Beers in Review: Avery Brewing, Part 2

I needed to clear some room in my beer fridge to make room for more beer. It’s the rule of equivalent exchange, somethings out, somethings in. I decided to go with Avery again because I just happened to have a few more bottles of their beers. Two I’ve had already, two frome BetterBeerBlog friends Diane and Mike.

14′er ESB, Avery Brewing Company (kinda redundant, I know but I’ve been doing this for a while so I’m just gonna keep at it), 5.0% ABV, 37 IBU

The ESB pours out a clear amber color with an off-white head. This beer has a light caramel aroma with low hop character. The flavor echos the aroma with a sweet malt flavor, caramel notes, with low hop flavor and bitterness. ESB is a medium-low bodied beer with medium carbonation.

I’m enjoying this beer. It has a very pleasant malt sweetness and character to it that makes it easy drinking. The beer gets its name from the 54 Colorado peaks all over 14,000 feet in elevation. Good way to celebrate the state you’re from.

Ale to the Chief, Avery Brewing, 8.75% ABV, 65 IBUs

Ale to the Chief is a “Presidential Pale Ale” brewed with Magnum and Cascade hops with two-row pale, c-150, Munich and honey malts. This beer was brewed to send off the old Bush Administration and welcome our new President, Barack Obama. A lot of the brewing community showed a lot of support for the new President by brewing up their versions of “Presidential” themed beers. I had a small tasting of this beer at the Double IPA Festival at the Bistro earlier this year but ti’s good to have a full tasting this time around.

Ale to the Chief pours out a hazy light caramel with amber highlights and an off-white head. The aroma has a toasty malt aroma, slight caramel with honey undertones with a fresh, floral, piney character. The beer has an initially sweet malty flavor that has toasty notes with some caramel character. The hop flavor has a slightly earthy flavor that has some spiciness with some piney and citrus character. The hop bitterness isn’t sharp but lasts into the finish. This beer is full-bodied with medium/medium-high carbonation with a slight dryness in the roof of my mouth.

I’m not sure if this beer qualifies for your standard Pale Ale. It’s more of an IPA with the 65 IBU reading and 8.75% ABV. While I’m enjoying this beer, I wish the hop aroma and flavor would be a bit more pronounced. The malt flavor and character is more than enough to balance and I’m enjoying the level of hop bitterness.

Update: After receiving a tweet from @ADavis91883, I just realized that this beer is starting to show some oxidation that is in the form of slight cardboard and sherry notes. Interesting.

I had two more Avery beers to drink tonight but I’m throwing the towel in. The last two beers, Hog Heaven Barleywine and The Czar Russian Imperial Stout, weigh in at 9.2% and 10.77% ABV respectively. That’s just too much for me and Sammy. I’ll have to save them for a cold and rainy day.

If you’ve had these beers before, leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I’d be interested in hearing about it.

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