Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale (2013)

Brewed By: Avery Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado  

Purchased: Single 12oz bottle bought at Binny's in Illinois; 2013 

Style/ABV: Belgian Strong Dark Ale, 18.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

Ahhh...Avery. What to say about these guys. Avery is a brewery that was founded in September 1993 by homebrewer Adam Avery. You've heard this story before: homebrewer makes awesome beer, homebrewer jumps into the booming craft beer scene with great beer. Between 1993 and now, Avery has expanded numerous times, including bigger tanks in 1995 and in 1997. In 2000, the brewery replaced their brewhouse, and in 2002 more tanks were added, and 2004 marked the second year of Avery's barrel program. Since then, it's been all uphill with more expansion, canned beer, and continued success. To read more, check out Avery's website.

The Beast Grand Cru is part of Avery's The Demons of Ale series, and is one big beer. Dubbed a "Grand Cru," this beer features a grocery list of ingredients. The hop list includes Magnum, Galena, Saaz, Hallertau, Tettnang, and Hersbrucker hops. The malt bill is two-row malted barley, honey malt, and imported Belgian specialty grains (aromatic, pale wheat, roasted wheat, and Special B). In addition to all that, the beer also features Dates, Molasses, Dark Belgian Candy Sugar, Alfalfa Honey, Raisins, Turbinado sugar, and sweet, sweet Rocky Mountain water. This year's release punches in at an insane 18.0% and should age beautifully. 

Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale (2013)

The beer pours a dark reddish color...talk about carnage in a glass...and kicks up two fingers of tan, Belgian-esque head. This beer is seriously carbonated, and head retention (about a pinky, at the moment) is good for a beer punching in at 18.0%. In bright light, the beer takes on a reddish-orange color, and the head is soaking up some amber tones. This beer is super effervescent at the moment, with tons of carbonation rising upwards in various streams.

The aroma on this reminds me of Dogfish Head's Fort and 120 Minute IPA. There's a ton of fruity, boozy complexity on the aroma. I'm pulling off berries, raspberry, raspberry puree, raisins, weird meat/leather, and tons of perfume candy sugar and turbinado sugar on this beer's nose. There's some rum-like qualities to the aroma, but I don't think this beer has aged to that point just yet. I'm not getting any solvent or fusel alcohol on this, but you know this beer is hot.

WOAH. Fuck me...this beer is huge. I'm drinking this hot with the intention to age a second bottle, but right now the first sip results in an explosion of spicy, boozy fullness...the beer just unravels in your mouth, and finishes with trailing booziness that would make any rum drinker blush. I'm getting some raspberry puree and berries up front, followed by tons of brown sugar, turbinado, and candy sugar. There's some boozy dark fruits in the mix, including plums and raisins, and then the beer veers into HARD Quad territory with overripe fruit booze. The finish is boozy, and then growing heat rises up your throat from your tummy. You get a lot of peppery spice in this from the booze, and some weird, peppery leather/butcher shop shows up from the alcohol heat. 

What we have here, right now, is a beer that's a wee bit one-dimensional. It's hard to say if the 18.0% is going to age into something with more complexity, but at the moment this is mostly hints of fruit, rum, candy sugar, and booze. Obviously, drinkability is low here. This full-bodied beast is a sipping beer through and through. Even if you age this, you're going to want to sip on this. The palate depth is outstanding, but this desperately needs some complexity. You get some berries and fruit puree up front; that rolls into huge sugars, candy sugar, brown sugar, and perfumey booze; the back end is more booze, rum-spice and rum-alcohol, hints of Quad-like dark fruits, and a boozy/warming finish.

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this. This beer reminds a bit of the Two Brothers 16th Anniversary Ale. It's like bringing a rocket launcher to a fist fight. Then again...this beer has the advertised rum character going on, and this is definitely a sipper. As a fresh beer, I would only recommend this to be sipped on over the course of a cold Winter evening. As a beer to age...well, age away. I'll echo Avery's thoughts and agree that this beer would pair well with a pineapple upside-down cake, or any other fruity dessert cake. This beer might also work grilled meats. This beer has a niche...but I dunno. I'll have to sleep on this.

Random Thought: I guess BrewDog and Jim Koch brewed a Scotch ale with lobster and crabs in it...and then they made it sour, by sitting nude in the mash. That's super cool. I like to get naked with my fellow, same-sex coworkers (NOT THAT THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT!!!) and make sour beer. Boop.