Samael's Ale - Avery Brewing Company

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BA SCORE
87
good
-
810 Ratings

rAvg: 3.88
pDev: 15.46%
Reviews: 552
Hads: 258

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Brewed by:
Avery Brewing Company

Colorado, United States

Style | ABV
English Barleywine | 16.45% ABV

Availability: Summer. bottle (525), on-tap (27).

Notes:
A super-caramelly, oak-aged strong English-style ale, brewed with Columbus, Fuggels hops and two-row barley, caramel 150L malt.

2007: 14.50% (Batch #3)
2008: 15.53% (Batch #4)
2009: 16.45% (Batch #5)
2010: 15.82% (Batch #6)
2011: 15.31% (Batch #7)
2012: 15.47% (Batch #8)

View: Beers (53) | Reviews (38) | Events (4)

Reviews

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Reviews by instrumentality:

instrumentality

California

3.23/5 rDev -16.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

I poured this brew into my Stone Imperial Russian Stout tulip glass and was quite impressed with the results. A transparent amber body sat beneath a finger of tan head with medium sized bubbles scattered across its surface, resembling raw pancake batter slowly cooking. The head descended to a thin layer, but held up nicely against a good swirling and maintained a solid thick halo that clung to the edges of the glass.

The scent was powerful, but appetizing; a mixture of the sweetness of plums and caramel, the tartness of cherries, and the warmth of alcohol.

One sip and I knew this beer was a force to be reckoned with. It started off sweet (caramel/plum), then the alcohol crept up on me quickly until the back of my tongue and my throat were practically on fire. After a few seconds, this burning sensation mellowed out and I was left with a coating of alcoholic sweetness reminiscent of a mild cough medicine but much more appealing.

Mouthfeel was unusually tingly, a combination of the burning of the alcohol and a clove-like spiciness that rippled over my tongue. The consistency felt almost syrupy, again like cough medicine, coating the palate and tongue long after its descent down my throat.

The sweetness, while initially enjoyable as it offset the intensity of the alcohol, became cloying after a few gulps. I found myself having to back off, to wait until the syrupy coating wore off a bit before replenishing it with another sip. But the more I drank and the warmer it got, the more the cough syrup sensation grew and the more annoying it became, until I found myself forcing myself to swallow the last few gulps. Good thing this wasn't a bomber.

An interesting change of pace, but not one I'm planning to try again.

Serving type: bottle

08-23-2006 06:42:51 | More by instrumentality

More User Reviews:

Dirksen

California

3.25/5 rDev -16.2%

05-24-2013 19:27:24 | More by Dirksen

kingmaker

Louisiana

4.5/5 rDev +16%

05-23-2013 00:42:49 | More by kingmaker

SmellsofMahagony

Texas

3.75/5 rDev -3.4%

05-22-2013 03:17:08 | More by SmellsofMahagony

mikeincharleston

South Carolina

4.25/5 rDev +9.5%

05-22-2013 01:13:59 | More by mikeincharleston

eawolff99

Colorado

3.75/5 rDev -3.4%

05-21-2013 03:00:13 | More by eawolff99

Photekut

Azerbaijan

3.75/5 rDev -3.4%

05-18-2013 22:05:46 | More by Photekut

baybassboy

California

3.5/5 rDev -9.8%

05-14-2013 04:24:06 | More by baybassboy

NastyNate11

North Carolina

3.75/5 rDev -3.4%

05-13-2013 22:57:29 | More by NastyNate11

drummermattie02

Texas

3.75/5 rDev -3.4%

05-13-2013 14:26:42 | More by drummermattie02

TheBrewo

Michigan

3.94/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

We crack a bottle labeled “April 2012, Batch No 8, 736 Cases”, and pour a brew of rich, tawny copper coloring. It holds a nicely reproducible one finger head of vanilla pudding colored bubbles, showing okay retention. This leaves spots clinging to the glass, and an aggregate over half the glass and around the edges of the liquid. A thick chill haze permeates the clarity, and large chunks of yeasty sediment are seen throughout, despite a slow pour. Carbonation appears to be moderate. The aroma starts with insane, cloying sweetness, even when cold from the fridge. As it warms, the malts are pulled more forward to match the outright syrupy sugars, taking form as toasty, bready caramels, with lighter brown malts off in the distance. Otherwise the nose fills with browned apple sweetness, thick and sweet brandy booziness, bright vanilla extract, soft oak, yeasty metallics, red cherry, milder buttery diacetyls, sweet banana esters, and black pepper spiciness. With temperatures approaching that of the room, a pseudo-smoky leathery quality came out, furthering the cause and balance against the dextrin sugars. Our first impression is that the flavoring, especially through the end, is quite hot and borders on unnatural, but remains interesting and extremely robust throughout. As we sip, the taste opens with cloying sugars, as in the nose, burning sting of booze across the tongue, stark black pepper, syrupy caramel malts, and strong phenolic plastics. Peaking is the sweetness max of the taste, with those dextrins, straight brown sugar, thickly toasted caramel malts, faint molasses, banana esters, and distant smokiness. The end comes with bite of pencil woodiness and graphite, iron, melted Army men, soft smoky char, red apple sweetness, warming Christmas spice, peppery booze, and only lighter balance at this point from those sugared caramels and cereal graininess. The aftertaste breathes of those aromatic leathers, plastics, gritty yeastiness, seriously drying oak, big moss, mineral, gravel, sweet booziness of amaretto, rice grain, metallic graphite, and tinny metallics. The body is full and thick, while carbonation is medium to high. There is wild tingle on the tongue and gooseflesh inducing pucker from the booze and the sweetness respectively. The mouth quickly burns to a definitive bone dryness, with the tongue left moving like sandpaper down the hard palate. Each sip gives nice slurp, sip, cream, froth, and finishing pop, and the lips are left a touch sticky. The abv is huge, but decently hidden, and the beer sips slowly, but nicely.

Overall, what we enjoyed most about this brew was its taste. This is actually our first taste of the “Demon” series, and it certainly did not disappoint. Samael brought it hard to the palate with massive bready sweetness, nicely matched oakiness, and strong booziness through the end of the sip. While things may have not been the most balanced and concise, the more noticeable inclusions of leather, light smoke, and plastics were happily welcomed to the party, integrating pleasantly amongst the general strength and bigness of this beer. Things calm down quite a bit with warmth, through both the nose and the taste, helping to keep it much, much closer to style and approachable. This guy is monstrous, and considering the abv alone, you should definitely fight off the darkness with some friends, or you just might get swallowed up in it.

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2013 00:11:29 | More by TheBrewo

dalepryor

Kentucky

3.75/5 rDev -3.4%

05-07-2013 22:29:51 | More by dalepryor

lowgear

California

4.14/5 rDev +6.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

2005 vintage.

Opened without fanfare in the kitchen. No carbonation. Dark ruby red color.
Smell- lots of alcohol and fruitcake.
Taste-very sweet, prune, bourbon, very sazerac.
This one really warms your innards.
One more of this vintage in the cellar.

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2013 03:00:30 | More by lowgear