Over the past 15 years, Avery Brewing Company has practically written the book on brewery-run niche festivals. Dating back to their original location in the humble alley of Arapahoe Ave, and now spanning three bar stations and an outdoor tent lineup in their two year old $30 million facility in Gunbarrel, Avery has mastered the art of attracting rare beers from top tier breweries, as well as showcasing their own oft unseen or hard to acquire wonders at such events.

This Saturday’s 2017 Boulder Strong Ale Fest marks the 15th anniversary of Avery’s historically high octane approach to brewing big beers. The event features gems ringing in at 8% or higher, including 24 Avery originals capped off by special barrel tappings at 1pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm and over 100 monster beers in total from national and local breweries.

The $55 festival ticket includes sixteen 3-ounce beer samples from a commemorative 16 oz glass with proceeds benefiting local non-profit GOALS – Get Outside & Learn Something. The 15th annual Avery Strong Ale Fest is now sold out, however you might be able to find some tickets lingering in the secondary market.

This year’s lineup includes some titanic names like Firestone Walker’s Fortem Leo vs Ursus, which is the newly debuted Imperial IPA, Epic Brewing’s Big Bad Baptista, Wicked Weed’s Bourbon Barrel-Aged El Paraiso Coffee Stout, The Bruery’s Melange #3, The Lost Abbey’s Cuvee De Tomme, Stone’s Xocoveza Mocha Stout and New Holland’s Dragon’s Milk Reserve Triple Mashed Bourbon Barrel Stout.

We’d also recommend several rising stars such as Call to Arms’ Amigos Especiales Con Beneficios, 4 Noses Barrel-Aged Insignia, Bootstrap’s Wreck Havoc, City Star’s French Toast Widow Maker, Powder Keg’s Coconut Telegraph Imperial Stout, Ratio’s Continuous Thunder Double IPA Dry Hopped w/ Mosaic and Simcoe, Verboten’s Maple Raisin Cookie Porter, Wiley Roots’ Imperial Something Came in the Mail series (all of it), and while we don’t exactly know what’s coming from WeldWerks just yet, we’re guessing it’ll involve variants of their Medianoche series or their Barrel-Aged Mexican Archomatic, all of which are can’t miss.

But we’re probably most excited to try Avery’s all-star cast including Charizard, the every beautiful Dui Cochi Bourbon Barrel-Aged Coconut Stout, Ian Mckellen and Patrick Stewart, Bananas for Scale, an Imperial Stout’s take on banana’s foster, and Chupacabra a hit from last year’s fest, just to name a few.

We were lucky enough to get a sneak preview of the amazing beers which will available at that event. Keep in mind all beers and breweries are subject to change.

