Barleywine Review #8 - Avery Hog Heaven Barley Wine

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Apr. 5, 2012

The Avery Hog Heaven Barley Wine is a particularly interesting beer for us here at 20 Beers in 20 Nights.  To begin with, it is the only beer that potentially belongs to both projects we’re currently working on, The Barleywine Project and The Avery Project.  So, I had to decide whether or not to be lazy and just count it as a review for each project or just for one.  I went with the latter. 

In order to complete The Barleywine Project, Hog Heaven is necessary.  For The Avery Project, though, it is optional.  I would rather give another of Avery’s beers a chance to shine, particularly since I have such great access to them.  This is the same reason that I will not re-review The Maharaja from Avery as I already reviewed it for the DIPA Project.    

Anyhow, the second reason The Hog is interesting is because it is one of only two offerings on our Barleywine list that is available year-round.  The other is Uinta Brewing Company’s Anniversary Barley Wine Ale.  The Uinta is brewed in Utah and just recently snuck onto the list in the number 20 spot.  Whether or not it remains on the list until I get to it is another question. The DIPA Project list changed occasionally, but the Top 20 always remained intact, with a few beers simply switching positions a few times.  The Barleywine list has proven to be much more volatile so far.   

Finally, one last point about the Hog Heaven before the review, in terms of a Barleywine it is somewhat controversial.  Many people claim that it is more of a Double or Triple IPA.  In fact, I have heard some people who sell it claim that they believe it would sell better if it were renamed Hog Heaven Imperial or Double IPA.  This is one of Avery’s oldest recipes, though, and from what I hear it is one that is close to Adam Avery’s heart, so the likelihood of it changing anytime soon is slim.

In all honesty, I have found myself on both sides of this controversy at times.  It is a beer I am familiar with and have tried many times and in many different forms.  I have tasted it in the Taproom at Avery, I have had it in the bottle, I have tried it fresh and I have been lucky enough to sample two, three and four-year old Hog Heaven.  With that said, I have never reviewed it, nor was I ever in a position to seriously focus on it for the sake of determining what style it should be called.  I just wanted a big, flavorful beer.  So, I suppose we should just call this post the Myth Buster’s edition of 20 Beers in 20 Nights.  Is Hog Heaven really a Barleywine?  Let’s find out.

Location: Boulder Liquor Mart

Cost: $2.39 for 12oz. bottle

Glassware: Funkwerks Tulip Glass

ABV: 9.2%

IBUs: 104

Brewery Location: Boulder, Colorado

Style: American Barleywine

Average Beer Advocate Rating: B+/3.97 – Very Good

My Beer Advocate Rating: A-/4.23 – Excellent

Current Number of Reviews on Beer Advocate/Current Rank:

Brewery Description: Avery Hog Heaven Barley Wine

Bottled On: NA

APPEARANCE:  (4.5 out of 5) The Hog Heaven pours a penny copper color with a half-inch thick cap with some staying power.  Others who have reviewed this beer have reported a haziness to it, but that has never been my experience and even after pouring the entire contents of the bomber into my glass, the beer underneath is crystal clear with hundreds of bubbles drifting northwards towards that cap.  As for the lacing, I would call it superb – look at that!

SMELL:  (4.5 out of 5) The nose on this one is delicious.  A big dose of pine blends with banana, clove and maybe a little brown sugar.  For a Barleywine that has been dismissed as a mislabeled Double or Triple IPA, this smells an awful lot like a Barleywine.  The only difference is that those Barleywine aromas are just accented with some strong hop aromas.

TASTE:  (4 out of 5) The first sip confirms that the Hog Heaven is most certainly a Barleywine; a hopped up Barleywine, yes, but still a Barleywine.  OK, now that that argument is settled, what else is going on in this one? 

To begin with, there is plenty of hop flavor packed into this beer, but despite the 104 IBUs, the typical bitterness associated with the hop is muted.  Instead, a big, sweet wave of caramel and bananas crashes into the palate right off the bat and any bitterness comes in later in the form of grapefruit and lemon which are riding a second wave of floral and piney hoppiness.  The finish leaves an interesting medley of slightly puckering bitterness along with a sweeter taste from the flowers, pine, caramel and banana.  The Hog Heaven really stays with the palate.

MOUTHFEEL:  (4 out of 5) Big, sticky, rich, smooth and creamy.  This Barleywine goes down incredibly smooth and leaves a nice bittersweet finish on the palate. 

OVERALL:  (4.5 out of 5) Again, for all the talk about this beer being more of a Double IPA, it sure seems like a nicely hopped Barleywine to me.  After tasting this beer with purpose and without distraction, it is hard to see how I ever believed it was more of an IPA, but at the same time, it is pretty damn hoppy.  Given that intense hop flavor, this is one of the better Barleywines to taste fresh.  With the complexity, intense malt flavor and high ABV, though, it also makes an excellent candidate for aging.  I’ll be putting a couple bottles in the cellar soon.

