Agave Maria
The Lost Abbey

Agave MariaAgave Maria
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From:
The Lost Abbey
 
California, United States
Style:
American Strong Ale
Ranked #94
ABV:
13.5%
Score:
89
Ranked #12,024
Avg:
3.97 | pDev: 15.11%
Reviews:
95
Ratings:
610
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 23, 2023
Added:
Mar 26, 2014
Wants:
  68
Gots:
  111
Using a blend of Anejo and Reposado barrels and aged for a minimum of ten months, Agave Maria has hints of black pepper, sweet sugar, oatmeal, and oak with an earthy, bitter smoked chocolate on the finish. The base beer, a new Agave strong ale, was created specifically to pair with the spiciness of the Tequila, adding a sweet honey-like quality to the beer.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by safaricook:
Photo of safaricook
Rated by safaricook from Netherlands

3.77/5  rDev -5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

May 09, 2016
More User Ratings:
Photo of EMV
Reviewed by EMV from Pennsylvania

3.99/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured from a cork'n'cage bottle into a Dogfish Head tulip

L: Murky mahogany brown pour. Thin off-white head... okay ring of lacing. Kind of ugly... muddy looking.

S: Tequila, agave, and a bit of funk.

T.F: Sweet/tart. Definite agave and tequila barrel. Lemon/lime, black pepper, and a bit of salt. Green fruit... oak and vanilla. Medium bodied with low carbonation. Oily on the tongue. More tequila in the finish.

O: An interesting tequila forward barrel-aged brew. Solid flavor and surprisingly drinkable. A solid change of pace brew.
Sep 18, 2021
 
Rated: 4.05 by JakerLou from New Hampshire

Aug 12, 2020
 
Rated: 3.77 by cp45 from New Jersey

Feb 29, 2020
Photo of John_M
Reviewed by John_M from Washington

4.4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
On tap at Arch Bridge today. Listed as the 2016 version of this beer.

The beer pours a fairly dark brown color with good head retention and considerable sticky lacing. On the nose, this is great stuff, provided you like tequila (and I do). There's a huge aroma of pepper, tequila, brown sugar, caramel and light vanilla. The flavor profile replicates the nose pretty closely in this rich, fairly sweet beer, but with something of a smokey quality on the finish. The tequila flavor is petty prominent, which I think works well in this beer. Mouthfeel is full and fairly soft on the palate, with a long finish. Alcohol is very well integrated into the flavor profile, though of course you can tell it's up there a bit.

A very unusual beer that I quite enjoyed. Definitely not for everyone, and you really need to be a fan of tequila, but I found this to be quite excellent. Really like it when a brewer pushes the envelope and tries something a bit different. Very nice offering.
Jan 20, 2020
 
Rated: 3.49 by VashonGuy from Washington

Sep 04, 2019
Photo of brentk56
Reviewed by brentk56 from North Carolina

4.09/5  rDev +3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Appearance: Pours a tawny color with a one finger head; while the foam fades away within a minute the lacing action is pronounced

Smell: Barrel tones prominent, with the Tequila presenting and supplemented by lime and salt and counterpointed by toffee, raisin, green apple and a hint of vanilla

Taste: A bold contrast of flavors, with a distinct sour green apple and lime aspect; in the other direction, there is the toffee, raisin and vanilla all of which is enveloped by the Agave syrup and Tequila barrel; the finish brings all three elements together

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with moderate carbonation; considerable warmth in the gullet

Overall: A fascinating beer and while I respect what has been created I can't say that I particularly enjoyed it
Jun 15, 2019
 
Rated: 3.56 by cmurphy7 from Massachusetts

Jun 09, 2019
Photo of Oh_Dark_Star
Rated by Oh_Dark_Star from Washington

2.56/5  rDev -35.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 1.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 2.25
Doesn't taste sour but I'm assuming mine was bad when purchased.
May 31, 2019
Photo of GuyFawkes
Reviewed by GuyFawkes from Illinois

2/5  rDev -49.6%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Bottled spring 2014; drank 6/25/14 @ the Kid's.

Brown rusty murk.

Minimal off-white head; minimal lace.

Cocaine, glue & tequila nose. Um.....

