Anniversary Eighteen
Avery Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado, United States 🇺🇸
Farmhouse - Saison Regular Out of Production|
Score
6.93
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For this year’s celebratory brew, we decided to focus on the characteristics that certain yeasts bring to the party. Each of the five Belgian yeasts selected adds its own unique aspect to the flavor and aroma of this saison. The hefty addition of rye helps dry this beauty out and lends another spicy component to the flavor. And for added fun, we subtly dry-hopped it, too! Brewed with malted barley, imported malted rye, imported specialty malts, hops and a blend of five Belgian yeast strains.
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8.1/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Night of the Living Saisons Part 3, and the first beer rated on my second year anniversary on RateBeer (it’s just past midnight!). I had to pick a couple of anniversary beers for this occasion: Avery’s 18th Anniversary and Firestone Walker’s 14th Anniversary Ale. Also to come later in this celebration of fermentation: my 700th rating, fuck yeah! So, Avery Eighteen: bomber poured into tulip. Bottled May 2011. Pours a hazy copper-orange with noticeable floating sediment and a nice beige head with great retention; leaves some lace. Aroma is, woah, WTF, crazy. Compared to the other saisons I drank before this, this is extremely more earthy. Also noted is some definite Brett, nuttiness, clearly insane weirdness. It’s truly strange. My senses keep alternating between: it smells a bit like garbage to "Wow, this is some complex stuff, here!" I give it a high score for being so off the wall. Taste is--holy fuck this is a weird beer--sweet and meaty with some sour edges. Finishes dry, nutty and bitter. Flavors include grapefruit, garbage (how I do love garbage), dusty old libraries (always worth tasting), cheese. Carbonation is medium-low and the body is full. This beer is so at odds with the other two saisons drank before this. It’s clearly a one-off and extremely experimental (like all of Avery’s Anniversary beers), whereas the other two were pretty basic, yet excellent examples of the style. Not nearly as drinkable as the other two, yet quite a bit more interesting. I’d be interested to see how this ages (maybe the garbage aspects will disappear!).
Tried
from Bottle
on 24 Jul 2011
at 01:32
6.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
22 oz. bottle, split with Matts_Property, pours dark orange / amber with a white head. Aroma is quite odd for a saison, some unusual funkiness, yeasts, caramel and slight sour fruits. Flavour brings out these sour fruits, yeast and caramel, sweeter than your average saison with no dry finish. Not really a good example of the style, but it's alright.
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Jul 2011
at 09:20
6.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
Some rye on the flavor, but mostly we get a straightforward Saison-- no clue where that dry-hopping has gone. Bubbly and pretty, but a little too much like a case of the Emperor’s New Clothes to fall in love. Who cares, though, because 18 years of Avery Beer is a very good thing.
Tried
on 09 Jul 2011
at 14:57
5.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 6
Pour is a copper with a small tan head. Aroma is a nice estery yeast and spicy rye. Flavor is jaw droppingly light for such a good aroma. Some caramel with a bit of spice and that’s about it. This thing is kinda all over the place and not very saison like at least in the flavor. The five Belgian yeasts must of fought it out to a draw.
Tried
on 02 Jul 2011
at 13:58
6.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Hazy amber pour - quickly diminishing head - nose of spicy rye, toasted grains, apricot, with notes of basement and bubblegum-like phenols from the yeast - definitely not a saison, but I expected as much - very sweet, almost syrupy - flavors of apricot and tangerine - spicy, toasty rye - moderate esters - strong bubblegum and light plastic - dry hopping is fairly apparent, lending additional grassiness and spice to the finish, making the beer finish more like a belgo-American IPA - not too bad if you ignore the intended style, but rather messy and much too sweet.
Tried
from Can
on 01 Jul 2011
at 20:30
6.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Tulip glass at the Map room, Chicago. Pours a translucent copper, amber with a creamy, lacing white head. Big estery nose, more clove than anything else, banana, tropical fruits, tons of yeast. Flavor is pretty much the same, lots of banana, cloves, a little booze, malty, a little over ripe fruit. Full bodied, sticky finish. A little heavy handed.
Tried
on 30 Jun 2011
at 20:03
6.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
On tap at flying saucer. Pours a cloudy amber with a large off white head that leaves good sticky lacing along the glass. The aroma is a sweet hop and floral and yeast. Medium mouthfeel with a dry malt and yeast. Very dry finish a good saison from Avery.
Tried
from Draft
on 17 Jun 2011
at 22:55
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 7
On tap. Sampled blind. Pours with a slightly hazed golden body with a large and lasting white head. Grainy, pils aroma with a hint of spice. Yeasty, estery, light spicy hop aroma. Baked bread. Tongue depressor. Flavors are grainy, grassy and lightly fruity (estery), bready, bananas, spice. Medium to noticeable alcohol. Malt forward.
Tried
from Draft
on 13 Jun 2011
at 09:47