What's up with flavorless Avery Stouts?

In my opinion Avery has dumbed down there beer since San Miguel became majority owner. I've been told most of the more creative minds that worked there have moved on. I was never impressed with night warden and Imperialis is the worst in the whole gold foil series.

 

I think Night Warden is complete trash. Like someone poured 1/2 shot of Rebel Yell in a chain brewpub generic stout. The vanilla bean seems to have a similar base, but it tastes vaguely of vanilla extract instead of booze. That's after having some of the best stouts (big and small) for years. Sadly, the Rev is similarly different. Almost all of the yeast character is muted so it's just hot and not much else.
I will say this, though. The Out of Bounds resurrection cans that were in mixed packs actually tasted a lot like it used to...so it's possible they can still make good stuff over there.

 

While corporate acquisitions might not affect some breweries (I think many places are doing fine), Avery has changed dramatically. It might be related to an exodus of talent or it might be corporate orders, but many of their beers just aren't as good as they once were. I think they're trying to go all-in on the White Rascal variants + various new IPA's. Those are fine. Stouts and big beers (which used to be their M.O.) not so much...

I think Ten Fidy is still around and tasting fine. I was at the Tasty Weasel (or whatever they call it now), and had a little bit maybe 6-8 weeks ago. They had the normal one in cans and I think they had a variant or two as well. I dunno, I mainly like the normal version, so I might be imagining those other cans. I definitely remember seeing several of their BA series, though. Those tend to be less robust.

For what it's worth, a lot of people that dig more "traditional" BA/big stouts have been into River North's stuff. They don't go all-in with the weird adjuncts and candy flavors, but are more straight ahead with their approach.

 

selective Covid

 

I was at the Boulder brewery May 2021 and the stouts tasted good at that time. Not sure if it was newer stuff though. Cool spot for sure.

 

Not your fault. My post looked a bit ambiguous. I meant it with humor, but let me put it this way - you can say the seriousness of my post matches the seriousness of yours.

In other words, if the double-digit-ABV bourbon-barrel aged vanilla stout you are drinking actually "tastes like nothing. Like water. [...] no flavor whatsoever," then the cause of this reaction can't just be due to the beer.

 

I'd love to know how many and what beers Avery is contract brewing these days. They definitely are/were brewing for Prost and Founders.

 

@Beersnake1 How much do you miss them? A lot? Oodles? I found a honey hole.

 

To clarify: Honey hole of 2016 Tweaks.

 

Ok. I was going to offer up something, but as long as you have access.

 

I think Avery still has a lot of gold label stock from 4-6 years ago. I've noticed stores mysteriously having stock that wasn't there previously and I know they have cellar sales at the brewery. Some of those beers (UJ comes to mind) are still pretty good and Rumpkin is probably better now than it was fresh. Can't say I'm a fan of old Tweak, though. Coffee and aging don't jive for my tastes. With their change in direction and priorities, I guess I should probably give up my dream of the original Tweak/Meph Addict ever returning. I'd still probably put that one in my "All time CO top 5" list.

 

Allegedly you could predict upcoming covid waves based on the number of Yankee Candle amazon reviews that were one star based on "no smell". I'm not suggesting that another covid wave is nearly upon us, but you may want to mask up before walking into the bottle shop. /sarcasm

 

IMHO, Rumpkin is definitely better with a year or so on it.

 

No doubt. I haven't had one in a while, but that stuff was like drinking pumpkin-flavored rocket fuel when fresh. Time mellowed out the rough edges and a year or two didn't seem to bring out any port/blood/rust/dust/etc. flavors that I despise. Not sure I ever liked the stuff (and I dig pumpkin beers), but it did get better. Although at this point I think the last batch was released in 2017. 5 years doesn't do (m)any beers any favors.