Olympic Hockey and Avery Mephistopheles' Stout 2/23/2010

Eitan: We haven't really gotten together for beer night in a while so there really hasn't been much to write about as far as beer nights go. However, I have been trying to try new beers and keep up with writing about them. Last night we didn't gather to try beers, but I did watch hockey with Stan and I brought over the Avery Mephistopheles' Stout to try. I was a bit apprehensive to try it because of its abv of over 16%

It was a 12 oz. 2007 bottle, but I forgot which batch it was. It poured almost pitch black with a bit of brown head. It had a very potent smell, it was bit sweet. It had notes of dark fruits, plums, coffee and a bit of malt. It also had a very strong taste, not in a bad way but in a grab your attention sort of way. The taste was very similar to the smell, but it is the coffee, plum and the sweetness of molasses that are the most pronounced. After opening up in the glass it had more flavor of dark fruits. It had medium carbonation which made it easier to drink because of the medium/heavy body and the syrupy feel to it.

Overall I was very happy with this beer, it was not what I had expected it to be. It wasn't as sweet and syrupy as other high alcohol beers that I've tried. Even though I think this is a good beer, I have to admit that I like the Beast grand cru better. Trying this beer has definitely made me want to go and try more vintage beers.