This past weekend, I drank the booziest beer I’ve ever drank. Imperial stouts are my favorite, so I’m definitely into boozy beers, but when I saw this bottle I was intimidated. 17.8% ABV. Bottled in 2014 and cellared for three years. A formidable mammoth. A challenge. I picked up a bottle to try.

In that bottle was Tweak, a bourbon-barrel aged coffee stout from Avery Brewing in Boulder, CO. It’s part of their annual barrel series, which this year includes Tweak, Uncle Jacob’s stout, a bourbon-barrel aged stout, and Rumpkin, a rum-barrel aged pumpkin beer. (Remind me to pick one of those up come August.)

I was first introduced to Avery when my mom brought home some beers after visiting the brewery on vacation in Boulder. The Out of Bounds stout was solid. Since then, I’ve had their White Rascal belgian-style white ale and their Ellie’s brown ale. I very much appreciate the variety of styles they can and bottle. They do a gose, IPAs, double IPAs, a red IPA, a pils, a quad, a porter, sours, stouts, an ale with chai tea added! It’s an impressive lineup that I’m excited to explore more of.

So the time came to try the beer. I braced myself, ready to be smacked in the face with some boozy motor oil. I took a sip, and smacked I was. But! I was surprised by the smoothness. And then! The dark chocolate finish. So rich, so chocolate-y. It was great. It’s definitely a sipper, though. And I’d say split it with a friend, but if boozy, coffee stouts are your thing, treat yo’self to Tweak by Avery.