By the way, Opening Day at Wrigley Field is today - in the words of the late, great Steve Goodman "Hey Chicago Whatd'ya say the Cubs are gonna win today.  Go Cubs Go!"



 

Avery Maharaja, At Least Someone Agrees With Me

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Mar. 20, 2012

Back in April of last year we here at 20 Beers in 20 Nights were right in the middle of our DIPA Project - our quest to drink and review the 20 Most Reviewed Double IPAs on Beer Advocate.  It was time to review a personal favorite of mine and a classic, the Avery Maharaja.  The Maha, in my opinion, proved to beat Russian River's Pliny the Elder, a point that many have disagreed with me on since.  However, this afternoon I came across a YouTube review of Maharaja and found that at least one other person agrees with me, so I thought you all might like to check it out.  Here, from the San Diego Beer Vlog; Avery's Maharaja:

Actually, I'll Keep my Beer Revolution

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Oct. 20, 2011

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Last week I came across this post by Ding over at Dings Beer Blog.  For those of you too lazy to click the link Ding basically argued that the trend of the ultra-rare fad beers with exceptionally limited releases and enormous price tags is bad for the beer culture here in the U.S.  He highlighted the recent madness surrounding the Founders release of Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS) and he is right to say that much of this behavior, well, it downright sucks (to find out what exactly that bad behavior was you'll have to click the link above), both on the brewery's part in some cases and on the consumer's part in others.

With that said, however, I do not agree with Ding's general premise that the existence, promotion and hype of beers like this will lead to "breeding a whole generation of American geeks that will literally miss out on what the very ESSENCE of what beer culture and beer consumption is".  Ding goes on to describe beer culture as one that is "relaxed, non-competitive [and] UNwinding of angst" and in large part, I agree with his definition.  However, American beer culture, like it or not IS in the midst of a revolution and things are changing.  I don't believe that Ding's definition of beer culture will disappear, but it is in the process of evolving into something more than what it was before.

For starters, relaxation is basically the reason I enjoy beer as much as I do.  My methods for relaxing with beer may be different than others, though.  The enjoyment of beer can be intensely personal and as unique as the individual.  For me, sitting down to focus on a beer, and possibly even to write about it, is one of the most relaxing things I can do.  Focusing on a beer and writing about it calms me down.  I absolutely love sitting down, pouring a beer and then thinking about exactly how all of my senses are impacted by it - the sight, the smell, the feel, and the taste.  I love it even more if I am enjoying that beer with someone else who can also appreciate all of those things as well and then discuss them with me.  In short, each beer is a learning process and I have always loved to learn. 

Of course, another aspect of beer culture (according to Ding) that I enjoy is the non-competitiveness of it.  I am happy and proud to support many breweries that collaborate with each other and work together in order to support the greater good of the community.  On a more personal level, beer, much like another love of mine, poker, brings people from all walks of life together in one place where they otherwise may not ever cross paths.  Any type of person can enjoy good beer and I have met hundreds and hundreds of great people that would have never been in my life if it were not for this outstanding and delicious beverage.

While I do not believe that these aspects of beer culture are in any danger of going away or being lost, I do believe that in this new, high information age of beer that we here in the United States find ourselves in leads us to moments in our beer drinking lives that do, in fact, run counter to relaxation, unwinding and non-competitiveness.  That is not necessarily a bad thing.  In fact, there are many aspects of these very moments that are positive for many of us who are a part of the craft beer community.

For starters, sometimes, the thrill of the hunt is just plain fun.  Tracking down that elusive beer can be a challenge and can also be very rewarding, regardless of how good the beer ends up tasting.

Hunting down Pliny the Elder, for example, was one of  the most exciting experiences I have had involving beer.  I was living in Chicago at the time and working on the DIPA Project here at 20 Beers in 20 Nights.  As many of you have already read, my goal for that project was to review the top 20 most reviewed double IPAs on Beer Advocate.  Living in Chicago at the time (and not knowing that I would be moving to Colorado six months later) I knew it would be tough to get my hands on.  None of my trading partners out west were able to come through, my cousin from Oregon could not manage to bring any when she visited Chicago and during a visit to Denver the Falling Rock Tap Room blew their only keg of it just as I sat down at the bar. 

