Avery Samaels Oak-Aged Ale

Shared with presario, Tipsy Mcstager, and ChineseHercules. I agree with Tipsy on this one-- VERY scotchy initially, but as you sip and sniff more elements come forward: fresh-cut wood, butter-toffee, vanilla, and ethanol. Pours a hazy toffee-orange with a rapidly dissipating white head leaving no lace. Rich creamy mouthfeel, very sweet, with all of the elements in the aroma playing across the palate, with something vaguely sweet-spicy like ginger or marzipan. Threatens to become cloying and syrupy, but the scotchy oak-malt combo keep me happy. Despite the alcohol in the aroma, it was well-masked in the palate. An excellent sipper, but definitely not one for a session! The barley wine designation doesn’t quite seem right for this though.

If i didn’t know it was a beer I would have said it smelt like scotch. Strong oak vanilla barrel aromas. Very sweet flavour, alcohol, fruit. Strong alcohol finish. Too sweet for my taste, but enjoyable in small doses.

Brought by Dufffman to the tasting. Very light but lasting head. Thick dark orange liquere look. Syrupy orange and scotch aroma. Rich sweet spice liquere toffee ginger taste. Lots of subtle fruit flavours. Orange and tangerine.

April 2007, batch #3. I want ot call this a "beast", but this is a creature all by itself. Pours out beautifully with a little head and coppery color. Oak barrel, caramel, vanilla, and candy apple in the nose. The oak comes through in the flavor, as if drinking and oaky chardonnay. Very thick and sweet tasting. Alcohol is masked by the heavy malt, so this beer will kind of sneak up on you. Of the demons series, this is my favorite because of the oaky flavor and the smooth sweetness. Rerate. 2005 bottle from Brentfeesh. Has a Big caramel malt oak and brown sugar aroma. Smooth sweet malt brown sugar vanilla oak and maple syrup. The age has mellowed the heat and makes the way easier to drink and much more dangerously drinkable.

2007 vintage. Best... demon... series... ever... period....


Ok, I thought nothing would displace the original Meph in my book, but this years Samael did it. Sweet hop and malty nose with creamy white head on a heavilty carbonated brown body. Ultra sweet with faint hops and a nice oaky flavor to it.

12 oz bottle, Batch 2. Pours a clear copper body with lots of visible carbonation. Tight bubbled creamy beige head left lots of sticky lacing. The aroma is a balance between caramel and toffee malts and oak with accents of alcohol, vanillin, and brown sugar. The flavor is super sugary sweet at first, very much like eating that Sugar in the Raw stuff. The oakiness, toffee, vanilla, and hefty alcohol emerge on the finish. I must say, the alcohol is pretty well hidden. Mouthfeel is thick and cloying with lots of sugary stickiness up front. The alcohol does thin it a little, and leaves a light burning sensation. Pleasant soft carbonation. This one really surprised me. The alcohol didn’t overpower and the the huge sweetness was tempered by the oak. There was a pretty good amount of oakiness for being just made with chips also.

Bottle, marked April 2007 batch. Wow, two straight ICT ratings, huh? What’re the odds? Promising appearance: dark, ruddy orange color with a fairly thick tan head. Aroma is oak and lots of alcohol. The alcohol is present more in the mouthfeel than the flavor as it’s very warm going down but not overpowering. I’m not generally much of a barley wine fan, but this isn’t bad at all - tons of oaky flavor and very sweet but well-balanced.

Woof, this is one oaky SOB. Attractive deep red color with a medium tan head leaving full sticky lacing. Aroma is big on oak, with the vanilla-phenol type character. There’s also perhaps a citric hop component, and a more noticeable sticky brown sugar note. The flavor starts initially with big oak that dominates through to the finish, which is immensely bitter from both hops and the oak. At first I felt it was overdone, but as I slowly sipped this one (it started around 60 deg and is getting close to room temp halfway through the glass), a brown sugar sweetness became more apparent, and the huge bitterness ebbed some. Warming, dense palate with a lingering lip-smacking sweetness (literally, I can taste the syrupy sweetness on my lips). Obviously strong, mild burning warmth in the chest, but on the well pretty well masked alcohol.