Avery The Maharaja Imperial India Pale Ale

Cant wait for this one to be out again. Pours a caramel orange color with nice big head, decent retention and good lacing. Great hop aroma, spicey and piney with apricot notes. Big hoppy flavors of grapefruit and pine resin. Aftertaste is big and bitter. An all start IIPA IMHO.

This is a familiar guest in my tulip. It pours deep orange with a thick, off-white head. Sticky lacing clings to the side of my glass. The smell is of sweet, piney, resinous hops. Ahh. My first sip is normal. Normal, for the Maharaja, that is. The sweet hops battle with the malt at first, eventually sweeping it aside completely. The hops contribute grapefruity, piney flavors that are coating of one’s mouth. This beer has fantastic head retention for the ABV. Mouthfeel is right on for the style. I have yet to find a IIPA that isn’t just a little bit syrupy. The moderate to low carbonation found in this brew give it a creamy mouthfeel that begs for sipping which borders on gulping. As with most other IIPAs, I find this beer to be extremely drinkable. I am almost finished with the bomber and have yet to get the usual hop hiccups, knock on wood.

Bottle, Batch 7, February 2008. Aroma starts off citrusy, gets piney as well, and as it warms adds the caramel malt and some nice tropical fruit esters therein. Flavor a delectable balance of the hops and the malt, the hops get the spotlight, but the malt is far from overlooked. Not too sweet, not too bitter, not too dry, utterly quaffable.

Draft@Liar’s Club. Light yellow/orange with no head. Fruit / hop aroma. Sweet on the tongue followed by a dry strong finish.

Excellent Imperial IPA. You’ll have a good night after one of these! Be warned: once you’ve enjoyed this beer, you will have become a hophead! I would love to take a trip to Boulder, CO and sample all of Avery’s beers -their Czar Stout is also amazing!

Bottled (9,9% ABV). A cloudy red/amber beer with a small and disappearing white head, leaving laces on the glass.. The aroma is dominated by hops with notes of fruits (grapefruit), pine needles, resin, and some alcohol. Some caramel for the malt. The flavour is sweeter, maltier with much sugar (too much). And hops, with the classic citrusy hints. Syrupy and sticky mouthfeel, near to full body, average carbonation, long finish with enormous bitterness and some alcohol. Lightly cloying. Good stuff, but there is still something that keeps me away from totally loving this style, for example the excessive syrupy notes. I prefer a normal IPA. But however this is a good beer.

2006 release on tap in February of 2007 Pours a lively tan head with dense bubbles over a clear amber body. Tons on citrusy, piney hops on the nose. This turned from a hop bomb to a nicely balanced IPA with the malts tasting wonderfully. Very smooth, but better fresh. Serving type: on-tap

2005 Bottle. Had before on tap but don’t remember too much about it except is was strong. This seems more mellow. Aroma fruity and big hops. Taste is slightly metallic hops but doesn’t linger too much. Citrus and pine balance it out.