Avery Anniversary Twelve

Another year and our best yet. Twelve glorious years total! Thanks guys and gals! As you’ve probably noticed, along the way we’ve developed quite a fetish/addiction for Belgian-style brews. Here’s another style we’ve been craving to concoct - an intricate Saison, full of zesty citrus and spicy notes paired with a subtle herbaceous essence. Brewed with Rocky Mountain water, malted barley, imported Belgian malted wheat, sweet orange peel, lemon peel, grains of paradise, chamomile, lavender, hops, and Belgian yeast.

3.4

378 reviews

Boulder, United States

Community reviews

3.5 Bottle thanks to ericandersnavy. Pours with a white head that fades and a hazy yellow body. Decent lacing. Aroma is of cinnamon toast crunch, cereal, honey, cinnamon. Taste is honey, cereal, some saison yeast, a bit of lactose as well. Light carbonation.

3.7 Bottle thanks to ericandersnavy. Pours a yellow color with no head. Nose is complete cinnamon toast cruch cereal. Nice sticky mouthfeel with tastes of honey cinnamon, and yeast. Actually drinking pretty well right now.

3.3 bottle thanks to ericandersnavy. murky yellow pour with no head. heavy spices and earth on the nose. wow that is a big ol flavor of cinnamon toast crunch.

2.3 650ml bottle - thanks oh6gdx!
Very orange, small head. Initial aroma was coconut, but quickly became pumpkin - so sweet. Pumpkin pie taste, tons of coconut too, and loads of booze. Coconut. Pumpkin. Pumpkin. More pumpkin. Booze. Oh God! This is not a saison, this is a disaster!

3.0 Bottled@FatPhil&oh6gdx EBF-warmup cruise. Slightly hazy golden colour with small white head. Aroma is pumpkin, coconut and lots of other spices/herbs. Flavour is pumpkin, spices, coconut and also quite evident notes of alcoholic sweetness. A rather sweet pumpkin pie-like brew.

3.7 Bottle pours a cloudy hazy amber color with a off white head. Has an aroma of spice and slight earth. Taste is mostly earth, spice, and some interesting citrus flavors on the finish that are very mellow. Overall a nice brew.

3.6 In short: A perfumy and spicy Saison with a strong countryside character. An acquired taste How: Bottle, Probably over 2 years when I drank it. Received in a trade, probably as a bonus, I wish I remembered from whom, please bm me. The look: Partly cloudy golden body topped by a very small white head. In long: Nose is very Saison and also very perfumy. Not funky-Saison but very countryside-Saison. Taste had citrus skin, orange peels, rose water, wild yeasty notes and perfume, lavender, pineapples, some dried tropical fruits and camomile. The beer is also very herbal and spicy. It might be a yeast by-product but in this case I would think that the beer is actually spiced. I suspect some pils malts and saaz hops in there cause it definitely had a little Pilsner thing going. Dry herbal finish with a perfumed lady soap after-taste. I didn’t care that much for the perfumy/soapy side of the beer but the wild yeast and its countryside personality were really coming out strong and that’s what important to me in a Saison. I think that this one of those rare small beer that can age a few more years gracefully. To most this probably won’t be a very good beer but when it comes to wild Saison I’m as positive as the top of a fully charged Duracell battery.

2.9 22 oz bomber-Poured a hazy orange color w/a medium off white head. Floral hop aroma. Flavors of yeast, colander, figs, raisens, apricots, & cane sugar. Thought this beer wandered a bit & lost its direction, like they weren’t quite sure what they wanted to do with it. Wasn’t bad, but it just had too much going on & failed to stand out in any one area; doesn’t grab your attention. Solid, but could have been a lot more.

3.7 750ML bottle via trade. THanks to whoever sent this! Pours a dirty hazy gold with a massive beige head. Nose is spicy and fruity. Taste is apricot, coriander, gingerbread, bubblegum, toasted grains, earthy/citrus hops and even a little rye. Carbonation is moderate/high. Body is medium. Pretty good for a style I am not real fond of. Avery seems to do a fine job with their anniversary beers.

3.8 Bottle thanks to ericandersnavy. Pours hazy gold with nice white head, laced the glass. Aroma of orange peel, cinnamon, pumpkin and clove. Flavor of cinnamon, ginger, orange peel. Palate is medium body with med. carbonation. This was a very unique beer and I am glad I had it....

3.9 bottle thanks to metzlers in denton, tx. poured a hazy yellow with white head. good retention with lacing. aroma was complex with ginger, cinnamon, pumpkin, and orange. flavor equally as complex with pumpkin spice, ginger, cinnamon. there are a bunch of things going on in this beer. this would go good around the winter holidays!!

