Insula Multos Collibus
Avery Brewing Company

Insula Multos CollibusInsula Multos Collibus
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From:
Avery Brewing Company
 
Colorado, United States
Style:
Wild Ale
ABV:
9.7%
Score:
93
Avg:
4.2 | pDev: 6.9%
Reviews:
62
Ratings:
338
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Aug 19, 2023
Added:
Apr 24, 2015
Wants:
  16
Gots:
  84
"A zymurgical ode to one of the classic - and one of our favorite - cocktails. Fancy a guess?"

We used our house Brett (Drie) for secondary fermentation and our house pediococcus and lactobacillus for souring to produce the cleanest sour beer we could to give the barrels center stage! The result was a dark red, strong sour beer that we aged in fresh Bourbon barrels for 9 months and fermented with cherries.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Lucnifter:
Photo of Lucnifter
Rated by Lucnifter from California

4.34/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Jan 07, 2018
More User Ratings:
Photo of Treyliff
Reviewed by Treyliff from West Virginia

4.24/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
12oz bottle poured into a snifter
2015 Bottle

Pours ruby in color with a one-finger foamy off-white head. Smells of cherries, oak, brown sugar and some funky brett. Flavor is clean and fruity with just a hint of tartness on the finish. Cherries, vanilla, caramel & brown sugar. Oak on the finish with more cherry and light citrusy acidic linger. Medium body with moderate carbonation, foamy mouthfeel and finish
Aug 19, 2023
 
Rated: 4.33 by j37geogaddi from Massachusetts

Nov 15, 2020
Photo of bluejacket74
Reviewed by bluejacket74 from Ohio

4.18/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
12 ounce bottle, bottled APR 16 2015. Served in a chalice, the beer pours a slightly hazy reddish/brown color with about an inch light tan head. Head retention is good and there's a decent amount of lacing. I like the aroma, the brew smells like cherries, caramel, vanilla, bourbon and candied oranges. I think the taste is similar to the aroma, with cherry, bourbon, vanilla, caramel, bready malt and oaky flavors. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's slick and smooth with a good amount of carbonation. I liked this, but I do wonder if this would have been better fresher or not. Oh well, it's still worth trying if you have a bottle!
Apr 14, 2020
 
Rated: 4.89 by ThaJokerWild from Ohio

Oct 12, 2019
 
Rated: 4.25 by Griffith from Connecticut

Apr 24, 2019
Photo of SHODriver
Reviewed by SHODriver from North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
A: Poured into a tulip to a deep brown with a slight reddish hue which is topped by a finger of dense light tan head which fades quickly to a collar around the edge of the glass with minimal lacing.
S: Smells of nice sour cherries with a hint of vanilla, oak and caramel from the bourbon barrels. Really nice nose.
T: Taste is nice sourness and cherries up front with some really strong vanilla undertones. Caramel and oak come in as well along with some slight toasted malts. Decent cherry remains as well. On the swallow the beer has more vanilla and cherry with some more sourness and lingering dry oak.
M: This beer has a body that is on the heavier side of medium. Carbonation is somewhat effervescent while the adicidt ensures that the beer has a drying finish.
O: Overall this is a delicious beer. It has some nice flavors and complexity along with being very well executed. The sourness isn't over the top which leads to this beer being a really nice drink. This is definitely worth trying if they decide to make it again.
Oct 29, 2018
 
Rated: 4.23 by deereless from Colorado

Nov 11, 2017
 
Rated: 4.18 by BKotch from Texas

Sep 21, 2017
Photo of BeerDawgs
Reviewed by BeerDawgs from Georgia

4.39/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
A 12oz bottle with a bottled on date of 4.16.15. 1308 cases produced

L - Cherry red, burnt orange and brown. Murky, with 1 finger of head and some pretty brown lacing left on top of the brew. Gorgeous beer

S - Cherries dominate, slightly tart, subtle bourbon sweetness

T - Dried fruit and cherries, tart, and bourbon. Delicious

F - Full body and medium carbonation. Oily slick.

O - Well done - awesome brew.
May 19, 2017
 
Rated: 4.23 by dsshuck from Delaware

Apr 20, 2017
 
Rated: 4.17 by cd34 from Illinois

Apr 03, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by jschott75 from Illinois

Mar 24, 2017
 
Rated: 3.78 by 22Blue from Kansas

Mar 06, 2017
Photo of Jugs_McGhee
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Colorado

3.26/5  rDev -22.4%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3
BOTTLE: Bottled April 16, 2015. 12 fl oz format. Gold foil covers the pry-off crown cap. Label is classic Avery, depicting a barrel for obvious reasons.

"Ale aged in bourbon barrels with cherries added." "Barrel aged sour ale." "A zymurgical ode to one of the classic - and one of our favorite - cocktails." 9.7% ABV.

