Avery The Maharaja Imperial India Pale Ale

The Avery Maharaja, a member of the dictator line (note to self: Wikipedia Majaraja to find out why he was surly), and a beer that promises to dictate the confines of my mouth. Is it a hop bomb, or merely a very hoppy ale? Either way, I’m probably in over my head, what with my infantile sensitivity to hops. I am given an immediate warning with the pour - a deep dying flame orange color, chatoyant and clear. The head is strong, almost martial, gleaming white like the bark of the Aspen tree. I close in for a smell and catch rye bread, toasted sesame seeds, molasses, fresh celery,yams, a good alcohol pinch, dark honey, toast, fresh bread and a generall rasping scrape that can only be the hops at play. What a rich sensation! Both savory and robust, with a distinguished "twang" of grapefruit bitterness. The palate has been mostly dismissed in this beer, weighty enough to support the bevy of flavors, but asked to stay out of the way, making way for the above mentioned flavors with an added dose of pine. That, and the alcohol makes another very brutal stand, focusing its energy into a eye lash curling aftertaste. I fully understand why this is in the dictator camp - I’m left weary and overworked, strained by its marching columns of flavors, but it is a nice change of pace from simple hop beers.

Sooo good. What an IIPA. Shared with Mondy after our trip to Premier Gourmet last week. Basically just one of the best IIPAs I’ve ever had. the end.

Bottle; Beer Wench’s IPA vs. Belgian tasting at Surly Girl; paired with Stilton cheese; the IIPA complemented well with the strong cheese; wiped out the palate for the following Stoudt’s APA

great great great double ipa. may be slightly over carbonated, but the taste is perfectly outstanding.

650 ml; Batch 7, bottled Feb. 2008. Slight haze on this copper beer with a two-finger, lasting head. Earthy, honey-and-molasses-drizzled grapefruit, with some tea leaf sprinkled in for the nose bouquet. Initial taste is more of the same, with some added toasted nut, turning to a big grapefruit-resin finish. More grapefruit in this one than any beer I can remember, it’s also rough on the edges and really not very complex; but the alcohol is a phantom and the earthy-fruity flavors strike me very well in this one. Near-medium body somehow borders on both smoothness and roughness at times, and is very hop-dry.

really wonderful coppery golden pour with a nice white head Nice carbonation to just push the aromas up Nose of toffee, pine, resin, pineapple, spicy (peppery) and alcohol notes (slightly underwhelming in this are) Flavor: tangy and juicy hop flavor dance along with some toffee, toasted malt notes. Alcohol is right there as warmth and no distractive. Fruity esters like pear and berries work heard to peek thru the hop flavors. I like the bitterness profile - huge but not tongue numbing (over the top resiny is not my favorite) Palate: Just right amount of carbonation to keep the beer from becoming cloying. The finish is very interesting, at one loaded with hop flavor, then changing from toffee to pears, alcohol and then again drying hop flavor yum!!!! Overall: A fantastic DIPA from Avery - A definite MUST TRY for hop lovers especially those who dont mind a nice malt backbone to a good DIPA. 2008 Sample just a little let down in the aroma ... the high FG and 10.5 gravity puts it in the sipper and beginning to be barley wine category - just right for a father’s day Sunday afternoon treat after sweating it out in the back yard

Has a burnt orange and amber hazy pour, a creamy, frothy head of a mix of white and off-white bubbles that I enjoyed seeing in the glass, good deal of bubbles (effervescence) floating up along the sides of the glass, leaves a trail of creamy lacing on the glass, nice big malt and sweet aromas on the nose when first poured, faint alcohol fragrance, there are whiffs of flowers and tall grass, light fruit, citrus and orange skin with some pine needles and faint vanilla fragrances, nose is complex, I like it, big hop, malt sweetness that has toasted malt and a faint fruit flavor, I can feel the alcohol on the palate, there is very little taste of alcohol but the warmth is there, and the hop bitterness is pretty intense, mouth feel is more then medium, appears to be a complex Impy IPA, I prefer it when it is cold/cool out of the bottle, as this warms the hops really mount up and the malt flavor takes a back seat, and it appears the malt looses its’ complexity? (thought this was odd, warming up should expand the malt flavor) the alcohol grows to but this is a 10.54% ale, good double IPA.

Everything was strong about this beer, the presentation, the aroma, the body, the flavor, the alcohol. I was blown away at first by the full hoppy flavor of the beer. Once it got warm the flavors melded a bit and began to work nicely on the palate and all the way down. Fantastic!