Avery part 2

Though all of Avery's beers are pretty solid, this second post will talk about the best stuff they have to offer. Let's just jump right in! Avery produces a ton of limited time, special edition brews that I am not going to go into here as some are no longer available, others are very hard to find and still others I have personally not tried and so shouldn't talk about. A few of the special addition ales I have tried and enjoyed include Ale to the Chief! (A pale ale brewed in honor of the new president of the company), their Anniversary ales that are put out every year, and Collaboration, not Litigation Ale. Collaboration, not Litigation Ale has a great story behind it. Both Avery and Russian River had a Beer named Salvation. Both were intricate Belgian-style ales. As, at the time, they were distributing in mostly different markets, so they didn't realize this until the brewers of both companies met. Instead of changing either name, they decided to blend the two brews. Thus, instead of fighting (litigation) over the name, they collaborated to make a great ale! Good times, I bet both sets of brewers would be fun to hand out with. Moving on...

The rest of the beers I am going to talk about are all parts of different series that Avery has put together. Each series has a theme and makes for great naming of beers, easy to put together flights or at the very least a good laugh. The Dictator's Series (What a hilarious thing to name your series after) has a beer named for Maharaja, The Kaiser, and The Czar; all titles given to different types of rulers in their respective cultures during their reigns. Maharaja is an Imperial India Pale Ale (what else?) with a straight punch in the face of hops! At roughly ten percent ABV, Maharaja holds 102 IBUs (the description of the ale says it has a "deranged amount of hops" ....awesome), and will rock the world of any hop-head (ME) out there. The Kaiser is a very unique style, an Imperial Octoberfest Lager. Leave it to Avery to basically rip the traditional Oktoberfest style a new one. This is pretty much a malt-bomb that evens out with the spiciness and heat. Very sticky and very tasty brew. The Czar is an Imperial Stout, 11 percent ABV, is an inky black, very cellar-able brew. Not the best Imperial Stout out there (and there are a ton), but one you won't regret having. The dictators theme is advertised as the spirit behind pushing these types of ales farther then they have wanted to go in the past.

Next we have Avery's "Demons of Ale" series, three extreme brews and I hope they keep going with it. Samael's Oak-Aged Ale has the lowest ABV of the three....14.5 percent. Samael, oftentimes refereed to as the destroyer (the fallen angel, no the beer....well, it could be said about the beer too though), has a very carmel-like sweetness to it with apparent oak character. All in all, a good brew but not my kind of beer for that price. The Beast, 'a suducer,' is a Grand Cru comes in at just under 15 percent ABV. Grand Cru is a growing style among American craft brewers and you can tell why when drinking this beer. I'm not too up on this style yet but it is very powerful, with some of the same characteristics as quality rum and is cellar-able for very long periods. "Mephistopheles is the crafty shape shifter, the second fallen angel," and the taste backs up this description whole heartily. This 15.1 percent ABV stout (I don't know why they don't call it an Imperial Stout) is extremely complex. At 107 IBUs, and with everything going for this beer, I promise that after your first drink, you will stare at the glass and say, "wow." If you drink this brew slightly chilled (please don't drink cold) you will find new flavors in every sip. Did you see how I said sip? Yea, this beer begs to be taken in slowly and consistently. I found myself hard pressed to focus on anything but the beer while it was in my glass. I may have to do a full review on it in the future as there is just too much to go over...and the nose! Lord, you can smell this beer from s couple of feet away! Alright...moving on...

Next we have the Holy Trinity Series, which if I am not mistaken has been around a lot longer than the other two series. Hog Heaven Barleywine Style Ale, complete with flying pigs on the bottle, is a "dangerously drinkable" but aren't most brews like this? or is that just me? Anyway, Hog Heaven is probably closer to a Imperial Red style ale than a barleywine and boy is it tasty. ABV 9.2 and 104 IBUs in a 22 oz. bomber...what more can you ask for? Dry hopping you say? Well it has that too. The Reverend, "Created by God, Feared by Satan, Loved by all," is a wonderful quad I have mentioned a few times before. At 10 percent ABV, The Reverend can be a bit much. I say this not so much because of the percentage of alcohol, but because this beer can be pretty damn sweet. It has little to no hop character whatsoever but is still balanced with spices and heat. I love cracking the Reverend open when I'm drink double IPAs or reds or anything else with a ton of IBUs, as sort of a rest for the palate. It isn't the best quad out there but it is very solid for the price. The final brew in the Holy Trinity Series is Salvation, the previously mentioned beer that was have of Collaboration, not Litigation Ale. I have not had this beer outside of it's combo with the other Salvation Ale but I'm sure it is a good brew to have survived so long.

Welp, that's Avery for you! I want them to come out with another series of some kind! Maybe "Patron Saints of Beer." That'd be pretty cool. I know certain ones have been over done but there are a bunch out there that are as of yet, untapped. Welp, see ya later!

Cheers! 

If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are? ~T. S. Eliot

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