Avery Anniversary Thirteen

Formerly brewed at Avery Brewing Company
Style: Weizen Bock
Boulder, Colorado USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Stein, Weizen

Deep burgundy with a frothy, light tan head and lingering lace. Very inviting nose. Like fresh-baked chocolate bread. Creamy and super-smooth texture; deceivingly lightish weight. Complex malts, with notes of chocolate, cookie and fresh sourdough bread. Very balanced bitterness (dark chocolate, clove and a hint of tart fruit). Banana is far in the background, but it’s a pleasant addition. At first, aromas didn’t seem so strong; but given a little time to breath and warm up, they began to loft about nicely. Not over-the-top by any means, but it had a mellow complexity that was nice. Not my favorite style, but I enjoyed this stuff.

Sampled June 2006 Pours with a frothy, light brown colored head that is creamy and large bubbled. The beer shows a deep, dark, ruby hued purple color when held up to the light, otherwise it is a dark brown, opaque morass that is approaching black. This has a really strikingly fruity aroma that is sweet, almost to the point of being saccharine. Fruity notes of raisins, hints of cherries and a butterscotch note that seems a bit out of place. Rum-like notes of alcohol also are found in the aroma. The aroma is almost too weird; it is right on the edge of not being good. Hopefully it is just a bit green and will mellow with a couple months of age.

The beer is incredibly smooth and creamy. Silky with a big palate coating body up front, but it moves to a sharp alcohol bite in the finish. Some light roast character is found in the finish as well. Notes of clove and banana are here as well. Once again it seems like the life has been stripped from another big brew by Avery. I just don’t get the need to filter all of the character from a beer. Passable, even drinkable, but this could be so much better. Hopefully age & a touch of oxidation will add some much needed complexity and depth to this brew.

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Wheaty, slightly fruity, mint, rye aroma. The weakest part of the beer. Enormously quaffable, especially for 9.5%, with a strong wheat hull flavor, rich chocolate mousse, herbs, mint. Chewy and rich, vastly enjoyable.

Clear brown with reddish hues, low head production. Caramel, toast, and chocolate aromas; tingling carbonation but a sense of being a little thin (though there is some sweet stickiness that makes this effect moderate if anything); decent flavors up front, including a strong banana streak, with notes of alcohol, leather, and burnt sugar (as when cooking) in the end. Not bad. I’m glad I shared the bomber with my mother-in-law; I wouldn’t have wanted the whole thing.

Bomber from Greenwood. Sweet malty aroma with long-forgotten bockish grape of a lighter variety and brown sugar to level. Alcohol also present, caramel, too. Deep dark garnet body (slight purplish hue) with a rocky tanned head and firm carbonation. Taste is fruity and prominently spicy, sweet and only lightly bitter with a kick to the teeth from the alcohol. Soft and warming wheat with distinct yeasty and coriander notes. Is there rye in this? Light cocoa powder and still fainter sour cherry. Lightly crisp but no real trace of hops, murky thickness with an overly boozy end and impersonal throat warming. Mismatched caramel and stale grape aftertaste. There was a lot of potential here, but this is too raw and guileless; I’d like to see another attempt.

Bottled. Rich and thick molasses and sugary sweet aroma. Tons of malt, plum, brown sugar, and fig. Luscious fruity notes with little hop character. Dark ruby-brown clear liquid topped with a thin off-white creamy lacing head. Medium-heavy body, chewy, with medium carbonation. Warming. Starts big and sweet with huge malt, molasses, brown sugar, anise, plum, and fig. Sweet alcohol, warming, with light carbonic tang. Finishes with light tangy character, a touch of bitterness, and sweetness that is short of cloying. Nutty sweetness, too. Tasty doppelbock with a wheat kick.

UPDATED: APR 25, 2007 Bomber. Pours to a cola looking body with a thick bubbly/creamy dark tan head. The aroma is bready with some molasses and toffee. Estery, black German bread. The flavor is alcoholic molasses, deep charred banana chocolate, black German bread. The palate is intensely warming to the throat and the stomach. Slick velvety feel. 7, 3, 8, 5, 15 = 3.7

Rerate: Rich cola colored body with a creamy tan head and awesome lacing. The aroma is light banana and wheat bread. Sort of banana’s foster-ish. Light pecan pie. The flavor is dark toasted wheat, sort of Bell’s Wheat 6-ish. The palate is moderately bodied and mouthwatering. 7, 4, 8, 3, 14 = 3.6

Pours a deep brown, reddish with very little tan head. Big malty and sweet aroma, kinda chocolatey, touch of yeast. The flavor is mainly sweet maltyness, brownsuagr, maple syrup predominate. A bit of fruityness, maybe raisins & dates. Has a chcolatey aspect, with a light yeast background. It has a syrupy body, and is a bit viscous. Has a late subtle nuttyness. It’s pretty sweet & rich in flavor, alcohol is present. Not too drinkable. Something is also lacking to fully develop the flavor.