Imperial French-Style Ale - Lavery Brewing Company

kbuzz

Pennsylvania

3.05/5  rDev -19.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured from a one liter swing top bottle into my snifter. I think this was brewed in September or so.

A: Pours a hazy copper, dark orange. Tons of bubbles. Produced a fluffy two finger head that sticks around. Some nice lacing on this as well.

S: Fruity/juicy hops hit up front. There's also a yeasty breadiness with some of that barnyard in there that you'd get from a Saison. I'm also getting lots of citrus - orange and lemon peel.

T: This is a very challenging beer to drink. I definitely get a lot of astringency. There is a solid hop bitterness present, but no real hop "flavor" and those citrus notes start showing up again after the first few sips. To me, it's lacking something. Ends up tasting like a bit of a boozy mess. There's no distinct hop or malt notes to describe. Just a highy carbonated citrusy boozefest.

M: Medium bodied beer. High carbonation. Very juicy on the palate.

O: This beer needs some work if they attempt it again. Forget trying to classify it, it's not really worth it. I did not enjoy the flavor profile on this at all. Not enough malt or hop flavor to make the booziness worth it. I've used this description once before for another beer, but it almost reminded me of a screwdriver made with cheap orange juice

Serving type: bottle

11-06-2011 03:29:49 | More by kbuzz

outoffocus

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +11.8%

03-23-2013 04:25:08 | More by outoffocus

4DAloveofSTOUT

Illinois

4.03/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

thanks to duff27 for the share!

poured into crooked stave tulip.

Appearance: murky brownish orange bodied beer with 1 finger of white head that linger around for a long time.

Smell: sweet oranges. Belgian candied sugar. Big sweet malt profile. Honey notes. Hint of dank hop.

Taste: I take a sip of this beer and I immediately think of an american barleywine with belgian yeast brewed with oranges. Nice balance and solid complexity.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied beer with moderate carbonation. Easy drinking beer with no alcohol noted.

Overall: This is really a collage of styles just as the brewery describes it. This is my first beer Lavery Brewing Company and I like what they did here. Honestly I have never heard of this brewery, but I am glad that I know who they are now!

Serving type: bottle

02-06-2013 06:30:30 | More by 4DAloveofSTOUT

Duff27

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -1.3%

02-06-2013 01:31:12 | More by Duff27

JoePoc17

Pennsylvania

4.14/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I enjoyed this brew in a wine glass at Barcade in Philadelphia (great spot, check it out if you're ever in the area, both beer and old school arcade game enthusiasts).

A: It pours an almost bright burnt orange color that has no translucency whatsoever. The head is white but very thin and dissipates within seconds of pour.

S: The smell has essences of a sour beer with a dash of coriander. In addition, it maintains a bready aroma of belgian yeasts.

T: Definitely a unique treat! It starts off with a pronound but incredible short tart flavor. Immediately following are the spices, that come off as a saison and tripel lovechild, with an undertone of lucious citrus tasting hops. It finished with a bready belgian yeast flavor. NO ALCOHOL BURN AT ALL.

M: Much like the tart flavor, the carbonation is sharp but very short-lived on the tongue. It finishes very smooth.

O: I was hesitant to try this one since I was unfamilar with the brewery and an "imperial french ale", really? My suspicious was running rampant to say the least. But I'm very happy I gave it a go. It was wonderfully unique with a wide array of flavors. And with an 11.5% abv, it can be a great nightcap beer (2 of these after a long day will put you right to sleep).
***This also could be a great beer to help convert a wine drinker or for you filthy, horny mo fo's, to get a young lady drunk.

Serving type: on-tap

01-12-2013 00:50:05 | More by JoePoc17

TheMultiYeast

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +5.3%

12-20-2012 03:29:16 | More by TheMultiYeast

weaselchew

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +5.3%

11-03-2012 01:07:44 | More by weaselchew

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

3.9/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

I picked this up at Giant, enjoyed chilled in a mug, bottle shared w/ carlos.

The color is a deep golden hued with murky clarity and slightly thick cream cap w/ minute bead and some lace stickage. The smell is good with slight citrus and herbal hop odors and light yeast phenolic element. The feel is decent with some bitterness which is moderately high, but not sharp with slight yeast creaminess and slight spiced texture with moderately high carbonation and a gentle astringency with relatively low alcohol in the feel.

