Happy Anniversary!

Avery Brewing Company of Boulder, Colorado recently marked its 15 year anniversary. Established in 1993 this ambitious microbrewer has cranked out its share of big beers perhaps most notably The Reverend, which is a dark Belgian-influenced quadrupel and The Beast, a Grand Cru that ships out at more than 16%ABV. In addition to a number of hefty brews Avery also offers a couple of very nicely balanced beers such as 14’er ESB and Ellie’s Brown; both of which are very flavorful, remarkably drinkable and worthy of their own reviews.

A number of brewing companies enjoy celebrating their anniversaries with limited releases that feature subtle and/or overt nods to the year being commemorated. Sometimes that will be reflected in the original gravity while other companies try to finish with an alcohol content that reflects the year. Avery simply dubbed this year’s anniversary ale 15. 15 is a strong Belgian ale that makes use of the brettanomyces yeast I previously mentioned in reference to Ommegang’s Ommegeddon.

The wild yeast derivative imparts a funky, fruity flavor and a considerable amount of acidity in the flavor profile but the finish isn’t as dry as one might expect. Avery makes use of hibiscus flower and figs as well as white pepper. There’s a lot going on in this beer and the finish isn’t quite dry enough for my taste. I very much enjoyed this beer as it combines the attributes I enjoyed in Ommegeddon and Rejewvinator but the combination of brettanomyces and white pepper leaves a pungent taste behind rather than a clean finish. It’s not to say that the aftertaste is unpleasant, just the aftertaste is prolonged. This beer’s ABV is listed just under 8% but it certainly tastes and feels stronger.

A lot of people won’t like this beer. It’s a fairly typical American take on Belgian ale and the flavors are pretty aggressive. To those who aren't very astute in this genre it might even seem that the flavors are competing with each other.If you like Belgian Ales you should give this one a try but if you’re still nervous about throwing $6.00 down on a 750ml bottle of Hennepin you might want to leave this beer for the big boys. It's a very good beer and the fact that it makes productive use of brettanomyces should be intriguing. A lot of brewers are playing different strains of this wild yeast and before long it's likely every brewing company worth its salt will have its own signature strain that imparts a unique flavor profile to the beer.




And because I don’t want to leave any readers thinking that there’s a Belgian bias afoot I’d like to mention another beer I had recently: Heavy Seas Loose Cannon Hop3 Ale. It’s been a while since I’ve sampled this nifty IPA from the Clipper City Brewing Company out of Baltimore and it’s too bad I hadn’t reacquainted myself with it prior to the IPA diatribe I posted earlier. This “hop-cubed” beer looks gorgeous with a rich amber color. The hop aroma is pronounced and the beer’s finish is dry with a lot of acidity. 3 pounds of hops are used three ways: In the kettle, in the hop back and, of course, via dry hopping.

The beer has an ABV of 7.25% and because it is so aggressively hopped it is not a beer you want to drink too much of. The acidity from the hops will come back to haunt you if you over imbibe. Like most big beers this is one to sip and savor while your buddies polish off a bucket of Coors Light longnecks. After that you can switch over to one of those session beers we talked about last week. Then you can work on finding some new friends.