Review: Avery White Rascal & Out Of Bounds Stout

Time for a couple of reviews on some Avery Brewing (@averybrewingco) beers that my friend Danielle Wheeler was nice enough to bring me from Tennessee!  These will be the third and fourth Avery brews on my 365 in 2011 mission, but the first two (Hog Heaven Barleywine and DuganA IPA) were part of the bigger series of beer, and these are both out of Avery's year-round lineup.  Let's see how they compare!

Up first was the White Rascal Witbier, which I poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a standard pint glass. It's a hazy yellow color with a really small head. Nothing really special to look at, but you can't always judge a book by its cover.

Now the aroma is more like what I was expecting out of Avery! Spicy and sweet with a large helping of coriander. The taste is more of the same, spicy, lots of coriander and hints of citrus.  The spices blend well together and compliment each other. It's pretty thin though, with not much body to it.

Decent beer, not the best ever but satisfying and refreshing.

My Rating: B-

BeerAdvocate: B

Witbier

Second up, the Out Of Bounds Stout, an Irish-style dry stout that is also one of Avery's year-round releases.  And... into an imperial pint glass it goes, it's a dark nearly black beer with a finger of off-white head.

The aroma is like dark roasted chocolate. It's not too strong with a bitter tinge to it. The taste is the same flavor, bitter and roasted. The taste is a little more crisp and clean than the aroma, with a smooth finish.

It's a little thin but that's typical for a dry stout. Another decent beer, but not one of my all-time favorites.

My Rating: B-

BeerAdvocate: B+

Dry Stout

And with that done I can say that Avery makes some pretty solid year-round brews, but they don't quite stack up to the special releases.  This is pretty typical though, even the local guys, Abita, don't measure up to their select releases with their year-round beers.  Of course, the year-round beers are also usually cheaper!  So they have that going for them, which is nice.

Thanks again, Danielle!  I owe you a few beers. 

Review: Avery DuganA IPA

Alright, time for a quick review of the DuganA IPA from Avery Brewing Company (@averybrewingco) out of Boulder, Colorado.  Like most Colorado beers I review here, I picked this one up at Spec's in Houston.  They can get beers from New Belgium, Avery, Great Divide, Ska, and others that aren't in Louisiana yet.  Hopefully someday they will be, but for now I'll just have to make the occasional beer run.

This particular IPA is actually an Imperial (or Double) IPA, brewed with around twice the malt and hops as a typical IPA would be.  They can range from 7% or so alcohol up to 14% for a really strong one.  At 8.5% this DuganA is on the lower end, but that's still a pretty stiff beer.  I'm not really sure what DuganA means... but whatever, I'll still drink it!

For this IIPA, I poured from a bomber into an imperial pint glass. It's a hazy faded orange color, with two fingers of frothy white head. Great retention and lacing.

The aroma is hoppy as expected, but it's tough to place the exact hop profile. There are floral notes, a little honey even. The taste is hoppy and bitter, a good match for the aroma. 

There's a little lingering bitter taste, but pretty good mouthfeel. I guess my overall impression is that it's a good but not great beer.  I'd drink it again, but I don't know that I'd seek it out... at least not until the next release.

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: A-

Hmmmm, I noticed Blogger has added a "Location" option. Interesting... 

Reviews: Great Divide, Avery, & Green Flash Barleywines

Alright, time to run through a few quick reviews of a trio of barleywines I picked up at Spec's in Houston not too long ago.  American barleywines are quickly becoming one of my favorite styles, easily in my top 5.  I'm not sure they are above a good Belgian strong ale, but they're getting up there.  On to the reviews...

The first one comes from Great Divide (@greatdividebrew), which is currently one of my favorite breweries and one I try to pick up as much as possible when traveling to Houston or elsewhere.  This one is their Old Ruffian Barleywine.  I poured it from a bomber into an imperial pint glass... it's a copper color, clear with a large off-white head. A pretty decent looking beer.

The aroma is boozy and malty, with hints of molasses and caramel. The flavor is insanely rich... boozy as well but so strong with the caramel and molasses flavors... it's a little overwhelming, but so delicious. Like a food that has so much flavor it's hard to concentrate on just one. It's tasty and exciting.

I like this one a lot... not sure if it's going to be an A+ beer but it's an A at the worst.

My Rating: A 

BeerAdvocate: A-

Second up, the Hog Heaven Barleywine from Avery Brewing (@averybrewingco), a second straight Colorado brewery.  Just like the Old Ruffian, I poured the brew from a 22 oz. bottle into an imperial pint glass.  It's a dark copper color with a frothy white head.  It has great lacing and good retention... a solid looking beer!

The smell is malty with a metallic hint to it... caramel and molasses dominate.  The taste is a lot better than the smell... rich with the malt/hop flavors and boozy sweetness.  I like the mouthfeel a lot, but that's pretty typical of barleywine or similarly high-gravity beers.

Easy to drink... a solid beer but not quite as good as the Old Ruffian.  

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: B+

Finally, a California barleywine, the Green Flash (@greenflashbeer) Barleywine Style Ale.  I decided to mix it up for this one, and poured from a bomber into a Corsendonk goblet as opposed to a pint glass. It's a murky brown color with an inch worth of bubbly slightly off-white head. Good retention and lacing on this one.

It's a great smell, rich and malty. There is definitely a boozy note to it and lots of caramel and spice. The taste is way more bitter with the hops up front then a boozy kick followed by a warm caramel hint and the back to the hops on the aftertaste. Not bad, I guess the California thing is to add a little more hops, I know I've had the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot barleywine before and it's extremely hoppy for the style. 

I really like the layering of flavor in this one. Feels good on the mouth for sure. My overall impression, a strongly above average barleywine but not the best I've had.  Better than the Avery offering but falling a little short of the Great Divide brew. 

My Rating: A-  

BeerAdvocate: B+

In summary, all three were fantastic beers that I'd drink again.  Now I just need to find a few more barleywines to try and keep expanding my knowledge of the style.

Cheers!

Barleywine