Avery The Czar Imperial Stout

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

Serve in Snifter

Sample at the 2012 Cincinnati Brew-haha. Near-black brown color. Nice tan head, good lace. Lighter, crisp carbonation, dry texture. Good roasty bitter taste. Malty, some chocolate, significant dark fruity taste, a sort of bocky note. Decent imperial stout

Poured a murky brown color with a tan head that did retain throughout the entire beer. Aroma was deep roasted malts, with chocolate, caramel and milk. Flavor was burnt notes, chocolate, and some alcohol. Finish was bitter. With the alcohol in the finish. One of the better beers.

Viscous black pour with a dense tan head. Heavy roast aroma, full of chocolate, coffee, licorice, and leather. Earthy, bitter roasted flavor with a slight fruit undertone. Brutally thick, a wonderful warming quality on this unseasonably hot winter night. Finishes sweet but balanced, with a note of bittersweet chocolate. Not much alcohol taste. Like a better version of Ten Fidy.

Bottle of batch 10 (2011) with Carla. Pours dark brown with tan foam. Smells lightly sweet with hits of caramel and alcohol. Tastes remarkably bitter from the hops, barley and alcohol (somewhat reminiscent of the iron curtain) with hints of chocolate.

Pours nice dark brown color. Chocolatey, nutty, with lots of dark fruit and a nice medium sweetness. A little boozy but not too much so.

2011 Batch. Color is black as squid ink with a dense layer of tan head. Somewhat of a subdued aroma that’s mostly licorice, toffee, roasted malt and black cherries. The taste is more traditional of a RIS with lots of roast malt, chocolate mocha, espresso and caramelized sugars. Toward the end there’s a strong booze-soaked dark fruit (raisin, currant, fig) presence in addition to some molasses and vanilla. The body is syrupy with soft carbonation while the finish is sweet and roasty with a strong alcohol punch. Tasty for sure but a sugary booze bomb nonetheless. I’d say it needs at least a few years to fully develop.

A bottle opened at a friends party by an unknown party, then promptly left behind by them because it was too strong. Nice to find 16oz of something yummy like this. Pour is nearly black with tan head. Nose is rich sweet with malty sharpness. Flavor is lots of chocolate and molasses. Creamy rich toffee sweetness. Warming and smooth. Not bitter. Rich full flavor and mouthfeel.

On tap at Rattle N Hum, 2009 version. Pour is sold black with a very small tan head. Lacing is pretty good for an IRS and leaves a nice cascading effect on the glass. Aroma is extremely heavy on the malts - molasses, dark overripe plums, and some slight licorice. The flavor is much like the aroma but with a solid hoppy dry finish. The taste is actually sweeter than the aroma, but not too overwhelming.