Avery Collaboration Not Litigation Review

Name: Avery Collaboration Not Litigation
Style: Belgian Dark Strong Ale
ABV: 8.9%

Even though it's a couple days late (Hey I'm a busy guy), I bring to you the One Year Anniversary review: Avery Collaboration Not Litigation; A Belgian Dark Strong Ale as the end result of a collaboration between Avery Brewing Company and Russian River Brewing Company. It's a beer that I have been wanting to try out for quite a while, mostly due to the fact that Russian River had a hand in making this beer. Plus this is the closest I'll get to having one of their beers until I have the money to visit Russian River or unless someone wants to do a beer trade.

The story behind the name is that each respective brewer mentioned above found out that the other made a beer called Salvation. The two breweries decided that rather than waste their time trying to sue the pants off of each other, they saw this as an opportunity to make a collaboration beer. A nice, feel good story when you consider the fact that a new lawsuit involving two different craft brewers seems to pop up almost everyday.

Originally I was going to try and procure a Game of Thrones beer as there have been several made since I reviewed Iron Throne Blonde Ale for my first review, but I figured this would have to do!

Collaboration pours a dark hazy mahogany color with a thin filmy head. The lacing left behind is rather sparse and visible carbonation is moderate in appearance.

The aroma has consists mainly of some fairly strong Belgian yeast notes, citrus hops, cloves, toffee, caramel malts and a slight bubblegum sweetness. Definitely a stronger focus on the hoppy and malty aspect of the flavors compared to the original Avery Salvation.

The flavor is still very Belgian yeast & clove forward, pretty much like the original but I'm also picking up on some prominent caramel malt notes, bubblegum sweetness and citrus hoppiness. The aftertaste is a mild Belgian yeastiness flavor. Pretty interesting considering the original Salvation had a rather piney hop aftertaste.

The overall palate is pretty heavy with some fairly moderate, fizzy carbonation which helps bring out the flavors just a little bit more.

Even though I love Salvation, I think I love this beer just a little bit more mainly because it's got a much more complex flavor, which at the same time, is very well balanced. Since it is just a seasonal beer, it is very much worth checking out if you happen to stumble upon it!

Avery Collaboration Not Litigation - 9.5/10

Top 10 Beers I would like to try out (Part 2 & New Format)

Continuing on with the Top 10 Beer list from my previous post, it's now time to reveal the second half of my list. I've also changed up the format just to see how it works out so if you absolutely hate it and want it changed back, just let me know. Anyways, onwards with the list!


5) Russian River Pliny The Elder

Any craft beer fan knows that Russian River's Pliny the Elder needs no introduction. Widely regarded as one of the best beers in America multiple times, people will regularly form lines or camp outside the brewery just to get their hands on what many consider to be the Holy Grail of Craft Beer....

So why isn't this higher on my list? Since Pliny the Elder has so much hype regarding how awesome it is, I start to question if it actually does live up to the hype or not. In my past experiences, I've had similar experiences with movies, TV shows and even video games which have had hype surrounding how great it is. When I finally get around to experiencing it, I occasionally will come to the conclusion "Wait, THIS what everyone has been talking?" With that in mind, I would like to try this out one day. Since Russian River's is distributed in places very far away from me and I have no beer loving friends in California, it may be a while before I finally get to try it out.


4) Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

When I lived in Chicago, you could pretty much find Goose Island anywhere they had beer. Now I've had this before at the Goose Island Wrigleyville Brewpub and it was a fantastic beer but I never gave it a proper review and I would love to have some more again. I do know it's distribution is sporadic but it's not impossible to find. I will try to keep my eyes peeled for this in the future; Ya know, for science!


3) Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine

If you know me, I love my Barleywines, and I love my barrel aged beers. Central Waters Brewing offers the best of both worlds with this Barleywine. I think obtaining this will be a bit easier for a couple of reasons. The first is that they are located in neighboring Wisconsin and they distribute here to Minnesota. The second reason is that I've actually seen this on shelves in Minnesota so it's a matter of being at the right place at the right time.



2) Cigar City Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout

A couple years ago, I did a beer trade with a friend of mine who lives in Florida. I sent him some Surly and in exchange he sent me some beers from Cigar City Brewing, which the only major craft brewer in South Florida. When I tried them out, I was blown away with how good it was, especially the Jai Alai IPA & Cubano-Style Espresso Brown Ale. It wasn't until after I looked into Cigar City's lineup that I saw Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout; Knowing how awesome my beers from Cigar City were, I knew I had to try to get my hands on this. Hopefully I can arrange something in the near future but for the time being, it's a no-go.



1) Firestone Walker Double Jack

Firestone Walker has been at the top of my list of breweries to try out ever since I got into craft beer, but they currently do not distribute to the Midwest, they are only distributing West of the Rocky Mountains at this time. If I had access to Firestone Walker, this would be my first beer to try out because I love my Imperial IPAs like no one's business.


I hope you enjoyed reading because I enjoyed sharing this list with you. I have other obligations I must attend to at this time, but look out for a review later tonight!

Cheers!