Avery Anniversary Thirteen

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

Serve in Dimpled mug, Stein, Weizen

Draught@RFD, Washington DC. Deep brown. Chocolate and caramel sweetness, some light roast and some banana esters come through. This has some nice flavour, but the mouthfeel is sickly sweet, confectionary sweet. Yes, too sweet in the end.

Bottle. High creamy off-white lasting head. Clear very dark red almost black body. Aroma of sweet berries. Smooth and well rounded flavor of cocoa coffee and a touch of hops bitterness. not alcohol taste.

Bottle compliments of harlequinn<!-- BR -->Dark auburn color, tan head, light lacing. Nose of vegetal roast, light alcohol. The flavor has a decent body but the malts and hops have no cohesion and it falls apart. Finishes malty, puckering, ugh. The alcohol doesn’t burn too much but I think it’s the root cause of this whole shebang not working out like it should have.

Pours a deep brown with ruby highlights and a creamy light brown head. Minimal lacing. The aroma has sweet wheat, a light malt, bananas, and dried fruits. Tastes much the same with the addition of hot spices and a hit of alcohol. Dry, alcohol filled finish. Not bad, but missed my expectations.

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25th January 2009
Clear dark brown beer. Short lived tan head. Smooth malty caramel - chocolate with a banana streak. Silky spirity malt. A biting carbonation before the malty-spirity finish. A boozy bananoffee surprise!

Deep reddish colour with a small light brown head. Malty, dark fruit sweet aroma with a spicy note. Light roasted malty flavor with some fruity sweetness and a light yeasty note. Light dry and alcohol sweet finish.

Bottle (bomber). Head is initially small, frothy, light brown, mostly lasting. Body is hazy dark brown. Aroma is moderately malty (cookie, chocolate, toasted bread, caramel), lightly yeasty (cobwebs), with notes of plum, raisin, date, light notes of apple, banana and alcohol, hint of clove. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium to full body, watery/velvety texture, lively carbonation, lightly to moderately alcoholic. Malty-fruity nose with the Avery thumbprint all over it, but falls a little short of the banana-clove punch I was hoping for. This is leaning more towards a straight Doppelbock to me than a Weizenbock, but that nitpick aside, it is unquestionably enjoyable. Delectable attic-like/cobwebby raw yeast smell underneath it all (delightfully devoid of vitamin B / dough smell). Great balance that is neither too sweet nor too bitter...but just a touch more tartness would be welcomed for this style. Rich, luxurious mouthfeel with fairly well-hidden alcohol. Nicely retentive head, though certainly not as voluminous as some (though this is a fresh-off-the-bottling-line, semi-agitated, low-fill bottle, so this unfiltered gem might improve on that point in a few weeks/months). A very strong contender in Avery’s arsenal and my favorite of the anniversary beers so far.

Bottle@Home. Milky aroma with a hint of banana and lightly smoked, but also butterscotch and a hint of varnish. Dark brown color, beige head, fair lace. Light sweet, caramallized banana, licorice and chocolate. Soft and milky mouthfeel. Very nice, could use some complexity though.