbonation. Overall very good!

Very dark chestnut with red shine. Slight, light-brown head. Nose of grapes, raisins, vineous and hops. With warming up, there follows a smell of kaffirlime (peel, as in Thai cuisine). Taste are grapes, tobacco, some bitter chocolate,and lots of hops, but well balanced with dark malts. Very chewy mouthfeel. Retronasal gives nice tobacco-and-hops, long, but after a quite long time, a new impression of sweet chocolate emerges. What impresses me most in this beer is its very succeeded balance.

Bottle. Dark amber/brownish color. Smallish white head. Nice full malt bill on the nose with some spices, fruit and toffee. Flavor is very nice. Full flavor with some fruit, rich malts and some nice background hops that get you in the end. This is well done indeed.

Appearance: Pours a dark, reddish-brown with a firm, lingering tan head. Considerable lacing as the level receded. Aroma: Nicely balanced between sweet, caramel notes and bitter hops. Flavor: Flavor is at first sweet and malty, then quickly turns happily bitter with some nice, piney hop flavor. On the swallow, the bitterness prevails, leaving the mouth with a pleasantly bitter, sticky aftertaste. Some notes of toffee and burnt malts, adding to the bitterness. Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-big in body. Light and fine carbonation. Slightly warming going down. Overall Impression: Overall I was very impressed. A beautifully struck balance between malt sweetness and hop bite. Comments: Bottle pour.

Georgious dark and auburn colours, lasting head. Moderate spicey aroma. Intense taste, well carbonated. Well to drink with spicey food. Good malts throughout to balance out the flavour, and noticeable hops. Dry finish. Citrus and cherry and vegetable aftertaste.

Dark copper brown with a pillowy light tan head which leaves a fine lace behind. Sweet caramel malty aroma with hints of potpourri and ground coffee beans. Body is sweet with light chocolate and coffee before a dry warming hop finish. This beer has the same hop flavor as almost every other Colorado micro I've tried. It's somewhat metallic and wants to be overpowering, but ends up pretty bland. The complexity of malts in this beer, however, do a relatively good job of covering it up, as well as masking the 8% abv.

UPDATED: OCT 26, 2007 2003 - Dark red with a thick coated head. Smells is a very fresh and robust cherry and wood and alcohol. Creamy and thick with a milk-like texture and some nice dark cherry and charred wood flavors. Really an excellent winter beer with some bourbon flavors coming through towards the end.

My Bottom Line:
Toasted, caramelized malt flavors are inherently spiced by a rye-like character, while potent wooden hops contribute as much flavor as bitterness in this complex, compelling sipper.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A creamy head of foam covers the cloudy mahogany.
-The spicy character seems to come from grain bill and hops. It even develops a marzipan-like personality at times.
-Fruit cake allusions also appear.
-The rich body is rounded out by alcohol warmth.
-The flavor profile is harmonious throughout.
-The finish is balanced.

Bottle.