Avery Anniversary Eighteen
For this year’s celebratory brew, we decided to focus on the characteristics that certain yeasts bring to the party. Each of the five Belgian yeasts selected adds its own unique aspect to the flavor and aroma of this saison. The hefty addition of rye helps dry this beauty out and lends another spicy component to the flavor. And for added fun, we subtly dry-hopped it, too! Brewed with malted barley, imported malted rye, imported specialty malts, hops and a blend of five Belgian yeast strains.
3.4
291 reviews
Boulder, United States
Community reviews
2011 Vintage / Bottled in May 2011
7/28/2011: Avery Eighteen (A Dry-Hopped Rye Saison)... Aroma: Flat, just the slightest hint of anise. Appearance: Pale copper color, shiny; average carbonation; thin, crackle-top beige veil. Flavor: Wow, quite unexpected... Starts with a deep, subtle, somewhat meaty smokiness that rises slowly to the surface; light citrus quality in the middle followed a bit of oily, toasted rye malt; there’s a hit of sweetness right at the end and then some dry fruitiness that I would expect from the rye malt. Palate: Medium-bodied; smooth and a bit slick; mild carbonation. Overall: Hmmm... Not really sure what this is as it is definitely NOT what I expected at all. That having been said, it’s good and perfectly drinkable, but definitely nothing noteworthy.
1 Pint 6 fl. oz. bottle (O.G. 1.069; 8.12% ALC/VOL). Rating #262 for this beer.
Bottle served in snifter: Pours a cloudy amber with some floaties, small lasting fizzy head and spotty lace. The aroma has notes of caramelized apples, strawberry, banana, rye bread, herbal and floral hops, juicy fruit bubblegum, dusty yeast esters and a touch of clove. The taste is pretty fruity and toffee based, heavy English Marmalade overtones. Some hop and yeast driven spicy notes along with the finishing rye and hint of noble herbal bitterness. The mouth feel is lightly lush and oily, moderate to light carbonation and a bit of the rye dryness. Overall, this has aged well and is enjoyable.
August 2011. Bottle. Amber color with a white head. Malt, yeast, bread and grassy aromas. Good hoppy bitterness and a refreshing finish.
Bomber compliments of AndyReynolds (may 2011) - pours opaque amber with offwhite head and great lacing. Nose is yeast and Barley. Flavor adds a more malty character and something tangy. Sweet with latent bitterness and a little spiciness.
Bottle. Aroma is hoppy, citrus, and soured yeast(?). Some fruity and sourdough bread notes stand out. Interesting. Great palate with nice bitter presence in finish. Not outstanding, but not bad
Sampled at Ft Wayne RB tasting - Pours hazy amber-orange and smells of rye and hops with a touch of citrus. It has a sweet flavor and is clearly very rich in malted rye. There’s a hint of citrus and some mild bitterness. Dry finish. Very good brew.
22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled in May 2011. Pours hazy reddish copper color with a 2 finger dense cream colored head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass. Aromas of big orange, pear, apple, grape, pepper, clove, caramel, toast, honey, spicy rye, floral, herbal, and yeast earthiness. Damn nice aromas with good balance and complexity of malt and fruity/spicy ester notes. Taste of caramel, orange, pear, apple, grape, toast, clove, pepper, floral, honey, herbal, brown bread, spicy rye, and yeast earthiness. Lingering notes of caramel, citrus, light fruits, toast, pepper, clove, floral, honey, herbal, brown bread, spicy rye, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Damn nice complexity and balance of malt and fruity/spicy esters, with tame rye flavor; and zero cloying flavors present after the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a fairly creamy, slick, and lightly crisp mouthfeel that is very nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is an excellent saison style. Great balance and complexity of flavors; and very smooth to sip on. Really enjoyed this one.
Tasted from a bomber bottle into a nonic half pint glass, thanks Greg. Hazy, deep amber colour, huge billowy off white foam with tons of lace. Very low aromas and flavours. Faintly fruity and caramelly, but no trace of yeast nor rye spiciness. Smooth but stale like an aged Belgian Dubbel. Mushy, cardboardy, big and boozy, but not particularly tasty.
2011 vintage. Hot. Dark straw. A lot of lacing. Not memorable. Im not excited about this.
Bomber. Light amber pour, smaller white head. Spicy rye, caramel malt, saison yeast. Good.
15th October 2011
Hazy deep amber beer, decent off white head. Light palate, semi crisp. A little toffee malt. A touch of rye spice. Mild piney hops on top. Minerals impart freshness. Decent if not quite the knockout I was hoping for.
22oz bomber: This one pours a fairly opaque caramel color. There was a pretty decent pop when the cap came off, and a fair amount of a beige head that lingers awhile. Nice nose. Rye, citrus, yeast, breadiness are the most notable. Very nice taste. Just a bit of the rye flavor, and some spiciness. A little citrus, some breadiness, and a touch tart with a hint of bitterness. A very nice offering.
A - Pours a cloudy orange-brown with a finger of frothy slightly off white head atop. The head fades down at a normal pace leaving behind some lacing.
S - Aroma is a mix of grapefruit, citrus, and pine hops with sweet caramel and rye malts, some Belgian yeast, spices, and lemon zest.
T - Starts off with a mix of grapefruit and citrus hops with some bitterness, sweet caramel malts, spices, and lemon zest. Through the middle, some spicy rye comes through with some pine hops, a bit more bitterness, and some Belgian yeast flavors. The finish is a mix of grapefruit and pine hops, bitterness, rye, sweet bready malts, Belgian yeast, and spices.