Brewery	Beer Name/Description
Avery Brewing Co.	Charizard- A 50/50 blend of porter and stout ales aged for 4 months in Scotch barrels – A 50/50 blend of porter and stout ales aged for 4 months in Scotch barrels 10.2% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Burning Preist- Scotch barrel-aged Belgian-style Quad 10% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Callipygian- Stout aged in Bourbon barrels with coffee, cocoa, cocoa nibs, and vanilla beans 17.4% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Dui Cochi- Bourbon barrel-aged Coconut Porter with pumpkin and spices added. 18.6% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Pump(KY)n- Bourbon Barrel aged Pumpkin Porter 18.8% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Vanilla Bean Stout- Bourbon Barrel aged stout with vanilla beans added 10.8% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Ian Mckellen- Sauvignon Blanc grape hybrid with Lemon, Lime, Pink Grapefruit, Oroblanco, Blood Orange, Cumquat, and Honeydew Melon 12.9% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Thalia – A beer grape hybrid with Sauvignon Blanc must 12.9% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Chardonnay Tripel – Belgian-Style ale aged in Chateau Montelena Chardonnay barrels 9.3% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Patrick Stewart- Malbec grape hybrid with Blackberry, Nectarine, Blood Orange, Gala Apples, Granny Smith Apples, and Blueberries. 12.5% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Bug Zapper- Rum barrel aged sour ale with Mint, Lime, and fresh pressed Ginger Juice 9.9% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Bananas for Scale – Our take on a banana foster. An imperial stout with brown sugar, allspice, nutmeg, bananas, orange zest 14.6% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Double Dry-Hopped Maharaja – Our imperial IPA double-dry-hopped with Ella and Lemondrop hops, 3 pounds of hops per barrel 10% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	C to the 4th- Imperial Porter with notes of chocolate covered cherries and vanilla 9.5% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Erato – A beer/grape hybrid using Malbec must 12.5% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	The Nuttiest Professor- Bourbon barrel aged imperial stout with Peanut Butter and Chocolate 15.06% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Coconut Porter – Porter infused with coconut aged in Bourbon barrels 9.5% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	First Lady of Song – Double IPA infused The Tea Spot’s Boulder Blues, a green tea with mallow flowers, corn flowers, strawberry, and rhubarb 8% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Chupacabra – Imperial Stout with cocao nibs and habaneros 14.6% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	The Kaiser – We took all that is good in a traditional Oktoberfest – gorgeous, deep copper sheen, massive malty backbone and spicy, floral, pungent noble hops – then intensified each into this, an Imperial Oktoberfest 9.3% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Rumpkin – **special barrel tapping** Monstrous pumpkin ale full of spicy gourdiness, aged in fresh rum barrels 17.5% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Tangerine Quad – **special barrel tapping** Quadrupel ale aged in Bourbon barrels with tangerine peel added 10.1% ABV
Avery Brewing Co.	Uncle Jacob’s Stout – **special barrel tapping** robust, silky smooth, full-bodied and altogether extremely American rendition of an Imperial Stout aged for 6 months in the very finest Bourbon barrels 14.9%
Avery Brewing Co.	Tweak – **special barrel tapping** Imperial Stout with Ozo’s organic espresso Isabelle roast and aged in fresh Bourbon barrels for 4 months 15.5% ABV
4 Noses Brewing	.44 Magnum Double IPA
4 Noses Brewing	Barrel Aged Insignia
4 Noses Brewing	20 Month Barrel Aged Barleywine
Asher Brewing Company	Greenade Double IPA
Atom Brewing Co.	Stillness
Ballast Point	Manta Ray
Ballast Point	Barrel Aged Victory at Sea
Bootstrap Brewing	Wreak Havoc
Boulevard Brewing Co.	Collaboration No. 6: Barrel Aged Blend (Firestone Walker)
Brewery Ommegang	Game of Thrones: Valar Dohaeris – Belgian Tripel
Call to Arms Brewing Co.	Amigos Especiales Con Beneficios
Call to Arms Brewing Co.	Bell’s Belgian Quadriceps
City Star Brewing	French Roast Widow Maker
City Star Brewing	Aces and Eights
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project	Motif
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project	Serenatta Notturna
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project	Nightmare on Brett
DESTIHL Brewery	Bourbon Barrel Aged Antiquity Rye Wine
DESTIHL Brewery	Privyet Russian Imperial Stout
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery	Olde School Barleywine
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery	Burton Baton
Dry Dock Brewing Co.	Grapfruit Double IPA
Epic Brewing	Epic Imperial IPA – Tropical
Epic Brewing	Big Bad Baptista
Finkel & Garf Brewing Co.	Imperial Red
Firestone Walker Brewing Company	Fortem
Firestone Walker Brewing Company	Stickee Monkee
Gravity Brewing	Tsar Bomba – Russian Imperial Stout
Gravity Brewing	Acceleration – Double IPA
Gravity Brewing	Kepler-16b Barrel-Aged Sour
Grimm Brothers Brew house	Black Bull
Grimm Brothers Brew house	13th Door
Great Divide Brewing Co.	Barrel Aged Old Ruffian Barley Wine
Horse & Dragon Brewing Company	Agitated Aardvark Imperial IPA
Horse & Dragon Brewing Company	Scottish Tradesman Coconut Porter
La Cumbre Brewing Co.	Siberian Silk
La Cumbre Brewing Co.	Ryeot on Rye
Left Hand Brewing Co.	St. Vrain Tripel
Left Hand Brewing Co.	Caribbean Queen
Left Hand Brewing Co.	Bittersweet
Melvin Brewing	2×4
Melvin Brewing	Citradamus
New Holland Brewing Co.	Dragon’s Milk Reserve with Vanilla Chai
New Holland Brewing Co.	Dragon’s Milk Reserve Triple Mashed Bourbon Barrel Stout
New Holland Brewing Co.	Black Tulip
Odd13 Brewing	St. Nicole – Maple variant
Odell Brewing Company	Odell Brandy Brown
Powder Keg Brewing Company	Coconut Telegraph
Powder Keg Brewing Company	Quartet
Ratio Beerworks	2014 Genius Wizard
Ratio Beerworks	One Great City!
Ratio Beerworks	Continuous Thunder Double IPA
Renegade Brewing	E3 Endpoint
Renegade Brewing	Berbere
Renegade Brewing	Barrel Aged Bedwetter
Stone Brewing	STONE XOCOVEZA MOCHA STOUT
Stone Brewing	STONE / ODELL / MARBLE – MEGAWHEAT DOUBLE IPA
Strange Craft Beer Company	1000 Barrels Imperial IPA
Strange Craft Beer Company	Russian Imperial Stout
Strange Craft Beer Company	Strange Farmhouse
Telluride Brewing Company	Fishwater Project
Telluride Brewing Company	Freaky CAB
Telluride Brewing Company	Fishwater DIPA
The Bruery	Melange #3
The Grateful Gnome & Goldspot Brewing	Sweet Romance
The Lost Abbey	Track #8
The Lost Abbey	Cuvee de Tomme
The Lost Abbey	Deliverance
Upslope Brewing Company	Lee Hill Series Volume 11: Tequila Barrel Aged Barleywine
Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project	Coffee Cinnamon Mountain Man
Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project	Maple Raisin Cookie Porter
WeldWerks Brewing Co.	Single Barrel Medianoche (14.4% ABV): This special single barrel version of Medianoche was emptied from the best barrel of the 2017 batch, hand selected by our Head Brewer for its incredibly rich mouthfeel and complex barrel character.
WeldWerks Brewing Co.	Barrel Aged Mexican Achromatic (13.2% ABV): Imperial Stout brewed with cinnamon sticks, cacao nibs, and vanilla beans, aged in Breckenridge Bourbon barrels.
WeldWerks Brewing Co.	Coffee Coconut Stout (8% ABV): Imperial Milk/Sweet Stout brewed with lactose, oats, coffee and coconut.
Wicked Weed Brewing	Recurrant
Wicked Weed Brewing	Oblivion
Wicked Weed Brewing	Bourbon Barrel Aged El Paraiso
Wild Woods Brewery	Bourbon Barrel Black Smoke Imperial Stout
Wild Woods Brewery	Class 4 Summit Imperial IPA
Wild Woods Brewery	Belgian Quad aged on Dates
Wiley Roots Brewing Company	Coffee Imperial Somethin’ Came in the Mail for You Today
Wiley Roots Brewing Company	Cinnamon Imperial Somethin’ Came For You In The Mail
Wiley Roots Brewing Company	Barrel Aged Imperial Somethin’
Wiley Roots Brewing Company	Catacombs #5: Dichotomous Beans
Wiley Roots Brewing Company	Eh? Royale
WIley Roots Brewing Company	Coconut Imperial Somethin’ Came For You In The Mail

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