The taste is good with both herbal and citrus flavors from the hops with a mild tinge of grapefruit in the back end with mild yeast tanginess and light peppery elements toward the middle with a light element of astringent hop w/ subtle alcohol in the taste and low medicinal elements with a very hop forward flavor that is augmented by the saison yeast. I would get this again as it has a nice array of citrus and it is enjoyable with the high hop levels which taste fresh and don't go overboard but are agressive in the initial taste.

Serving type: bottle

11-01-2012 18:45:09 | More by Slatetank

Darkmagus82

Montana

2.88/5  rDev -24.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Served on tap in a snifter

Appearance – Served a super hazy yellow color with a tiny white head. The head faded relatively fast to leave a good level of lacing on the glass. When swirled in the snifter the beer clung to the sides of the glass; streaking slowly down the sides.

Smell – The aroma are most of yeast and fruit. The fruit is a combination of banana and some orange citrus. Mixed with these aromas are some grassy and more herbal hop aromas as well as a presence of alcohol (although lighter then would be expected).

Taste – The taste begins with a good hit of yeast and biscuit flavors. As the taste advances a bitter citrus flavor mixed with a bitter grassy flavor comes to the tongue. While it bitters in taste, it also gets slightly tart in nature. Toward the end some spice flavors as well as a hit of a boozy flavor come to the tongue. The flavor transitions in the brew are rather abrupt, with none of them really transitioning very well. In the end, a light burning alcohol taste, mixed with a grassy hop flavor (almost like you would get if eating hops straight up), are left on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The beer has a body that is rather chewy and thick with a carbonation level that is on the lower side. The lower carbonation level lets all the flavors of the brew soak into the tongue. In this case a little bit of effervescence would have helped hide some of the alcohol and strangely bitter flavors.

Overall – Not really a style and taste profile that I am a fan of. The flavors are rather poor in their complementation and transition, and the feel and smell are not all that great either.

Serving type: on-tap

08-20-2012 23:42:41 | More by Darkmagus82

jculler82

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -1.3%

08-16-2012 13:39:30 | More by jculler82

Stinkypuss

Pennsylvania

3.68/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Lavery Imperial French Style Ale

Pours a clear golden at first, yeasty sediment swirled in later. Good head retention, fizzy and crackling head with some staying power. Aroma of belgian yeast, some spice and floral hops. In the taste, leafy hops, mild bitterness, estery, peppery belgian yeast and a small sweetness. Alittle euro tasting, light, mildy fruity, but finishes bitter. Warming alcohol is noted. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied, good carbonation. Overall, a decent imperial style ale with deceptive strength.

Serving type: bottle

09-21-2011 04:39:30 | More by Stinkypuss

OWSLEY069

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a hazy orange-ish to amber color with an off white head. In the aroma, earthy and notes of candy sugar. In the taste, earthy, tart notes and small candy sugar. A small spicy bite and light to medium bodied mouthfeel, with a semi dry spice or orange and coriander. More of a saison, nice big spice and earth, and hides the ABV well.

Serving type: bottle

09-14-2011 14:35:22 | More by OWSLEY069

Morey

Pennsylvania

3.93/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

One liter bottle capped as normal, but it also has a resealable cap (similar to a growler) which is a good thing, because this is a big beer. Hopped with centennials, cascades, chinooks, and colombus hops. Fermented with French and Belgian Yeast.

Pours an extremely hazy copper-orange color topped by 4 fingers worth of fluffy white head. It took forever and a half to settle, but I'm ready to drink this bad boy. Lacing is everywhere! There is no part of my glass that doesn't have a significant amount of foam sticking to it.

Smell is slightly fruity with maybe just a touch of candied sugar. You can also detect some grassy hops and alcohol as well. Not as intense as one might expect though.

Taste- Hard to explain, but here goes...It's fruity, it's hoppy, it's sweet yet tart at the same time. I'm getting some spices in there as well, but I just can't quite put my finger on it. If there was a such thing as a Belgian Barleywine, this would be it.

Medium leaning towards full bodied with a soft carbonation.

A nice beer overall. Very unique. The side of the bottle says..."Is it a hoppy Tripel, an Imperial Saison? To me, it taste nothing like a Tripel, and it's hoppy enough to be a Belgian Ipa, so that's where I put it.

Morey's Bottom Line: This is a big beer in a bigger bottle. The alcohol is noticeable, but if you're in the mood for something a little more heavy, this is a fun beer to drink. I recommend sharing it with a friend or family member (a worthy one of course).

Serving type: bottle

09-03-2011 00:23:17 | More by Morey