3.9 12oz bottle via trade. Pours a hazy light orange with a medium sized off white head that left some lacing. Nose was full of flesh fruits, citrus and some baking spices. Flavor was text book Saison.....Orange zest, spice and Belgian yest. A damn good one from Avery.

3.8 Appearance: Pours an everso slightly hazy, burnished gold body with a full, white head. Smell: Very floral, zesty aroma with malted wheat notes and hints of Grains of Paradise, ginger, and fresh cloves. Taste: Sweet malted wheat with a drizzle of clover honey. Dash of floral, herbal tea. Sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar. Hints of citrus and pear juice. And ginger, white pepper, cardamon, and one drop of cleansing soap. Floral, sweetish finish. What a busy beer! Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Somewhat coating mouthfeel. Drinkability: I started off smirking, but ended up fairly pleased for a three-year old, American-made saison. Not the most saisony saison on the block, but tasty and with a lil’ kick of spice -- though a single 12 ounce helping would’ve been better appreciated.

3.7 Woah, this one smells like fruit loops right at the beginning. After a while the spiced quality is very apparent and almost overwhelming, while not unpleasent. Cumin,clove, coriander character is the dominant force in this brew. The smoked spice flavors, including cinnamon, chives and carmalized onion flavors help this beer to taste EXACTLY like a chicken chinese dish down the road from my house. Wow, bizzarre. The ginger galric funked out spice quality is certainly interesting, and maybe I will use my other bottle of this brew for cooking. As crazy as it was, it was enjoyable and worth the ride.

3.2 Pours a hazy golden yellow with white head. Sweet aromas of gingerbread, spices and some floral notes. Similar flavors with gingerbread and cinnamon dominating. Medium body with average carbonation and a nice creamy mouthfeel. Not your typical saison.

3.5 I don’t know if this would be what I would call a saison, but when it comes to Avery they kind of throw the traditional style book out the window. A little over the top on the spices, I do enjoy the mouthfeel, creamy and quite floral with every sip. What would Dany Prignon do with this?

4.0 Bottle shared at tasting. Thanks! Pours a hazy light yellowish orange color. Smell is spiced and floral with strong notes of cinammon. Really smells like a cinnamon roll more than anything. Taste is cinnamony and spiced. Dry, like chewing on a fresh cinnamon stick. Balanced sweetness, and nicely spiced. Really unique, and highly enjoyable!

3.9 Beige, cloudy. Explosive aroma of ginger, chamomile, florals, yeast, poached pears and brown sugar. Intense, blazing spices (anise and pepper), sublime florals, enough malt body and muscular alcohol to bring it all together. A crazy, interesting brew clearly inspired by the esoteric Fantome brews.

3.8 Intensely herbal and perfumy nose. Pours deep warm gold, has a soft mouthfeel with gingery afterbite in the back of the tongue. Soapiness is rounded out by dry and hoppy ending. Delicious, fun, good beer.

3.7 Pours gold into a shaker. Bright white micro head tophats as it slowly recedes to soak the rim. Soapy lemon aromas. Creamy ginger, nutmeg, marshmallow and oranges. Lasting dry funk.

3.2 Pours a nice hazy deep gold with a fluffy lasting white head and nice lace. Aroma is rediculously over the topp with spices- ginger, lavender, lilac, and dandelion notes- very orangey and zesty and then a gingersnap cookie hits you pretty hard after only a couple minutes of being opened- fresh chamomile tea comes through very strong as well. Flavor is also very powerful with ginger/ flowery chamomile and thyme, maybe nutmeg and cinnamon as well- very cookie or cake-like- almond flavors as well, then some chinese fortune cookie flavors and a ligth herbal ginger bitterness in the end. Way too over the top and over-spiced for my likes. Although for some reason I remember not liking this even more when I had it fresh, so maybe it is getting a bit better with age. Still cant drink a whole bottle though.

3.4 Bomber purchased at Crown Liquors #15, in Fishers, IN. It pours a hazy gold with a fluffy, white head that diminishes, leaving wispy lace in its wake. Spicy and herbal, it smells like a middle eastern bazaar/market: a hodgepodge of herbs, spices (specifically the Grains of Paradise come forward), flowers and tea. As the head subsides, a light citrus comes forward to complement the mix. My friend Indra could probably spend hours mulling over the aroma of this one, but I found it overly complex. It’s not unpleasant. It just seems a bit muddled, with so many different scents competing for your attention that it becomes distracting. It’s like a choir that suffers from a few individuals oversinging and pulling the overall performance of the group down a notch. It just doesn’t blend, for me. The mouthfeel is on the light side of medium-bodied with tongue-tickling effervescence and a dry, spicy finish. Sweet wheat malt, up front, is followed quickly by the G.O.P., notes of orange and lemongrass and a lightly bitter floral note that might be the lavender coming forward. This is an interesting beer, but as I’m not a huge fan of highly spiced brews, I think they may have just thrown too many things into the mix for liking.

