Raspberry Truffale
Avery Brewing Company

RB transfer

 

Very good head production; decent retention, given the ABV and barrel aging.

Absolutely no disguising the raspberries on the nose! Additional notes include oak, alcohol, char, chocolate, and bourbon, but the raspberries are clearly the star.

Similar on the palate. It's almost balanced up front ... almost, and for a moment. The raspberries still dominate, albeit pleasantly. The chocolate comes through more on the back half. There's a syrupy, almost cloying sweetness from it all: the raspberries, certainly, but also the malt base, the bourbon mash, and perhaps even the chocolate. Long chocolatey finish. Additional tasting notes include toast, espresso, oak, coconut, cherry.

On the lighter side of full bodied. The effervescent booziness leads to a fairly short wet sip, with the lingering flavors more of a dry, but long, aftertaste. Mild heat, but it does start to grow after only a few sips.

This is really well done, but ultimately a bit too sweet, and you almost have to be a raspberry lover to fully appreciate it.

this is robust and delicious, bottled in 2018 and still drinking really nicely. i am amazed how much fruit is still on it, and how well it comes through such a huge a barrel forward stout, i smell and taste the raspberries as much as any other element, if its all real fruit its a new gold standard for this sort of thing. the pour is wild from the little gold foiled bottle, generously shared by a friend, thick and slick looking deep brown color, lots and lots of sediment, chunky and gloopy towards the bottom, but i swear i have a raspberry seed in my teeth! i dont mind the sediment, its already super thick. aroma of vanilla and sweet whiskey, tons of oak and char, rich chocolate malt and brown sugar sweetness, and tangy ripe raspberry, obvious and natural to a degree that defies logic in this. i love the pop of freshness from the fruit in the taste, it lightens the whole thing, and even though there is a lot of body here, the alcohol part of this is shockingly well hidden, its so smooth and mellow, im sure favored by the extended cellar time, hard to believe its as strong as it is. lots of chocolate character here too, goes beyond the malt, but not bitter like nibs, richer and more desserty, maybe some liquid chocolate addition, not sure how they do it, but the relationship between the dark grain, the chocolate element, the berries, and the bourbon is just tremendous, and this seems rare and fancy and special and high end in my glass, even if its kind of ugly to look at with all the floaties. overall an exceptional beer, what other berry stouts wish they were. i would have loved to try this fresh when it was likely a little cleaner to drink, but i cant complain, this is the bomb! i continue to be amazed by this gold foil series from avery!

03/30/21 bottle @ home

 

 

Poured from a foil-wrapped 12 oz bottle into a Dogfish Head tulip. 2018 bottling

L: Nearly black pour... with no light getting through. 2 fingers of mocha colored head leaves a thin rim of lacing.

S: Jammy raspberry and chocolate. Smells like something you'd want around Valentine's day. Lighter roast and vanilla.

T.F: Sweet and roasty... big time fruit/raspberry and milk chocolate. Vanilla and bourbon are also on display but the choco-raspberry takes center stage. Not cloying... smooth and creamy mouthfeel. Medium bodied. More chocolate and raspberry in the aftertaste.

O: Absolutely delicious.... a big sweet boozy raspberry chocolate stout. Fantastic for a cold-weather dessert. Well worth seeking out.

Black in color with no penetration to light. There’s a fingernail of brown around the rim and covering a third of the top. The aroma is of raspberry and milk chocolate. I’m tasting raspberry, milk chocolate and a splash of bourbon. The mouth is silky smooth, viscous, and a bit boozy.

 

Pours black with a finger of dark caramel foam. Head retention is good. Aroma is thick raspberry and chocolate that drip like a heavy syrup. Roasty and toasty malts mingle with a little mellow bourbon at the back. Flavor profile is more roasty and toasty malt forward than the nose, with raspberry and chocolate singing through the mix. It's dessert like, without being cloyingly sweet. Boozy bourbon hits at the back adding a swell of heat. Mouth feel is thick and full with a chewy graininess. Overall, full and rich and jam packed with raspberry and chocolate. One hearty dessert stout.

Served in a 15.5oz Speigalau tulip from a 12oz bottle.

Avery makes some good high abv barrel aged beers, often with interesting adjuncts, and this is another example. Slight rose edging on a standard looking stout. Nose is a mild barrel over a roasty stout. Chocolate and raspberry don’t have much of a presence. They’re much stronger on the taste, as they actually disguise the boozy barrel well. Feel is medium bodied, definite booze presence in effect more than taste. It’s a smooth sipper that hides its’ good qualities well and then hits you hard with them, like a lot of their beers do. Winner.

 

 

12 ounce bottle into a snifter. Bottled 7/27/18, had 4/9/19.

Pours dark brown and opaque, with a one and a half inch quickly dissipating head and some light foamy lacing. I did not have berry parts in my glass, as others have reported. Aromas of raspberries, chocolate, malt, oak, molasses, char, some tobacco, light vanilla. The flavor also starts with the raspberries, then some bourbon, malt, some vanilla, molasses, some char, light oak, a little caramel. It’s fairly sweet. Smooth, a solid full body, well carbonated.

Weird that the aroma seems much different to me than the flavor. While it’s sweet, it’s not a negative. Overall, there could be more barrel presence, the terrific raspberries are the obvious star. Well worth a purchase if you can still find it.

Pours black with a dark tan head that dissipates quickly, this beer is flush with raspberry, chocolate, and barrel aromas. I am literally salivating.

The raspberry is WAAAAAY forward on the taste, and it’s excellent, but the clincher for me is the chocolate and the creamy mouthfeel. If you look up “decadent” in the dictionary, there’s a picture of this beer. Absolutely love it.

12 oz gold foil bottle, dated 7/27/18
Boiler snifter

Has a dark thick oily pour with a creamy beige head of 1/2 finger. Faint sparse lacing on the sides.

Aroma brings jammy raspberry and slight cocoa notes, with hints of oak and old chocolate.

Flavor leans bright and snappy with bright raspberry syrup - bordering on jam; heavy with malts, some piney hop, bitter coffee, and hot fudge. It does come across a little weird however, and brings some toffee and booze and aftertastes of cabernet.

Feel is thick but not as thick as usual for Avery's BBA program. Very slick, good carbonation and roasted dryness. Moderate warming alcohol and acidity. Finish of acidic coffee and burning booze.

Overall, it may be the 18 month age on this, but this was a little less impressive than the world class rating I expected to give it based on other reviewers. I also had a word-of-mouth recommendation and that guy might not know beer very well, so there's that. Still a decent stout, nothing to shake a finger at, but probably won't return at nearly $15 a bottle.

 

L: Had this beer on-tap at The Answer Brewpub, poured into a taster. Had a jet black color and a thick, opaque consistency. There was a quarter inch of creamy, tan-colored, somewhat long-lasting head. Average lacing.

S: A big and bracing aroma of raspberries, chocolate, bourbon, malt, and wood.

T: Tasted of a bit of malt (present throughout, but a relatively small factor), lots of chocolate (quite sweet), a good shot of raspberries (tart; a big element), and a ton of bourbon (and its accompanying barrel). A big, complex, and powerful flavor. It's not as boozy as it sounds, but rather strikes a good balance with its ingredients. Delicious.

F: An average amount of carbonation with a silky smooth finish. Full-bodied.

O: An extremely well made stout. Drinkable.