Name: 14th Anniversary Ale

Brewer: Avery Brewing Company

Style: The brewers aren’t even sure what to call this. Belgian Strong Dark Ale maybe?

Cellared On: September 28th, 2007

Original Tasting: October 13th, 2007

If you are looking for a unique beer tasting experience, go no further then Avery Brewing’s 14th Anniversary Ale. This brew combines some zesty Belgian yeast within the framework of a strong dark ale. Dry-hopping at the end of the brewing process gives this beer a big hoppy kick. Beer Advocate calls this a Belgian Strong Dark Ale, which is as good a guess as any.

As you would expect, this beer pours pretty dark. Not stout/porter dark, but rather a very deep, dark brown. A nice head formed during pouring, not too aggressive, but not too small either. Lacing remained throughout. This beer smelled fantastic, I was really detecting some nice armoas coming out of the glass. Some of the odors were reminiscent of roasted malts, but the stronger smells were definitely associated with the hops - both herbal and flowery.

This is one complex brew to taste, it’s hard to figure out where to start. The first thing that hit me upon sipping was the extremely bitter hops. Even though the bitterness did give way pretty fast to more malty flavors, bitterness managed to linger throughout the tasting and lent a subtle, almost herbal note to the brew. Roasted flavors followed the bitterness quickly on the palette, with tastes of coffee, molasses, and notes of dark chocolate popping in. The Belgian yeast also lends a very faint spicy zestiness here. The yeast are just a faint background flavor here, adding a touch of complexity. By no means does this beer scream Belgian to when you taste it. The beer finishes with roasted flavors giving way to more bitterness.

This is a thinking man’s beer for sure. It’s definitely ones to sip, savor, and ponder over.

Six Month Tasting: March 21st, 2008

Where did my hops go? This brew mellowed out fast! There’s some hoppy flavor here now, but it’s way in the background. Roasted flavors (espresso, chocolate) and a bit of a yeast Belgian zing rule the taste buds now.  It’s fun and still interesting to drink, but it’s definitely much less complex. The finish is much the same as it was before, big toasty flavors with a nip of lingering bitterness.

One Year Tasting: September 8th, 2008

More and more changes! This brew really screams porter right now. There are noticable toffee flavors, with notes of light chocolate and raisins also present in the brew. Not much Belgian “zing” to speak of any more. Bitterness comes in mid-palette and rides out the slightly sweet finish.

Cellar Outlook: This beer should be an interesting one to cellar. The combination of it’s big flavors and 9.46 ABV should make it well-suited to cellaring. The hops should fade pretty fast, which will make it more drinkable, albeit less complicated. Hopefully emergence of more roasted flavors will make up for the lost hoppiness.

Six Month Outlook: Despite the breakdown of the bitter flavors, I still have hope for this brew. I think the combo of dark roasted flavors with the Belgian yeasty twist can still hold up well.

One Year Outlook: I think this tasting is marking the beginning of the end. The flavors are shifting so much, I think we’ll just see a gradual spiral down of what’s left.

Next Tasting: March 2009