Avery Seventeenth Anniversary Dry Hopped Black Lager

Before we get to the review today I want to share a bit of a topic of the conversation Dan and I had when we tried it. We discussed limited and special releases, and the effect that they have on us as consumers. When I bought this beer, I picked up it along with 2 other bottles. All 3 were limited or one-time release beers. When I thought about it, I realized that almost all of the beer purchases I've made lately have been either limited releases or things I just can't get around here. The reason for this is simply that Dan and I like to be able to try lots of different beers, and with these special releases if you don't try it while it's out initially, chances are you never will. Because of that, when I go to the liquor store to make a purchase and see that my options are between a special beer that will never be made again and something that's in 6-packs every time I'm there, I generally go for the special beer. We've been seeing more and more breweries getting in on this trend as well, competing for the dollars of people like us with beer-ADD. Some of these like Avery's Anniversary series or Stone's Vertical Epic series have at least semi-legitimate reasons for their existence, but there's also quite a few coming out that seem to be just for the sake of having a special release.

Anyway, on to the beer. The aroma was surprisingly light and predominantly roasty. It didn't nearly have as much hop quality to it as I would have expected from something described as a dry hopped beer. What hops did exist in the nose were subdued and earthy in nature. I felt like I also got some fruity notes, but those were hard to pick out.

The beer poured a near-black color with deep red highlights. It had a 1-finger tan head initially, which dissipated fairly quickly to just a light coating. What remained left some lacing on the glass as it progressed.

The initial flavor was intensely roasted with a coffee-like quality and some dark fruit notes. Although the beer itself wasn't boozy, it struck me as a thick imperial-stout style roasted quality. There was a distinct bitterness on the back of the mouth, but it didn't necessarily feel like it came from the hops. I really wasn't getting much of a dry-hopped quality either in the aroma or the taste. Still, it was well balanced, and managed substantial flavor without being overly sweet.

In the mouth, the beer had a medium-full body, with possibly slightly high levels of carbonation. It seemed like it tended a little bit towards the dry side, and had a clean sense to it.

Overall, this beer had a good strong flavor, and pleasant aroma, even if it wasn't quite what I anticipated. I don't doubt that the beer was dry hopped, but it was done in such a way that the hops didn't seem to be featured in the beer. Mostly it reminded me of a less sweet lager version of World Wide Stout. At 8.7% it hid the alcohol content well. This was definitely a strong offering from Avery, not quite at the "drop everything and go get as many bottles of it as you can while it lasts" level, but certainly worth trying if you feel so inclined.

- Adam

Avery Mephistopheles Stout

Yesterday was Halloween, so to celebrate, Dan and I decided to pick up some evil themed beers. We both chose offerings from Avery Brewing Company, in Boulder, CO. Dan grabbed The Beast, a 16.3% ABV Belgian Grand Cru. I picked out Mephistopheles Stout, a super dark 16.1% ABV stout.

The beer pours a deep, dark brown... practically black. It has a 1 finger brown head that dissipates fairly quickly. Even the head on this beer is darker than a lot of beers out there. There's no lacing on the glass, and the head was almost completely gone by the time I started drinking it.

The aroma has a good bit of alcohol present. There's a sweetness to it though from the malt, and some traces of coffee. It's definitely a strong smelling beer, and let's you know that there's going to be quite a kick to it.

The taste is initially very sweet at first, moving to a bitter burnt coffee flavor as it moves back on the tongue. Then a strong alcohol flavor kicks in. It's definitely warming as it goes down, almost like a shot. It seems like it needs to be sipped at first. The strength of the alcohol becomes less noticeable as I continued drinking. The first bit was a bit hard to get through, but it's well worth it. I also noticed a somewhat greasy burnt bacon flavor as the beer progressed. I know that sounds a little nasty, but it actually fit well in the flavor. The aftertaste had strong coffee notes.

It was thick in the mouth, as expected from something this dark and strong. The carbonation wasn't too strong, just a mild tingle on the tongue. It fit well with the character of the beer.

As for the drinkability... not too high. It was good, it was worth having, but it was strong. Very very strong. And at 16.1% trying to session this beer would likely put you in a hospital, if you could even get that many down. Happy Halloween.

- Adam