About a year ago at a herf with the local crew, somebody brought a case of Avery Brewing Co's Mephistopheles' Stout over, and good times were had. It absolutely blew my mind that such a high ABV beer could be so smooth. Anyway, I learned that it was part of a three beer set called the Demons of Ale. I started the hunt for the other two, Samael's Oak-Aged Ale and The Beast Grand Cru Ale. I finally found them a couple weeks back and decided to do a review series with them. You can read them here:

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Avery Brewing Co's Demons of Ale part 1 - Samael's Oak Aged Ale

Avery Brewing Co's Demons of Ale part 2 - The Beast Grand Cru Ale

Avery Brewing Co's Demons of Ale part 3 - Mephistopheles' Stout

If you don't want to read through all three reviews, to summarize: the first two I enjoyed, but they were quite sweet. The oak aging of Samael's helped cut it a little, but The Beast was very sweet. I'd classify them as sipping beers for sure. The Mephistopheles is my favorite out of the bunch. Lucky for you all, they just recently released the 2011 batch. Find it while you can! It's a limited production each year.

So have any of you tried any of these yet? I'd really like to get my hands on a few of each to cellar them for a little while, but at $8.99 for a 12oz bottle they're pretty pricey!
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I did not like The Beast at all. I've had 2 of them and neither did it for me. The Mephistopheles is great though. Haven't had the Samaels yet.

The Mephistopheles is probably Avery's best brew. Even better if you can sit on them for a few years.

Sucks that these are so expensive though.
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For those who dig a good Imperial Russian Stout, Avery's "Czar" is a winner too. :-)
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Yeah, out of all three I'd say the Beast was my least favorite. I enjoyed it, but it was very sweet.

I've got a bottle in my fridge, I do enjoy that one as well :-)
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Agreed, I've drank a few those as well :-)
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Avery is one of my favorite craft breweries, they make great stuff. In this line, it looks like my tastes run a little different than y'all's: I'd rank Mephistopheles last, it was too "hot" and astringent. I liked Samael's the best, but also thought that the Beast was a tasty Belgian dark strong ale. More like an Imperial Belgian strong ale, I guess.
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