Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau
Aug. 27, 2012
Before we begin Review #14 of The Avery Project I have to mention a couple of things for the sake of full disclosure. Avery’s The Kaiser holds a special place in my heart.
For starters, last year, when Emily and I first moved here to Boulder and had very little money, our nights out were few and far between. It was tough to explore our new home on a shoe-string budget, but one of the things we did treat ourselves to a few times last fall was a trip to The Sink to grab a couple pints (yep, pints) of this delicious beer. So, I have some very fond memories attached to this beer. On a side note, The Sink is also the place President Obama visited the day we saw him speak here at the University of Colorado last spring.
Second, it was at The Kaiser release party at Avery last year that I made the decision to dive into The Avery Project. I had recently finished The DIPA Project and I was looking for something fun to dive into as a new Boulder resident. The funny thing is that I initially predicted it would take me about two months to get through the project. Ha! Here we are, nearly a year later, and I am only on Beer #14. Oh well.
So, the point is, I might be a little biased in favor of this particular beer. I will try not to be, but you’ll have to forgive me if I am. Here’s some stats before we begin the review:
Location: Liquor Mart
Cost: $8.99/22 oz. bomber
ABV: 9.1%
IBUs: 24
Brewery Location: Boulder, Colorado
Style: Märzen/Oktoberfest
Average Beer Advocate Rating: B+/3.79
My Beer Advocate Rating: A-/4.05
Current Number of Reviews on Beer Advocate: 561
Description: Avery The Kaiser
Glassware: Avery 19th Anniversary Tulip
Bottled On: August, 2012
APPEARANCE: (4 out of 5) The color of this beer is about as rich as I expect the flavor to be – a deep, copper-penny red. On top rests a half-inch of off-white foam, but it only lasts for a few moments. The head quickly crashes in the middle of the glass leaving a thin lid over the beer with a thicker rim rising around the edges. The head completely vanishes after a few sips, but some strong, patchy lacing is left behind.
SMELL: (3.5 out of 5) Bready aromas waft out of the glass while some subtle spices give the nose some character. I also believe I smell a faint hint of pumpkin, or at least pumpkin-like spices.
TASTE: (4 out of 5) The smell does not indicate how much of a malt-bomb this beer is. Sweet caramel flavors, toffee, a touch of molasses and some earthy spiciness collaborate to make up the base of The Kaiser. Hints of banana bread and orange serve to round it out. This has to be in my top three Oktoberfest beers, but of course it is…it’s an imperial.
MOUTHFEEL: (4.5 out of 5) The mouthfeel here reminds me a lot of G’Knight (a.k.a. Gordon) from Oskar Blues – sweet, sticky and a little syrupy. The nice thing about this, though, is that despite the sweet, syrupy stickiness, the body is relatively light. So, I guess in early 90s lingo this beer would not only taste great, but it would be less filling as well.
OVERALL: (4.5 out of 5) It isn’t terribly surprising that of the 779 Märzen/Oktoberfests listed on Beer Advocate this is the second highest in ABV. That’s the way Avery does things, big and bold. Of course, it also isn’t terribly surprising that I like it as much as I do. As much as I love hops, I also love me some malt, and this beer has the latter in spades.
I just started getting into Avery recently with the Reverend and we'll probably review a 2009 bottle of Mephistopheles later today. This seems like a great beer (I generally love Oktoberfests), but it's a shame I won't be able to get this in PA.
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