M - Medium-plus bodied with moderate carbonation. Feels smooth with a sweet, dry, and spicy finish.
D - Very drinkable. Nice overall balance with the rye being a nice touch.
22 oz. bottle shared by Tmoney99. Pours a slightly hazy amber color with a medium sized bubbly off white head. The aroma is mildly spicy, herbal, grassy with a hint of smoke which seemed strange. The flavor shows even more smoke along with spicy rye, chewy malts and a hint of citrus. This is a strange one and not something I would seek out again.
22oz bottle-thin offwhite-hazy amber. A-sweet medium malt-caramel, some spice. T-sweet med malt-caramel, spice/herbal hops, yeast.
This bottled brew bottled in May of 2011 from a rating party poured a medium sized head of foamy fine to medium sized off-white colored bubbles that were and left behind a softly carbonated transparent orange brown colored body. The aroma was brown malt musty and malt hop. The mouth feel was very tingly at the start and at the finish. The flavor contained notes of medium hops and malt. A decent one that I would consider drinking again.
This did not sound appealing based in the description but a bottle that a friend shared was better than expected. Dark amber color, decent head. Smells like rye and Belgian yeast. Flavor was odd, spicy rye, fruit, yeast but no hops. I honestly couldn’t detect any sort of dry hopping. Overall not bad but I was glad I didn’t actually pay for a bottle.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 10-04-2011 19:03:31
Pours quite dark amber mostly clear with an off white head. The aroma is soft sweet saison yeast, hop profile is gone in the nose. The body is a bit syrupy. The flavors brings a unique combo of spicy rye, Belgian yeast, and citrus hops that each are uniquely tasted instead of being blended well together.
Poured from a 22 ounce bottle. Pours a ruddy red color with a decent beige head of foam. The aroma has a distinct ryeness to it, but it just isn’t very appealing. Its just kind of there. Taste is pretty dull. Some spiciness from the rye on top of a heavily ryed malt bill. Either this beer is past its prime, or it never really had one to begin with. Either way, this beer’s one to leave at the store.
Hazy amber beer out of thebottle with a thin off white head. Fruity Pepples and hop resin nose. Flavors of orange, apricot, rye, dark bread and some long citrus peel finish.
pours a semi-cloudy brown with a thin tan head, and some lacing.
smell is of malt, rye, caramel, a touch of citrus, and some brown sugar.
taste is of smoke, malt, a little roastiness, rye, and hops. ends dry and a little bitter.
Bottle down the shore. Pour is a murky amber brown with light head. Lacing was medium on this one. Aromas of sweet malt, belgian spice, apples, rye bread, and various fruit. Taste was spicy rye, bread, candy coated apples, hops. There was alot going on with this beer especially for a saison. Ehh.
Deep amber pour. Sweet chewy rye malt aroma. A touch of pale malt and some spice in addition to the grainy sweetness. Chewy and fairly full-bodied - tending to sticky sweet really. The rye really adds a slickness to the palate on this one. There is a curious mix of spice and fruit but the slickness really kills this one for me. The rye flavour is pronounced and although that is welcome, the excessive sweetness just does a number on the beer. A little bit herbal on the back. Ugh - could have been so much better.
Very nice saison. The funk is there, though I’m not sure what five different yeasts do to the flavor of a beer. Medium bodied, earthy, and musky.
This is sort of odd and not very good. Too dry, too much astringency and charred flavor/feel, not enough lightness or fruitiness to the saison.
Has a sweet aroma. Golden in color and hazy. Delicious malty flavor. Slightly bitter finish. I enjoyed this very much.
Poured into a tulip. Bottled May 2011. Apparently Cincy is the biggest importer of old Avery as I can still buy Fifteen and Sixteen if I want to.
4.0 A: Big carbonation in this. First pour was 60% head. Eventually I got a full glass. Moderately hazed dark orange amber color. Big off-white, pillowy head. Retention is very good and tons of lacing is left.
4.0 S: Smells mainly of a very tasty saison. The dry hopping isn’t very intense now if it every was. The rye plays a complementary role, rather than dominating. Flowery and herbal overall, which is just how I like my saisons. Not a whole lot of pure funk, but it doesn’t need it. Spicy earthiness, which is amplified by the rye.
3.0 T: Taste is good, but it has a few problems. The herbalness and floweriness is solid, but there’s an excess of astringent herbal-type bitterness. Earthy spicy rye is less intense than I’d like. For the most part, this is lacking all fruitiness, which I don’t think I’ve ever encountered in a saison. That mixed with the dryness of the style and you get an earth bomb. Not that that is such a bad thing, it just doesn’t work all that well in this case.
3.5 M: Lighter medium body. Good moderate carbonation that is lightly spritzy. Reasonably smooth despite the bitterness.
3.0 D: Not the most drinkable beer. The bitterness becomes trying over time and the lack of fruitiness makes this a bit more boring than I’d like toward the end of the bomber.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 05-28-2012 03:27:15
I thought this was damn tasty. Nice malty rye with a great musty dry saison finish accented by spicy hops. Really nice drinker.
Sitting on this one for a while. Great saison fruity aroma. Tons of rye in the flavor. Rye finish
It poured a hazy dark caramel color with an off-white head. The aroma was of lemon, some spice and belgian yeast. The taste was sweet with a bit of spice and bitterness. Medium bodied and a decent beer.