The Czar - Avery Brewing Company

clvand0

Kentucky

4.3/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Normally, I'm not at all a fan of Imperial Stouts, so I approached this one wit h a negative mindset. I was pleasantly surprised. Pours a very dark color with a small head. The aroma was nice - roasted malt, chocolate, coffee, slight alcohol. The taste was very full-bodied and lovely. Tasted of dark malts, chocolate, coffee, hints of alcohol, but as smooth as silk. The body is full and the mouthfeel is great. This is one of the best Imperial Stouts I've had in a long long time. Two thumbs up ... this coming from somebody who doesn't care much for the Imperial Stouts.

Serving type: bottle

11-12-2003 19:17:14 | More by clvand0

GambrinousIan

Hawaii

4.38/5  rDev +11.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

This one is great after a long day on the slopes. It's very warming due to to the high alcohol content. It seems to have many flavors going on. Some people think it's a little too sweet with an almost syrupy texture. I find it very balanced as far as sweetness and bitterness. This is easily one of my favorite stouts. It's meant to be enjoyed in moderation in front of the fireplace.

Serving type: bottle

11-02-2003 08:32:27 | More by GambrinousIan

BierReise

Florida

4.2/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

22oz. Bomber bottled in 2002.One of the sweetest Imperials I've had yet. I can actually see through this one which is surprising. Sweet coffee aroma like a Cuban espresso with a hint of mocha and caramel. Smooth and creamy mouthfeel with a good alcohol kick that warms. Very sweet and syrupy with a slight bitterness at the end. Flavor is like Kahlua and sweet molasses. A very nice Imperial and extremely drinkable which can be dangerous

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2003 19:57:53 | More by BierReise

StevieW

Florida

4.5/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Another bottle compliments of the BelgianBum up the road. We had this one at our recent Imperial Stout and Porter tasting. Impressive 22 oz bomber bottle with foil wrap and Czar Nicholas I guess pictured. Pretty Cool stuff.
More impressive is the beer. It was the expected blackness with a tight bubbly tan head. Lots of sweet molasses aromas, hints of whiskey and chocolate and touch of hops. Taste was eye-rolling good. Sweet chocolate candy, melted over roastes coffee and figs. Wow. Just a really powerful flavor. Touch of cheek puckering bitterness ends it. Espresso like at times. Lots of sweet molasses again, nearly slick but more of a slightly oily taste and feel. One of the better Imperial Stouts I have had. Cheers to the Bum for lugging this one back from Colorado.

Serving type: bottle

10-09-2003 01:14:02 | More by StevieW

Mitchster

Michigan

4.43/5  rDev +12.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Bottled in 2002. Pours out to a very dark brown..in the glass it appears quite black with dark brown accents. A very vigorous pour forms a poofy tan head atop fine bubbles with poor retention and minimal lacing. Carbonation is mild. Aroma is suprisingly tame for an Imperial Stout...red apples, caramel, faint toffee, vanilla, distant black walnut, and very weak coffee and chocolate. Hop aroma is noticeably absent, and alcohol is imperceptable. Mouthfeel is very creamy and luxurious with a dense, oily body. Taste has more character than the aroma, with strong notes of vanilla, walnuts and rotting bing cherries, however there is a potent espresso and chocolate note that builds up toward the end and lingers with a touch of leafy sweetness. Darkly roasted grains are relatively mild with suggestions of prunes, but no raisins, figs or dates. Alcohol is perceptable towards the finish, with a peppery wave of fumes rolling off the tongue, however this is free of acetones and fusels. The hops intensity is very subdued compared to most, yet adequate to balance the hearty malts. This Imperial is noticeably sweeter than most I've had, but this is a good thing in my book.

This is a very simple yet enjoyable Imperial Stout...it doesn't hold a candle to the complexities of Expedition or Rasputin, but in it's own way, it has an elegant sexiness in its simpleton attitude. Of note...one 22oz bomber, and I have a serious buzz. Phhhhlart.

Serving type: bottle

08-26-2003 22:50:06 | More by Mitchster

Brent

Kentucky

3.93/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

2002 vintage, this might benefit from a little more age, as it seemed the flavors had some room to mature. Concentrated flavors of molasses and roasted prune. The alcohol spices things up a bit. Heavy but not overwhelming, your basic "meal in a bottle." A classic interpretation of the imperial stout with just a touch more hops. It would be nice to revisit this in a year or two to see if the flavors gain some additional depth.

Serving type: bottle

08-03-2003 20:22:20 | More by Brent

beerguy101

California

4.25/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Dark black color, smallish head. Aroma is roasted malt, chocolate and vanilla. Full-bodied Imperial Stout. Deeply roasted malts, chocolate, coffee, toffee and vanilla. Although this is most definitely a stout, it has many qualities of a both a barley wine (oilyness and maltyness) and an Abbey ale (Vinous and brown sugary). Complex as anything. Well balanced. Very smooth taste. Hides the 12.2% alcohol very well. Very drinkable. Extremely dangerous beer. This beer will be outrageous with a couple of years of bottle aging. Amazing this young, but with some aging!! Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly biter, some alcohol bite. Amazing beer. Thanks to hopsrus for this one.