3.9 This beer is a cloudy yellow after the final pour into my tulip. An inch of white foam is on top. It smells refreshing. Notes of citrus, spices, and yeast abound. The taste is quite refreshing. Lemon and lime, with yeasty spices. This pairs well with a variety of foods in my experience. Mouthfeel is light and highly carbonated. The drinkability is high. With the low( for me) ABV and refreshing flavor, this would be a nice poolside sipper. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 08-24-2005 02:08:18

1.4 Apr. 2007 - Egads...after receiving ample warning from eaglefan538 and bfeldmann, my dad shows up at my door sporting this beer. Dirty straw color, smallish head and no lacing. Aroma and flavor were as bad as reported. Ginger overload with cinnamon, soap, flowers and a touch of apple (about the only flavor that belongs in a saison). Definitely a spiced beer, pure and simple, and not great at that. I’m going to have a hard time finishing my half....

3.6 Bottled in 2005. Pours a cloudy, golden orange body. A frothy, snow white head shows excellent retention and leaves thick rings of lacing behind. A tremendously spicy aroma explodes from the glass, immediately conjuring up memories of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. After the initial cinnamon wave subsides, floral notes of lavender, chamomile, and orange blossoms emerge over a lightly caramelized malt base. The flavor shows many of the same components, but it leans towards being soapy, which brings it down quite a bit from the impressive scent. The medium body is somewhat dry, finishing almost chalky on the palate. I’m surprised this has held up so long. Despite the flavor letdown, its a nice and interesting brew that was probably an entirely different animal when fresh.

4.3 Avery cleaned out the spice cabinet for this one. Wow! Pours a hazy yellow with great white head. The most distinctive smell I have experienced in a beer. Hard to describe, kind of like walking past a Cinnibon and getting the whiff of Cinnamin with cloves, oranges and coriander. Very crisp, smooth mouthfeel. I split a bottle with some friends and we all thought it was fantastic. Looking back I don’t know how well a full serving, let alone a full bottle, would go down. A little too harsh to drink in larger quantities. Great beer none-the-less.

3.4 Bomber, thanks to skoisirius! Pours hazy gold with a thick and fading white head. The nose is apple fritters. Not bad, but not quit what I expected. Sugary cinnamon taste with all sorts of spices behind it. I’m not getting much in the way of citrus.The body, sweetness and spice all seem a bit heavy compared to my expectation. Not bad, but unusual.

3.8 Bottle courtesy of Unclemattie: Poured a golden color ale with a huge foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of spicy yeast and fruity ester is really pleasant. Taste is a well balance mix between some sweet malt with some hints of fruit ester and a spicy yeasty finish with maybe a hint of cinnamon or cloves. Full body with some great carbonation. I am really surprised by how well this beer has aged and it somehow reminded me of Smuttynnose Farmhouse ale.

3.8 22. Thanks, skoisirius! Cloudy medium gold with a surging but brief fizzy white head. Huge floral, perfumey, apple, cinnamon, and lavender on the nose. Medium body with smooth, soft carb. Sweet apple fritter and lavender on the mid-palate. Light finish. What this beer has to do with saisons is beyond me, and I’m not even totally sure it was supposed to taste like this--it’s got a couple years on it now. But it’s a yummy sweet beer.

3.3 22 oz. Bottle, poured a yellow-orange with some amber, effervescent with a white foamy head, nose has lots of honey and sugar sweetness with floral scents and some citrus aromas, as the ale warmed fragrances of ginger, cinnamon, faint clove (in the background) and others appeared, spices reminded me of the Southern Tier PumpKing ale but not as much cookie dough aroma as found in the PumpKing, as the beer warmed the floral fragrances increased but never quite got there to balance the sweetness, sweetness was always a few steps higher, sips brings a flavor of sweet malt, some spices on the palate, alcohol is in the background and I thought it had an off-taste, pepper at the finish, had a medium to full mouth feel and seemed to be too heavy and thick for a Saison ale which should be light on the palate, this was out of balance, sort of out of place for a Saison, this bottle has been laying around for about three years or so, might this have cause it to thick and heavy on the palate? I do not know, I do know this would not be thirst quenching on a hot Summer day.