Collaborative efforts in most markets usually leave me feeling disappointed. Case in point, Carlos Santana’s Supernatural made me want to burst my own eardrums. I typically assume that such collaborations are put together merely for sales boosts (or an Angel told you to collaborate) and thus with little heart in the matter, the result falters. But in the beer world, collaboration is done out of mutual respect, love for the craft, and a desire to create a unique product. So it is with Avery’s Collaboration Not Litigation Ale.
It occurred to brewers Avery and Russian River Brewing that each had created a beer named Salvation. Instead of hauling each other into court to battle over trademark rights, the brewers decided to create a brew from the blending of both recipes. Here is my review on the result of that peaceful decision:
After letting the bottle sit awhile to allow the sediment to settle, I poured into the goblet. A pretty but slightly murky translucent walnut with a hint of orange filled the glass along with a bit of sediment. A thin head was present. I did not expect a robust foam to top my glass since I was aware that my bottle was about a year old.
The smell was unique. I picked up right away on a clove note along with a bitter orange aroma. Sweet earthy malts were abundant and a slight peppery spicy note. A mild cocoa aroma was hanging around as well.
At first sip this beer tastes like a classic brown ale, however as it sits in your mouth, a wide range of flavors emerge. The nutty malts have a pronounced hazelnut flavor. The clove flavor is strong but accents the bitter orange nicely. There are several background flavors going on: Chocolate, spice, coffee, briny, earthy, citrusy hop… The finish is combination of candy sweet and bitter hop/fruit. Because of the age of this bottle, the hop content was subdued.
I will note that this beer was very smooth. I will buy it again in a heart beat if our collaborative brewers so decide to recreate this malty Frankenstein.
This beer was mentioned previously HERE:
Nate’s Review:
Overall Satisfaction: 
Among other Brown Ales: 
I picked this one up at the store the other day and will be trying it sometime this week. When was yours bottled? Mine was February 2008.
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[...] beer industry, and for the most part, I’m bored with them. Some, I can appreciate, like Avery/Russian River’s Collaboration Not Litigation Ale, as it has a good story behind it. Usually though, the beers that emerge from such collaborations [...]