Avery The Maharaja Imperial India Pale Ale

Draught @ Beer Table, Brooklyn. Pours amber, slightly hazy, with moderate white head that sticks around a bit. Aroma is citrus, grapefruit, slightly floral. Taste is sweet up front, with the hops coming on strong in the form of grapefruit and tangy citrus, with a bitter hop finish that sticks around awhile. Doesn’t quite have the malt backbone on the front end to balance out the bitterness, as the sweetness just doesn’t quite hold up to the ibu assault to come. Still, I can see the merit in it -- a great beer for the true hop heads out there, and even for the big beer enthusiasts who want a dose of big hops to mix things up.

Amber colored with a big white head. Citrus and floral hops are strong in the aroma. Strong in the smell, taste, and alcohol. Clear. Sweet and bitter a good beer.

22 oz. bottle. Listed on the bottle at 10.54% ABV. Bottled in February 2008. Batch 7. Consumed on 3-21-2008. <P>Very strong aroma features pine, quinine, watermelon, cotton candy, citrus, curry, spice, and red apple scents. The smell is lightly bitter and quite complex and appetizing. Pours a hazy dark gold to light amber. Large amount of long-lasting, off-white to cream-colored head that forms rolling hills of foam in the glass. Produces nice, thick lacing. Not surprisingly, hops dominate the sharp flavor, especially on the early sips. Apple juice, grape juice, lemon, orange, and apricot elements are present in this fruity ale. Yeasty taste, giving the beer a sweet bread flavor. Candy sugar; reminiscent in some ways of a Belgian ale. Maharaja is quite sweet underneath all the hops, as Avery brews are known to be. The beer also is spicy, with paprika in particular being noticeable. Alcohol taste present but not overpowering. Light bitterness in the finish. Long, dry aftertaste. Full body. Lively and oily in the palate. The hops almost burn the throat, and I mean that as a compliment. This fresh example of Avery Maharaja was delicious and really hit the spot! It’s very close to my favorite double IPA, which is one of my favorite styles. Consider this a rave!

Batch 7, Feb 2008 - Pours a dark orange/amber with a creamy off-white head that dissolved into a very fine blanket of bubbles on the surface. Each time the glass was tipped, the surface would erupt with fine bubbles. Aroma is grassy hops, citrus fruit, light bready yeast and plenty of sweet malt. Flavor is very interesting for an IIPA as it’s not especially bitter but more floral and citrusy focused hop flavors like a fresh/wet hop beer. Sweet toffee/caramel and light warm bread notes in the malt side of the flavor. Very smooth with a substantial palate. Almost no hint to the 10.5% abv in the flavor or finish.

Typical dark IPA color with virtually no head. The aroma is very citrusy with a ton of lemon, grapefruit, orange and the cascade hops are big. The hops come on the front and the back with citrus notes of grapefruit and lemon.

Rich, heavy, full bodied IPA. Big floral component with lots of grapefruit, some sweet caramel notes, soft pine and even some oak wood presence. A tad astringent but really smooth and enjoyable.

Delicious beer. Why have I passed it by for so long? I wish it was not high gravity, but it is very tasty and belies the fact that it has a high alcohol content. It is way too easy to drink. It has a strange but delicious Pine/Grapefruit taste that fools my taste buds. I may have to wait until it warms up a tad and take another sip.

On tap at Flying Saucer. Has a cloudy amber color with medium off white head. The aroma is a very strong peach and floral. Good lacing on the glass. The taste is a sweet hop and pine. Hides the alcohol well. An impressive double IPA from Avery.