Avery Brewing Company was founded by Adam Avery in 1993 in Boulder, Colorado. They are known for consistent brews of many different styles. More recently I have been enjoying a lot of their Barrel Series brews, a ton of sours and barrel aged ales. They put out a great pumpkin duo of the Rumpkin and Pump[ky]n this past October, stay tuned on the review for those. But for this review we stay in the Dictator Series, which are founded on straight forward ingredients to really allow the simple aspects of the brew to shine through. In my eyes, Avery is one of the most consistent breweries of this day and age. Stouts are a beer style that I try to keep to the colder months, but I do not frown upon the folks (like my Dad) that drink them year round. They are tasty beasts and definitely allow you to get a buzz going with their higher ABVs. On with the review for this one.

The Czar, Dictator Series (Bottle Date: October 2014, Batch 13)

Served in a cold Beer Run pint glass

Appearance – one finger creamy head on pour, creamy milky mocha head, almost poured like a nitro coming out the bottle, very dark brown to black and opaque color

Aroma – huge chocolate notes, heavy malts form the simple ingredients, a touch of banana, hazelnut, and maybe a glimpse of marshmallow that shows through

Mouthfeel – medium to full body beer, very silky on the tongue, coats your mouth with roasted malty notes, seems to come and go on the sip – doesn’t hang around too long.

Taste – ton of dark chocolate, mocha, slightly roasted coffee beans, banana seems to smooths it all out, little bit of bitterness from the hops, silky smooth and slightly sweet, honestly reminds me of an adult chocolate milk, hazelnut notes shine through

Finish – slight boozey finish but wouldn’t expect much else from a 8.6 ABV brew, finish much more bitter than up front, disappears fast, but mocha taste sticks around

Personal Recommendations for food/cheese: coffee crusted beef tenderloin, perhaps a Mexican dish, any dessert would really work with this one – cheesecake, cream brûlée, tiramisu, etc…

Overall rating: 8.9/10

Avery Brewing is really putting out some nice things that are very favorable for the craft beer lover. I love the excitement of the dictator and barrel series announcements; it keeps us on our toes and looking forward to the future of the releases from Avery.

Cheers!