Served chilled into an Avery snifter and allowed to come to temperature over the course of consumption.

HEAD: Fizzy, receding fully within 1 minute flat. Off-white with no robust creaminess or thickness to its consistency. Not thin or weak, but definitely wanting in terms of froth. Leaves no lacing on the sides of the glass as it recedes.

BODY: Pale red. Murky but not hazy or cloudy. Nontransparent. Translucent. I see no yeast/lees within. Not a clean looking brew, but it's appropriately coloured for a cherry sour.

Appears aptly carbonated.

AROMA: Lovely bacterial presence, hitting not only lactobacillus but also pediococcus. Not as tart as I imagined a cherry sour/kriek would be, but the cherry is definitely there, and seems genuine rather than medicinally artificial. Vanilla (vanillin) from the bourbon barrel plays well with the cherry, and there's a faint undertone of white oak but no bourbony heat. Brettanomyces inject some mild funkiness to this sour ale, but the focus stays rightly on the bacteria. I imagine all the brettanomyces used were bruxellensis; I can't see lambicus hurting. Some acetic cherry pie notes are present, nodding towards Flanders Reds without committing fully.

Malt backbone is tough to pin down, but I imagine it's all Belgian with 2-row, pale, and maybe a bit of amber.

A damn appealing aroma of moderate strength, suggesting a tasty but balanced sour ale with a ~5-6/10 intensity of sourness.

To style, there are no overt hoppy notes. Not big on either esters or phenols. It somehow manages to disguise its 9.70% ABV - which is monstrously high for a kriek.

TASTE & TEXTURE: Aptly medium-bodied, with appropriately moderate thickness and heft on the palate. Prickly carbonation gives it a champagne-like feel. Slightly dry, which helps coax out the oak and cherry flavours. Smooth and approachable, with no booziness at all but some welcome warmth.

Bacteria is the star of the show in this build, with pediococcus and lactobacillus providing loads of intangible intricacy in addition to the funkiness from the mild brettanomyces (bruxellensis) presence and the added nuances of the microflora. Aging in (used) oak was the right move; this is a far more lively brew than I imagine it could have been if aged in stainless steel, and its white oak undertone unites the beer, lending natural cohesion.

I do get some bourbon warmth on the finish, but other than that it drinks more like an oak aged ale than a bourbon barrel beer, with the notes of oak and subtle barrel vanillin obvious but no overt bourbon flavours like toasted coconut emerging.

The cherry presence is a bit muddy; there's no tart acidity to the cherry presence and it's not bursting with the flavour; adding cherries earlier in the fermentation process might help them feel better integrated, and more cherries with more tartness would be a good call. What does work well is the cherry pie flavour of the beer, which as noted above does nod towards Flanders Reds. I guess it tastes more like dry cherry skin than actual ripe cherries.

Sourness is maybe a 5-6/10 in terms of intensity. Hardly puckering. More of a smacky acidity and twang would help the bacteria present their sour flavours better.

It's a bit leathery in feel, which is increasingly bothersome the more I drink it, lessening its drinkability especially when combined with that parching dryness.

OVERALL: The balance isn't quite dialed in, the bourbon barrel isn't all that present, the cherry flavour is mediocre, and the mouthfeel drags a bit. But there's some nice bacterial flavour here, and it's a far more competent sour than many breweries are capable of making. I hoped for great things given how much I usually adore Avery's sours, and while this isn't a bad execution of the premise by any means, it's definitely a disappointing one given the brewery behind it. Drinkable for its (unnecessary) high ABV, but not a beer I'd buy again - especially not at this price.

Low B- (3.26) / WORTHY
Feb 18, 2017
 
Rated: 4.14 by Gkruszewski from New York

Jan 08, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by Kurmaraja from California

Jan 02, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by Iamjeff6 from Virginia

Dec 28, 2016
Photo of TheHonestDrinker
Reviewed by TheHonestDrinker from Texas

4/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Lots of things going on. Confusing. Kind of like when your wife asks you to participate in group sex with another couple......there's so much stimulation on the palette.....and the next thing you know there's a man part in your poop chute. Not cool.
Dec 24, 2016
Photo of Sabtos
Reviewed by Sabtos from Ohio

4.07/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Dark ruby with a loud, large, fizzy off-white head that settles to blanket and can be revived throughout.

Smell is spiced bourbon and charred oak with cherry gummies and a little red grape.

Taste is pretty tart but nice with round cherry and a slight acidic sting, finishing with red grape and a little olive brine. It gets much more sour, nearing acetic, as it warms. I'm happy you can barely tell this has bourbon barrel on it, as I'm not a fan of the old fashioned.

Pretty dry in the end.
Dec 11, 2016
Insula Multos Collibus from Avery Brewing Company
Beer rating: 93 out of 100 with 338 ratings