Avery Anniversary Thirteen

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

Serve in Dimpled mug, Stein, Weizen

22oz. bottle. Interesting aroma, featuring a blend of milk chocolate, raisin, plum, spice and toffee, with lighter hints of clove, earthiness, pepper, vanilla, medicinal alcohol and a faint, almost smoky roastiness in the background. Deep, dark mahogany color, clear, with a subsiding, light tan head and intricate patterns of lacing. Flavor profile is a similar melange of dark, roasty, chocolate and toffeeish malts, old wood and wisps of smoke amidst lightly vaporous, peppery, musty, earthy, moderately bitter and estery undertones. Mouthfeel is warming, smooth, clean and finely carbonated with a rather full body. Perhaps not as finely rendered or as refined as some Old World examples, but possesses a certain amount of character and rough charm, so I did enjoy this.

22 oz bottle from some unremembered store in the midwest, October 2006; sampled at cellar temperature from a Ramstein weizen glass. One of those creamy, perfectly flat/smooth tan heads tops this dark caramel/walnut near-opaque monster; it dies slowly and leaves thick lacing.....fairly pleasant but unremarkable caramel-banana aroma with a fair bit of doughy yeasty character, kind of pasty and thick....smooth yet assertive body, lots of caramel and light yeast character but also plenty of sourdough notes adding a vinegary agressiveness to it all, touches of cherry and chocolate, quite full and naturally carbonated; alcohol is vaguely present but nicely muted, banana-clove notes also noticeable but never overwhelming....dark chocolaty touches near the finish help cut the doughiness of the yeast.....this is one of the more authentic American weizens of any stripe that I’ve had and certainly deserves credit for that; quite solid.

Bomber. Pours a very very dark clear crimson, not much head, just a little bit of small bubbles. Mild aroma of bananna esters, alcohol, just a hint of peat. Subtle. Taste is sweet, fruity with lots of cherry and bananna up front. Light spices, corriander, cinnamon? Some vinous hints in there as well. Finish is slightly dry, a little toffee sneaks in. Body is full and sticky. This beer isn’t exactly my bag, but it’s well made and I think stylistically correct.

Bottle. Dark brown with a red tinge and fluffy darkened head. Dark, toasty aroma with fruits and toffee. Nice complex flavour - nutty caramel, toast, chewy sweetness. Quite tasty and rich.

22 oz bottle: Deep brown w/a lasting light beige head. Initial aroma is wheat, clove, and alcohol with hints of banana and chocolate. Lots of solventy alcohol. Medium toasted malt, but very little dark fruit otherwise. Lightly nutty after it warms. Well balanced overall w/ a dry finish. Alcohol estery fruitiness throughout, wheat malt with a light clove spice. Slight banana ester and chocolate flavor. Finish has a light clove and wheat/toasty malt flavor that lasts along w/ a bit of alcohol estery flavors, and a bit of plum fruitiness, but it’s light. Warming alcohol, dry m/f from alcohol, and medium body w/ medium high carbonation. Overall, except for the alcohol presence, an enjoyable beer. I wish I had this out at the campfire last night instead of my Goose Island Nut Brown Ale.

I understand the mixed reviews for this beer. It looks like a standard bock, black, and lightly carbonated. The hgh ABV is not in the aroma, but there is caramel and some smoke. Flavor is sweet with fruit and sugar; raisins, sweet cherry, fermenting apples. The alcohol is also in the flavor as well, but it is not unpleasant. The wheat presence is clear, and it puts a softer edge on what would otherwise be a poweful doppelbock.

Deep red-brown body, thin tan head. Horrifying cloying soy and honey notes taint the wet grass, spice, and banana characteristics that should dominate the aroma. Is this another ultra-sweet syrupy nightmare from Avery? Ok, the aroma’s not bad overall, but I’m pretty sensitive to the "Avery taint." The body is thankfully a bit drier, and very spicy, the esters and alcohol dominating the finish. The toasts and dark fruits complement these characteristics nicely; this is almost entering Dubbel territory. Great complexity and mouthfeel; I agree it is a touch hot. A pleasant surprise. And, with that, prospects of a nightmare diminish.

Bottle. Small tan fizzy head that was mostly lasting along with a decent amount of lacing, transparent, visible carbonation, and a dark ruby hue. Nose was mildly malty, sweet, fruity and spicy. Flavor was sweet, toffee, cocoa, bready, and spicy. Tingly palate. Medium body.