So, I turned to Beer Advocate on my phone and called a couple places nearby that were rumored to have it.  It turned out, the only place that did still have some was a couple of hours away in Estes Park.  I thought to myself "we're this close and who knows where I'll end up living next year, so this may be my only chance to try it, especially on tap".  My outstanding girlfriend agreed, so we drove up to Poppy's Pizza in Estes Park that night and sure enough, the Pliny was on tap.  Robb, the owner poured it for us and then proceeded to talk beer with us for about a half an hour.  We had an absolute blast, we had some fantastic pizza and Robb even sent us on our way with a few bottles on the house to try when we got back home.  He then directed us to the liquor store that a friend of his owned and called her to ask her to pull some special bottles out for us. 

The moral of that story?  Was it worth it to drive two hours into the mountains and two hours back just to get a couple of glasses of beer?  Was Pliny that good?  Probably not.  However, I was thrilled to have finally tried it, it was a really good beer and the experience was even better.  We learned about many other Russian River beers that night that we knew nearly nothing about before, we discovered Poppy's, we got to meet Robb, I was able to get one step closer to completing my project and we simply had a ton of fun doing it all.  None of that experience would have happened if it were not for a rare, probably over-hyped beer that I wanted to try.  Now that we live in Boulder, Poppy's is only an hour away and we have been up there a couple of times to have some great beer and pizza since.

The great experiences, though are not the only positive here, often times the beer is actually better.  I honestly think that Bourbon County Stout for example, is worth tracking down and worth paying $10 or $12 a bottle for.  It is amazingly delicious.  The Vanilla version was somehow even better.  The Rumpkin from Avery that I recently waited in line for two hours for was completely worth it, even if we hadn't had the fun of the line party, $2 cans of Avery beer and some outstanding turkey legs while we waited. 

Finally, the hype in itself actually does do some good for craft beer.  One brewery's overly hyped beer may lead to another brewery's decision to experiment with that style.  It turns out, barrel-aged beer is very, very tasty most of the time and were it not for a lot of the hype surrounding some of these types of beers, they would not be as widely available to us today.  The hype can encourage innovation, it can bring media attention to the industry and most important, it gets people excited about drinking good beer. 

Of course, as Ding very eloquently pointed out, there is a down side to all of this, but personally, I'll still keep my beer revolution and take the bad along with a whole lot of good.

Avery Review #1 - Avery Thirteenth Anniversary Ale a.k.a. Thirteen

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau


Spet. 9, 2011

The first beer I reviewed for my last project here at 20 Beers in 20 Nights was a very special beer – Bell’s Hopslam.  The Hopslam was and is a favorite of mine.  It is a rare treat that helps to make the otherwise dismal Upper Midwest winter slightly more bearable. 

Just like that first review of the DIPA Project, the first review of the Avery Project will be just as special and even rarer…although I cannot claim that it is an old favorite of mine as the only time I ever had the privilege of drinking it was when I reviewed it at the brewery last week.

The beer?  Avery’s Thirteenth Anniversary Ale – a.k.a. the Weizen Dopplebock known more simply as Thirteen.  No, Avery is not celebrating unlucky #13 this year, they just had their 18^th anniversary a few weeks ago.  However, last week, Avery also released the 2011 version of their Ocktoberfest beer, The Kaiser, and I happened to drop into the tasting room full of servers and bartenders dressed in lederhosen for the release party.

As a special treat for the release party, Avery pulled a few special bottles out of the cellar for a one-night only sale.  Seventeen, a black lager brewed for last year’s anniversary, was on the list, but more importantly, so was the German-style wiezenboch beer, Thirteen. 

When Emily and I decided to split the $20 bottle a few of our friends thought we were nuts, but as told them $20 is almost nothing considering that we got a 22oz. bottle and that in most restaurants a 5oz. pour of mediocre wine would have cost us $8 a piece.  Plus, this was a very rare, five year old beer. 

So what did that $20 get us?  Well, here are the specs first, and then we’ll get into the review:

Location: Avery Tasting Room, Boulder, Colorado – Available one-night only (for now)

Cost: $20 – 22oz. bottle

ABV: 9.5%

IBUs: ???

Brewery Location: Boulder, Colorado

Style: Weizenbock

Average Beer Advocate Rating: A-/4.03 - Excellent

My Beer Advocate Rating: A/4.5

Current Number of Reviews: 219

Brewery Description: Thirteen

Bottled On: 2006

APPEARANCE:  (3.5 out of 5) Poured into a white wine glass from a 22oz. bomber by Matt at Avery.  The beer is black except for a nice red glow near the rim and on the bottom of the glass when held up to the light.  The head is rather thin and vanishes quickly, but a small amount of film remains on top throughout about half of the beer.  Lacing was minimal, only a few wisps here and there.

SMELL:  (5 out of 5) The nose is ridiculously good - fruity as hell, with mostly dark fruit coming through; berries, passion fruit and a touch of orange.  There is a good dose of malt along with vanilla, smoke and some alcohol.  In fact, it smells a bit like a smoky bourbon, but with fruit.  The Thirteen’s nose is highly complex and very enjoyable. 