Serving type: bottle

06-22-2003 09:13:05 | More by beerguy101

jcalabre

California

4.53/5  rDev +15.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Originally sampled on 29 March 2003. A very short-lived head leads you quickly into a delicious black body. Flavors of toffee & chocolate abound. The nose is of roasted chocolate. This full bodied baby is pure pleasure to drink. I'm storing some away and looking forward to doing a side by side w/ other world class Imperial Stouts

Serving type: bottle

06-04-2003 12:30:06 | More by jcalabre

beerluvr

New Jersey

3.9/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

2002 version. "Don't turn around, oh oh...the CommiCZAR's in town, oh no"! The Czar slips out of his bottle with only a light tan colored head settling over super dark ruby...none more ruby liquid. Notes of coffee, dark fruit are smelled with an undercurrent of strong solvent alcohol rounding out der nose. A rich and warming mouthfeel reveals flavors of roasted malt, fruit, chocolate, rum, ...in that order. Finishes with a mighty alcohol presence...one high alcohol Imperial Stout that lives up to the hype, make no bones about it! Another exquisite label adorns the bottle.

Thanks to Gusler.

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2003 22:23:32 | More by beerluvr

mzwolinski

California

4.8/5  rDev +22.1%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Boo-yah. This is a beer! I'd had a few others from Avery when I sampled this and so had high hopes even before I saw the label. And you can just tell from the care they put into designing the label that they're pretty proud of this beer -- mine was the 2002 edition. Pours jet black, with only the scantest traces of a dark tan head lining the edge of the glass. But hey, at 12.2% ABV, who can blame 'em. Pour little cabron dioxide bubbles are probably too drunk to find their way to the surface. Aroma is huge, enveloping, overpowering and rich. Coffee, chocolate, and a cherryish/licorice like dark sweetness. Terrific! The beer feels great too, oily, very smooth and full-bodied. Sweet molasses dominates the first part of the taste, with the malt developing a toffee-like toastiness mid-palate. Alcohol spiciness comes through at the end, tingly and peppery, though you'd never guess 12.2% (did I mention it's 12.2% ABV) from the taste. Hallertau hops lend a pleasant though very understated herbal character to the finish, and a nice balance. Chocolate overtones becomes more noticeable as the beer warms. This is an ass-kicker of a beer, but I'll take a beating from it any chance I get.

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2003 21:22:32 | More by mzwolinski

Gusler

Arizona

4.53/5  rDev +15.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Well what better beer for my 1000th review on “BeerAdvocate.Com” than an Imperial Stout, “The Czar” by Avery Brewing, and what a beautiful label, a class act all the way around is this brewery.

Ebony in color, the head is Bunyanesque in size, the head spumescent in texture, the color a light chocolate, as it dissipates, the lace left behind a thick glutinous sheet to conceal the glass. Nice aroma of toasted grains, chocolate sweet, light hints of coffee, fresh and a real treat for the senses, start is sweet, thick malt, the top is chewy like taffy. Finish has an applicative hop spicy bite, the acidity germane, the aftertaste droughty and long lasting and slightly alcohol bitter a real nice “Belly Warming” feel from the 12.2% ABV, a real load and a real treat for this “Lover of the dark side”.

Serving type: bottle

04-02-2003 16:54:59 | More by Gusler

Dogbrick

Ohio

4.45/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

2002 Bottle: I could kiss Governor Bob Taft on the lips for making beers like this available in Ohio. Pours black as octopus ink with a slight ruby halo. Very thin beige head and thin lacing. Yummy aroma of coffee, chocolate, toffee and malt that gets even better throughout the glass. Flavor is an interesting concoction of coffee, chocolate, tart soy sauce, and alcohol. Perfect hops counterbalance in the finish. I don't even know how this bottle disappeared so fast but I want another.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2003 07:28:55 | More by Dogbrick

jtw5877

Ohio

4.83/5  rDev +22.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Pours a murky blackish garnet hue, with a tannish white head. Utterly smoooth. A big malty chocolate, coffee, toffee, caramel whap across the face. This stuff hides its ABV better than Iraq hides it's missles. I love this stuff, big, black, powerful, and smooth. The Shaft of Imperial Stouts.

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2003 14:16:54 | More by jtw5877

comat0se

Colorado

4.25/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

2002 22oz.
From Bottle:
1.100 OG
70 IBU
12.2% ABV

Avery's strongest brew to date, pours a very dark brown with a tan, modest head, modest carbonation. Hold this one up to the light and your looking through ruby glasses. I had some fun times just looking at the light through the glass. Quite a nice color. Floral hops and alcohol dominate over chocolate and roasted malt aroma. Flavor begins with a mild roasted mocha coffee, and light molasses sweetness. Then you go on a bit of a ride, as the taste becomes drier midway through and the spicy warming alcohol takes over in combination with the spicy, yet fairly restrained, Hallertau hops, and then we revisit the beginning with a sweet finish. In the aftertaste, you are reminded of the light roasted coffee beginning. Interesting Imperial Stout that I'm sure would benefit from a year's time to mellow out the undoubtedly brazen 12.2% alcohol.

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2003 22:49:56 | More by comat0se

Wildman

Ohio

3.73/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a dark red almost black color with a small bubbly medium tan head. Left some circular lace. The aroma was of malt, chocolate and coffee. The flavor was of malt and burnt coffee. The finish was slightly bitter. The body was bit light for this style. May need to try this one again at a different temperature. Not one of the best, but it is hard finding many imperials in my state, so any are a welcome addition.

Serving type: bottle

01-05-2003 13:41:46 | More by Wildman