Tasting Notes: Avery Ale to the Chief!

Brewery: Avery Brewing
Style: Double IPA
ABV: 8.75%
Date Poured: November 2008

It's Election Day and in honor of the spirit of democracy, we'll crack open a bottle of Avery's Ale to the Chief! What is Ale to the Chief! ? It's described as a "Presidential" (in lieu of "Imperial") Pale Ale brewed to celebrate Inauguration Day...January 20th, 2009.

The bottle reads as follows:

We the Brewers of Avery Brewing Company, in order to form a more perfect ale, require new leadership that can liberate us from our quagmires in foreign lands; embrace environmentally sound energy alternatives to imported oil; heal our ailing health care system; free us from tyrannical debt and resurrect the collapsing dollar. We hereby pledge to provide him with an ample amount of our Presidential Pale Ale to support in the struggle for the aforementioned goals! Hail to the New Chief!

Obviously, the brewers at Avery are not fans of President George W. Bush! On to the beer!

Pours a lovely clear mahogany with a thin but lingering khaki head. Big citrusy hops in the nose and rich caramel malt.

Citrusy hops in the mouth, herbal hops too. Grapefruit and tangerine from the hops but very malty too. Lots of rich caramel malt with just a hint of fruitiness. Well balanced but clearlymore malt forward overall. Thick, sticky finish, blurring the lines between "Presidential" IPA and a hoppy barleywine. Big full body. Very tasty ale and very smooth. The nearly 9% ABV sneaks up on you so be careful. It hit me with quite a buzz by the time I finished the bomber!

Good "Presidential" Pale Ale. Pick one up to celebrate your civic duty. And if you are reading this from the US today, go out and vote!


Avery Brewing Company

25 Beers of Christmas, Day 11: Avery Old Jubilation 2007

I was knocked over by a two-year old version of Old Jubilation early in this little project which astonished me given that I wasn't that crazy about it when I had it fresh. Was this due to changing perceptions or was it really a beer that improves greatly with age? I decided to find out with a fresh sample.

Most of the initial impressions are the same. "Pours a nearly opaque reddish brown with a wispy thin tan head. No real lacing to speak of. Smells very malty. Sweet with some sweet spiciness some alcohol in the nose." These are all still valid observations.

The taste is another matter. While the hops are still present, the fruity malt with all it's blackcurrant and raisin has the upper hand on those hops. The earthy hops are still quite present but they do not shine like they did in the aged version. This seems counter intuitive as hops usually are one of the first things to fade when you age beer. There is a bit more alcohol evident in the flavor so maybe the hops come out when that fades. Or maybe the oxidation cancels out some other malt flavors and the hops win out again. Whatever the reason, this beer does improve with the age on the bottles. It's still quite good but the two-year old sample was better. Good to know...

25 Beers of Christmas, Day 2: Avery Old Jubilation 2005

In my neverending cellaring experiments, I put down a couple bottles of Avery's Old Jubilation in December of 2005. This was not too difficult as I was underwhelmed with this beer upon my original sampling. This big ale clocks in at 8% ABV and, according to the Avery website, is a blend of 5 specialty malts. It also says, "Cellarable for two years". Perfect!

Pours a nearly opaque reddish brown with a wispy thin tan head. No real lacing to speak of. Smells very malty. Sweet with some sweet spiciness some alcohol in the nose

The hops in this are crazy. Even with the age on this beer, even with the big malt profile, these earthy bitter hops still come through. I imagine this hop is the source of the sweet spice I smelled. Underneath that, there's a sweet fruity malt, lots of dark fruit flavors, blackcurrant and maybe a little raisin too. Again, lots of hops in the aftertaste. The bitterness lingers on the cheeks and gums.

Wow. I was not real impressed with this beer when I had it fresh but it's outstanding now. Is that the aging or simply a different point of view two years later? I don't know but I'm sure a fresh sample will help solve that dilema.

Avery Brewing Company