The Beast Grand Cru Ale
Avery Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado, United States 🇺🇸
Belgian Style - Strong Ale Regular|
Score
7.46
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Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9
2015 bottle. Dark amber with a tiny beige ring of head. Sweet aroma, raisins, malty, toffee, tobacco, boozy. Taste follows with the same sweet blend plus plenty of warmth. A bit sticky and dry at the finish. This has held up very well.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6
Bottled 2006: the beast looks good. Redbrown color, small but steady head. Vinous raisinny aroma. Brandy. Extremely sweet but also vinous flavor. Sugary and alcoholic. Porto flavor. Thick mouthfeel. Has complexity but remains too sweet IMO.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, 2005 vintage. Pours very hazy very dark reddish brown color with a thin spotty lace cap for a head that lingers. Slight spotty lacing clings on the glass. Aromas of huge raisin, prune, fig, date, cherry, caramel, toffee, toast, brown sugar, honey, brown bread, molasses, leather, and tobacco; with lighter notes of cinnamon, pepper, licorice, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Incredible aromas with fantastic complexity and balance of dark/bready malt, fruit/sugars, and fruity/earthy yeast notes; with great strength. Taste of huge raisin, prune, fig, date, cherry, caramel, toffee, toast, brown sugar, honey, brown bread, molasses, leather, and tobacco; with lighter notes of cinnamon, pepper, licorice, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Minimal herbal bitterness and yeast spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of dark fruit, caramel, toffee, toast, brown sugar, honey, brown bread, molasses, leather, tobacco, light licorice/pepper, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, fruit/sugars, and fruity/earthy yeast flavors; with a nice malt/spiciness balance, and zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Minimal carbonation and very full bodied; with a very smooth, creamy, slick, and syrupy mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming or boozy alcohol for 14.9%. Overall this is an incredible Belgian strong dark ale. All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, fruit/sugars, and fruity/earthy yeast flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV. Feels more like an old ale or English barleywine at this point, due to the very subdued spicy Belgian yeast character; but this has aged amazingly. A highly enjoyable offering.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8
Tap at Koumin. Great fruity nose, caramel, some chocolate, light oxidation, grapes. Rich malt flavor with Belgian yeast spiciness and great complexity. Lovely light fruitiness and a light, airy, ethereal body. Great stuff.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
ery malty. Lots of cherries, wood, orange candy, phenolic, boozy, dark fruit, dried strawberries some type of milk chocolate. Bready. Very full body. Big and bad. More hops than expected for the style. For 18% it’s fucking awesome. So well balanced.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 7
Bottle at Oliver Twist. Deep amber pour with small, white head. Big aroma of dried fruit, caramel, figs, dates, raisins oak and brown sugar. Quite sweet, but a little bit dusty, taste with caramel, raisin, figs, dates, oak, vanilla. Very light bready notes. Short, sweetish finish.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5
Bottle from Royal Liquor, Encinitas, CA. Batch 10 (2012): 16.0% ABV. Unclear dark orange, light brownish colour with a thin beige head. Aroma is malty, caramel, raisins, dried fruits, brown sugar, slight roastiness, slight alcohol nose. Flavour is caramel malts, syrup, dried fruits, slight alcoholic, a bit spicy. Soft mouthfeeling, low carbonation. A hopped barley wine. A real sipper. Very pleasant. It has some age on it, so I guess the sweetness has mostly been gone, which seems to be a good thing. Nice to wind down with after the NL - CRC spectacle.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
On tap at Avery. 2009 aged. Poured a reddish dark amber with a super thin white head and a rich consistency. The aroma is rich fruit and boozy alcohol. The flavour is medium to strong bitter with a sweet fruit alcohol liqourice palate. A super strong super rich beer and like most of the strong beers from Avery the alcohol is really well controlled. A great end to a memorable tasting at the brewery.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Imported from my RateBeer account as Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale (by Avery Brewing Company (Mahou San Miguel)):
Aroma: 8/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 7/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 14/20, MyTotalScore: 3.7/5
22/X/2012 - 12 Fl. Oz. bottle @ home - BB: n/a (2012-1170) Thanks to Jeremy for the bottle!
Clear ruby red beer, big creamy yellow to beige head, stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: raisins, ripe fruits, dried figs, grains, sweet caramel, overripe fruits. MF: ok carbon, medium to full body. Taste: sweet sugary start, peppery, alcohol, raisins, some caramel. Aftertaste: caramel, sweet, dried fruits, alcohol, bit spicy, bitter hops, sugary, overripe bananas.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5
2011 bottle. Pours a dark cloudy brown ale with a large frothy beige head leaving sticky lacing along the glass. The aroma is a sweet fruit and bready malt. Thin mouthfeel with a rich brown sugar and caramel with a slight alcohol burn finish. Not as overpowering as expected a good Belgian stronga ale from Avery.