Beer Review: Avery’s Karma

By / May 30, 2008 /

Beer review #2 coming at you from our friends at Flying Dog Brewery. Thank you Lord, for this perfect complement to summer.

Hey everyone, I’m Josh Mishell and Flying Dog Brewery pays me to design beer labels. I think it’s pretty much the perfect job (double my salary and I’d pretty much get rid of the “pretty much” part of the previous statement). I’m a Denver native, and except for four years spent on the East Coast, Colorado has been my home. I vividly remember the Colorado craft beer revolution of the 90s – my brother Alan was a homebrewer (and all-around cool guy) who helped me recognize some great things happening in Colorado brewing.

Coloradans are spoiled when it comes to craft beer. There are a ton of high quality brews from humongous craft brewers (New Belgium) to smaller breweries (like Steamworks Brewery, a small but award-winning Durango brewery with a small barrelage). A bunch of decent bars and restaurants have a good lineup of craft beer, both on tap and in the bottle. My goal for this column is to go to some cool bars and restaurants, try some tasty beer, and let you people know about what’s happening in the Colorado beer scene.

A craft beer restaurant that I love going to is Great Northern, near I-25 and Belleview in the Denver Tech Center. They have 16 tap handles, most of which are populated by craft beer. Along with a fantastic draft selection, Great Northern carries about 25 craft beers in the bottle. General opinion among beer-lovers is that a beer on tap is always better than beer in the bottle, but there are definitely some exceptions – so don’t be afraid to try some beers in the bottle!

One of the great things about craft beer is that many brewers have wonderful seasonal beers, and we’re nearing the end of the Spring seasonal period. Fall and Winter beers tend to be maltier, higher alcohol beers to help stave off the Autumnal winds and the February doldrums. Around the time that the groundhog is poking its head out of some tree stump in Punxsutawney, brewers are busy preparing their spring beers in anticipation of the nice weather.

Avery’s Karma is a Belgian-style seasonal. Coming in at 5.2% ABV (Alcohol by Volume), the amber-colored Karma isn’t huge in the alcohol department (many craft beers can weigh in over 10%). It’s also pretty mellow, with only 10 IBUs (International Bittering Units – the higher the number, the more hop bitterness it carries).

Here’s what Avery says about it on their website:

“We believe in Karma. We suspect most of you do, too. It truly is a global concept. Very simply put, “you get what you give.” Inspired by this principle and the wonderful farmhouse and pale ales of Belgium, we’ve created Karma Ale, a decidedly fruity and estery ale, intricate in body and nose, all driven by a unique Belgian yeast strain. Remember, good things DO happen to good people. Here’s to being good!”

I ordered a pint of Karma and it arrived with a short white frothy head that dissipated in about 60 seconds. The color of the beer was between golden and amber, and it had a subtle fruity sweetness in the aroma. Karma is a very drinkable beer that has some fruity flavors (these fruity smells and flavors are probably due to the unique yeast strain Avery used, no fruit was added), finishing with a nice crispness that you’d expect from a Spring/Summer beer. There’s a slight hop bitterness in the middle but this beer is light and drinkable – I could certainly see how this could be a session beer on those hot Summer days.

Beeradvocate.com is a great reference website for people looking to find out more about specific beers. At the Karma page of Beer Advocate, the Alström brothers recommend pairing Karma with Thai food, cheese (tang:; Brick, Edam, Feta), fish and salad.

I decided to pair Karma with last night’s special from Great Northern, a cumin-dusted halibut fillet topped with avocado cream sauce. On the side, were black beans and rice (with sautéed onions) and sautéed green beans. A lemon wedge accompanied the dish, and I squeezed it out on the whole plate.

Many people who pair beer and food like to pair light beers with lighter fare, therefore lighter, more crisp beers go well with the lighter nature of fish. The avocado sauce (with chunks of actual avocado) and lime added a warm-weather quality to the pairing. The beans and rice lent a Latin American feel to the dish, reminding me of sunny days in Baja California. Karma was a perfect pair for this meal.

Josh Mishell has been a blogger for the last 7 years, and currently writes two blogs, one of which is beerdinners.com, a Flying Dog-sponsored blog about pairing craft beer and food. His personal blog is at bankgothicoverload.com. If you have any suggestions of Colorado beers for Josh to sample and talk about, shoot him an email at joshm [at] flyingdogales [dot] com.