Samael's Oak-Aged Ale
Avery Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado, United States 🇺🇸
Barley Wine - Barley Regular|
Score
7.37
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Samael’s Ale is a super-caramelly, oak aged English-style strong ale. Perhaps the least hoppy (sacrilege here at Avery!!) beer we’ve brewed, to accentuate the malt. The oak is very apparent in this rich and high gravity ale, adding additional depth and complexity with a woody and cask-like nose and a pronounced vanilla flavor on the palate.
This potent ale is the second installment, along with The Beast, of our “Demons of Ale Series”.
Brewed with Rocky Mountain water, malted barley, turbinado sugar, hops, yeast, and American oak chips.
2011 - 15.53%
2014 - 14.2%
2015 - 14.6%
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Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5
Bottled. Poured a deep ruby brown. Vanilla scent. Incredibly cloying and sickly sweet. Candy caramel mostly. Thin consistency. Disappointment.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
batch #3
very dark ruby pour, small off white head, and lots of floaters.The aroma of LOADED with caramel malt, huge notes of oak, and lots of vanilla. This is the perfect example of a beer that realy benefits from the oak, and really brings out the natural vanilla that oak adds. Now for the flavour.........WHOA this is a HUGE beer. This is the definition of extreme beer. Right off the bat you get SMACKED in the face with booze! A huge warm boozy note warms my mouth and throat. After the initial shock, there are some really nice notes of oak, and vanilla finished with some great caramel malt. This is a sipper, and i think will be tough to finish the whole bottle. This beer was bottled in April of 07, but it could still easily benefit from some age. THIS IS EXTREME BEER.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
2005 bottle from trade. Sorry I can't track down whom it was with. Very sweet smell, and I guess I do catch an edge of oak, although I had thought until now this was bourbon barrel age. Ruby brown with a little fizz, but no foam. Taste is nice and strong, but the alcohol is not overpowering. Plenty of malt without sweetness, which is contradictory, I know. Edge of fruit leather, cherry and pipe tobacco. Thick malty and caramel mouthfeel. It kind of does wander into the territory of a white zinfandel. I do get some alcohol vapors once the beer's had a chance to breathe. Now, more than midway through, I have a dry wine taste. This just keeps bringing up new characteristics with each sip.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Tap at the brewery, July 2016. Advertised at 16.9%, my nightcap. Pours deep amber with a beige head. Aroma: sweet, caramel, toffee and oak. Taste: moderate to heavy sweet, toffee, caramel, vanilla, candy sugar, honey, oak, warming alcohol. Nice complexity. Full body with light carbonation.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8
A surprise find at Susan's in Santa Fe a couple of weeks ago. The label on this bottle indicates it is from Batch No. 11, put up in May/2015. Not an inexpensive purchase, I hope it holds up its end. Using one of my several, best snifters, tonight it is the one from the ABGB in Austin, TX. The pour is a bit lighter than expected, a murky, copper-brown liquid topped with a ring of eggshell-brown bubbles. The scent is nice, ripe fruit, bread and something earthy. An finally to the drink, wow, it kind comes out at you. Soaked raisins, fruit cake, caramel, black plum, all with an obviousness of the alcohol. Quite the package.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5
Bottle, 2006. Orange brown color. Malt and butterscotch in the aroma. Sugary sweet, buttery and alcoholic flavor. Oak in the far background, but the sugary sweetness overpowers all other flavors. Lacks balance. Not totally onedimensional, but certainly not what I expected.
DSG (25989) reviewed Samael's Oak-Aged Ale from Avery Brewing Company 7 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5
Bottle sample at a tasting at troubles' place. Thanks Stas. Clear amber. Malt, caramel, vanilla, marmite, alcohol, very sweet, very sugary, boozy. Quite hard to drink.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
(Tap) clear, bright orange amber colour with a small cream head; aroma of jam, fruit candy; sweet and tart flavour with a long, light bitter finish; somewhat oily palate
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
12oz bottle picked up at Discount Liquor
Pours cloudy amber with a small off-white head, light lacing. Aroma of oak, brown sugar and leather. Flavor of dark fruit, barrels, brown sugar, leather and licorice
Very nice