Collaboration Not Litigation

This collaboration led to litigation of my palate. Hazy deep orange-red body, medium buff head. Heavy clove aroma with toast, light banana, and strong phenols (e.g., rubbing alcohol and band-aids). The crisply carbonated body mauls the palate with excessive spices, clove in particular, in addition to a few spoons of pineapple. Bitter and astringent finish. Too much emphasis on spice.

22oz bomber that poured a striking clear copper with initially tall off white head. First impression of the aroma is it’s fairly complex. I smell candi sugar, beat sugar, spices like coriander, hints of lemon and faint maltiness. The taste is similar to the aroma with up front candi sugar and the beat sugar behind it. About midway some tasty spices and yeasty spice surface and take the flavor away from the sugars. I also sense a fruitiness like dates and figs.

This is the first avery release that I’ve been excited about in a long while - medium amber, copperish pour, with sticky white lace - very spicy aroma, with some black pepper, apples, moderate belgian yeast qualities - the avery beer seems to dominate the flavor, and that avery big beer burn is very prominent - some light over ripe fruits and delicate earthiness of the russian river try to some to the fore, but the brashness of the avery brew often overpowers them - some sweet cherry and candi sugar comes out in the finish - not a terrible blend, but it’s just too "avery."

Pours a deep mahoganyr into a Trappist glass. Medium head quickly subsides to skim surface. Caramel and bubblegum aromas. Spiky to sticky with a lasting malt finish.

Bottle. Fruity bubblegum and oregano aroma.Cloudy (didnt quite settle). Amber, creamy layer. Wheatbock like malt base, Light herbal and yeasty edges. Mellow mouthfeel. light honeyish aftertaste. Tasty.

2007 bomber consumed on 2/2/07
Typcial Avery-looking beer, it initially has a full head, but that fades quickly to cover. Beer is clear and bubbly, with a tarnished-brass body that has tints of tan and drab brown. Surprisingly, there is some lacing left on the glass, no doubt the adjunct sugar from Avery’s beer contributing to that. But wait, what’s this!? Towards the end of the bottle, there is light sediment and resulting haze. Interesting, but marginally significant, I think.
Strong raw yeast esters of fruit (peach, pear, nectarine, banana) and alcohol heat rise up rather aggressively. Light vanillin, bits of caramel and fresh, fruity hops lay in wait behind. Light peach syrup and candi sugar syrupiness is notable with warming, but it seems free from any harmful phenolics. I don’t know, it’s not horrible, but it’s just so forceful, simple, alcoholic and pretty much everything that isnt Belgian. No hint of softness, smoothness or intrigue from the yeast. Maybe it needs more time? Probably needs less filtration....
Definite medium malt character, with soft chocolate, light graininess and some vanillin signify the Russian river side of things, while an extremely fruity, medium-sweet peach/pear/banana trio of esters is quite forcefully advertising the Avery side of the equation. In the end, there are some interesting flavors, but the stripped-out texture, as always, seals the deal for me and the alcohol strength is just icing on the cake.
I actually liked it more than my score indicates and was the only one of the three of us to finish their glass, but when compared to the good stuff? Nope.

Draft. Rich caramel beer with a low off-white head. Sweet malt aroma with slight esters. Rich malty/caramel flavor with fruity esters - peach/plum/raspberry. Lingering fruity/caramel. Fuller bodied. Nice complexity. Just a tad sweet, but not enough to really detract.

Sampled at From The Vine beer tasting Jan 26th, 2007: Hazy dark brown color with a medium thick bone white head that has good retention. Stringy lacing on the glass. Aroma of spices and yeast, along with touches of sweet caramel and malt. Rich body with an interesting flavor profile. It doesn’t seem to exactly fit in the Belgian category but you can definitely tell it is part of the blend. Flavors of hops and spices are predominant, along with some yeast and dark fruits. The finish is moderately hoppy with a sweet spice aftertaste. Pretty solid from beginning to end.

Thanks to Joebrew for sharing. Surprisingly well hopped. Light, fruity flavors follow spiciness. Perhaps a fusion style, part ipa, part saison. It does have considerable yeast and just a hint of sourness. The hops are more intense as the beer warms, so while cold it is most like a saison but when it warms it becomes more like a pale ale. Cloudy gold appearance but no visible sediment, and unreasonably expensive at $12.