Near-religious experience

Can I get an "Amen"?

Avery Brewing Company offers a near-religious experience

James "Doctor Fermento" Roberts for the Anchorage Press

Although wine is the choice of the anointed, it doesn't take divine intervention to convince me that beer can be of biblical proportion, not only in character and strength, but in the spiritual attachment many people hold to the "elixir of the Gods."

Available now in Anchorage is the "Holy Trinity," a line of beers by Avery Brewing Company of Boulder, Colorado. The brewery's been around since 1993, when they started with three beers. Last year, the family-run brewery produced four thousand barrels of eleven brews. The Trinity is comprised of The Reverend, Hog Heaven Barleywine and the lightest of the bunch, Salvation.

Salvation is a Belgian strong golden ale, and despite its very light golden-orange color, it passes strong judgment at nine percent alcohol. It pours slightly hazy from the twenty-two- ounce bottle and produces a tight, slightly off-white head that leaves a delicate lace along the inside of the glass as the beer's consumed. Belgian candy sugar is used here and it's evident right up front, followed by some hints of orange and peach flavors. The malt backs everything up and the hops get aggressive toward the middle and end of the beer, but not unpleasantly. For fans of Belgian strong golden ales, the yeast character in this one is subtler than might be expected, but it's no defect as far as I'm concerned. Salvation is moderately carbonated, and sinfully easy to drink. If you're not used to the style, think of it as a slightly spicy pilsner on steroids. You'll want more.

The Reverend was named after the brewery's sales manager's grandfather who was actually ordained in the Episcopal faith. The Reverend contains ten percent alcohol, and where Salvation uses light Belgian candy sugar, The Reverend uses copious amounts of dark candy sugar. By style, it's a rare Belgian quadruple ale, and the imported Belgian specialty malts used in its production are too numerous to mention. The beer pours bronze and clear with a thick, dense head. The drinker is rewarded with a nice hop rush in the nose and a swirling sweetness and clove essence that hints at the beer's overall Belgian character and big-beer complexity. At the sip, it starts out sweet, then the hops take over, providing a bitterness and flavor throughout the beer, but not enough to interfere with the substantial malt base and the pleasant hints of dark cherries, currants and molasses, which emerge toward the end of the swallow. The beer is almost cloyingly thick, but sufficient carbonation seems to cut through it to make it drinkable.

Hog Heaven is the mid-strength beer in the trinity, if quibbling over half a percentage point is important in such a big-bodied brew. The 9.2 percent alcohol is firmly mitigated by the use of two and a half pounds of Columbus hops per barrel. Needless to say, when the beer is cracked open, a big, floral hop rush attacks the nose and stuns the senses. Pine, sweet fruit and even grapefruit waft off the top, and when I first went to drink it, the back of my tongue constricted with anticipation of the big hop bomb to follow. Just for comparison, Midnight Sun Brewing Company's Sockeye Red tips the scales at seventy international bittering units (IBUs) of hops. Hog Heaven has one hundred IBUs. It pours deep copper with a moderate head that sticks around through most of the pint life of the beer. By design, the malt body is fierce, but it's just about entirely swallowed by the hops. As a barleywine, it's almost a style transgression, but it's so tasty, it's entirely forgivable.

If you're too pure to dabble in the holy waters of the trinity, Avery Brewing offers other delicious treats. Fitting for the season is their Old Jubilation, which is an English strong ale by style. It's copper in color also, but sports a dark tan head. It's strong, and the alcohol is evident, along with the bite of some of the aggressive malts used in its production. The hops hint of pine and spruce and add to the overall warm and woodsy effect of the beer. Avery's IPA (India Pale Ale) will please the most discriminating of hop heads and complements the other hoppy beers in the lineup nicely. It's not as hot with only six percent alcohol, but the hop aroma, flavor and bitterness are nothing short of intense. Grapefruit essence and even a lemony twang accent the hop flavor and nose. The beer remains balanced though, so it's easy to drink.

The lightest in alcohol and darkest in color is Avery's Out of Bounds Stout. It's 5.1 percent alcohol, so it's pretty tame comparatively. It pours almost black, with brown hints emerging when held to the light. The head is brown and thick and sticks around a while. Look for chocolate, malt and roasted effects in the nose. The brewer doses the beer with plenty of roasted barley and significant hops for balance. The beer has a medium body and finishes slightly bitter, which is appropriate within the style.

The Avery beers first showed up at Yukon Spirits in the University Mall, but should be in most of the better liquor stores around town by the end of the week. As soon as it's delivered, you can enjoy the Holy Trinity and other Avery beers on tap at Humpy's. Count your blessings that this beer made it to town and pray that our distribution system gets some within your reach soon. I must confess that it's addicting.

December 12 - 18, 2002 / Vol. 11, Ed. 50