Thick mouthfeel.

Cocaine, tequila & hints of oak in the flavor.

Unique, to be sure, but this was pretty gross. Yikes!
Feb 14, 2019
Photo of rodbeermunch
Reviewed by rodbeermunch from Nevada

3.67/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Had this at Stone Oakquinox 2014 for the first time. Think I had it at the barrel aged festival since then too. Seen plenty of expensive bottles on shelves too, but its a pass at that price point.

Pours a browny black color, thin flat abbey reminder kind of a head on it, lighter brown in color, 1/8" deep. Aroma was complex, I'll give it that, alternating between agave, wood, chocolate, pepper, brown sugar, roasted dark coffee, it was a lot of tequila kind of feels right away with some stuff beyond that.

Taste was a little sweet agave/tequila feel, less hot and bitter than expected. Had a slight dark fruit quad feel to it. Sludgier feel than need be due to the "intentional" (lol) low carbonation. A little bit of a wood tannin kind of presence. Warming but not hot. I dunno, while I dig on tequila barrel beers, I certainly don't dig on them at this price point. Its a festival beer worth trying, not buying.
Oct 18, 2018
 
Rated: 4.25 by paulish from New York

Aug 27, 2018
Photo of SHODriver
Reviewed by SHODriver from North Carolina

3.5/5  rDev -11.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A: Poured into a snifter to a deep brown beer topped with a minuscule tan head which is only there in the form of a collar around the edge of the glass with minimal lacing.
S: Smells like straight tequila and agave.
T: Taste is a little sharp on the tongue followed by a lot of tequila barrels and agave. Slight tartness as well which is surprising. Mostly just tequila and agave flavors. A little chocolate and spice try to creep in but the tartness is too strong to let them come out. Swallow is a lime like tartness followed by more tequila and agave.
M: This beer is fairly full in body with a slightly sticky mouthfeel. Carbonation is low to the point where the beer almost feels flat. The ABV gives this one a dry finish.
O: Tastes like an accidental Roble Blanco clone. Not undrinkable but I like my beers to taste like beer. Could have unintentionally soured as well. I have one more of these of an unknown vintage so we'll see if it's any better.
Aug 06, 2018
 
Rated: 3.95 by KevBot89 from Pennsylvania

Mar 05, 2018
 
Rated: 4.09 by Nunya from Ohio

Feb 04, 2018
 
Rated: 3.9 by midlifec from Michigan

Jan 31, 2018
 
Rated: 3 by oline73 from Maryland

Jan 14, 2018
 
Rated: 3.84 by JuiceMan818 from California

Dec 30, 2017
Photo of superspak
Reviewed by superspak from North Carolina

4.1/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
16 ounce prowler into snifter, filled on 11/4/2017. Pours hazy very dark brown color with a small dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, honey, tequila, agave, toasted oak, raisin, plum, fig, cherry, and brown bread; with light notes of molasses, chocolate, cocoa, pepper, coconut, almond, smoke, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/bready malt, agave, tequila barrels, and light-moderate fruity yeast notes; with great strength. Taste of huge caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, honey, tequila, agave, toasted oak, raisin, plum, fig, cherry, and brown bread; with light notes of molasses, chocolate, cocoa, pepper, coconut, almond, smoke, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness. Mild herbal/roast bitterness and tequila/oak spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, honey, tequila, agave, toasted oak, dark fruit, brown bread, light molasses/chocolate/smoke, and yeast/oak/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, agave, tequila barrels, and light-moderate fruity yeast flavors; with a nice malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Slightly increasing dryness from bitterness and tequila/oak spiciness. Light-medium carbonation and full body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/silky, and lightly slick/sticky/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is very well hidden; a mildly increasing warmth of 13.5%, with minimal barrel booziness lingering after the finish. Overall this is an awesome barrel aged strong ale! All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, agave, tequila barrels, and light-moderate fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV. Tons of complexity that increases as it warms. Perfectly balanced yeast, malts, and tequila barrel flavors. Very rich, but not overly sweet. A really impressive and enjoyable offering.
Nov 11, 2017
Agave Maria from The Lost Abbey
Beer rating: 89 out of 100 with 610 ratings