TASTE:  (4.5 out of 5) Sweet and delicious.  This thing is absolutely chock full of fruit with a subtle dose of anise.  A little note of coffee is also noticeable upon the first sip.  A second, third and forth sip begin to reveal more of the complexity of this beer.  Vanilla, a mellowed out toasty malt and some smokiness slowly enter the mix as the beer goes down.  It is also very boozy, even more than I would expect from a 9.5%er.  There is a lot going on in this beer and if you ever get the chance to try it, make sure you take a few moments to just let it sit on your palate before sending it down the hatch, a lot more develops with a little extra time.

MOUTHFEEL:  (4 out of 5) The Thirteen is very smooth, but at the same time quite refreshing for a beer that does not have an abundance of carbonation.  With the rich, intense and sweet flavors, there is not as much need for a highly carbonated, palate cleansing feel.  The flavor left after each sip is very welcome.

OVERALL:  (4.5 out of 5) My notes simply say “Sweet Jesus this is an outstanding beer.”  I stand by that assessment and I encourage any serious craft beer drinker to make an effort to get their hands on a bottle or two of this while it still exists.

EDIT:  Until this morning (June 5, 2012) I had completely forgotten that I managed to snag a decent shot of the Thirteen while I was drinking it.  So I just added it in the hopes you will all enjoy it.  Cheers!

The Avery Project

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Sept. 9, 2011

After a ton of deliberation, I have finally settled on my new project for 20 Beers in 20 Nights.  Actually, I have settled on two, and this post will signal the beginning of the first one – 20 reviews on 20 beers from Avery Brewing Company, located right here in Boulder, Colorado. 

Why 20 Avery Beers?  Well, first and foremost, I love Avery’s products - very rarely have I been disappointed by anything they have done.  Second, the last project was a ton of fun, but it took a lot longer to complete than I would have liked.  Not only did I have to trade and travel for a few beers that were not distributed in Illinois (Where I lived during most of that project), but I also had to wait for many seasonals to come out and then spend a ton of time hunting them down once they were finally released.  All of that made the project a blast and in some ways, more rewarding, but I would really like to start and finish a project within a couple of months.  Without a set list of beers to review and with a constant stream of many Avery beers available to me on a regular basis, this should go rather quickly.

In addition to all of this, focusing on a single brewery will prevent me from only focusing on a single style of beer, especially when that brewery is Avery.  Their taproom is set up perfectly for this project; they have 20 taps that range from wheat beers and Pilsners to intense, big and bold Double IPAs and Barleywines. 

Speaking of Barleywine, the second project, which I will also begin very soon will be very similar to my recently completed project – the DIPA Project.  It will, once again, use Beer Advocate as a source, but instead of ticking off the list of the Top 20 Most Reviewed Double IPAs I will be reviewing the Top 20 Most Reviewed Barleywines on BA.  This second project I expect to take at least a year to finish based on distribution and seasonal availability. 

Getting back to Avery, however, in addition to the reasons I listed above, I also want to highlight Avery in an effort to show what kind of fantastic diversity they are capable of.  When I lived in Chicago it was very difficult to find anything other than Avery IPA or Ellie’s Brown in the bars.  You could, however, go to most liquor stores and find a much more broad selection of theirs. 

Even here in Boulder, where almost every bar has Avery IPA on tap it is still pretty tough to find some of their more unique brews outside the brewery or the liquor store.  My hope is that by reviewing many of their other offerings I can show other craft beer drinkers just how great it is to have Avery Brewing just a 15 minute bike ride from my home.  More importantly, I know that I tend to get stuck on certain styles, particularly the highly hopped, but when I do take the time to explore an individual brewery I generally learn a lot about the brewery and more generally, about beer.  I hope that this will encourage others to more deeply explore whatever great breweries they have access to…and maybe even to pass it along to us.

In each Avery-related post, my plan is to provide information for the craft beer drinker in general, but also for Boulderites and Coloradans in specific.  I want people in the area to know where the beer can be obtained and for how much and I also want to give others the reason to track it down.  Some of these beers will be very rare (such as the first beer I will be reviewing) and others will be widely available throughout the 32 states that Avery distributes to.

As an FYI, I have absolutely no connection to Avery Brewing Company other than the fact that I live just a little more than two miles away from the brewery and that it is, so far, my favorite place to enjoy a beer in all of Boulder, Colorado and one of my personal Top 3 overall breweries in the country.  I am not doing this for any financial gain, free beer or special treatment from Avery itself, they have no idea I am doing this.  I am just a big beer nerd and craft beer fan with a desire to help others find the joy that I have found in drinking beer from one of the best breweries in the country.  I hope you enjoy the reviews and get inspired to go out and find some great Avery, Boulder and/or Colorado beer very soon.