Avery The Maharaja Imperial India Pale Ale

An excellent DIPA, pours copper and slightly hazy with a lasting white head. Smells of strong floral and piny notes with copious caramel backing. Tasted strong citrus in the front with a lasting floral and bitter aftertastes, feelng very thick in the mouth. Alcohol is well hidden, overall excellent.

From bottle@Københavnske Øldage 2009. A stable beige head over a slightly hazed, dark gold to pale amber colored body. Aroma is a nicely blended mix of fresh citric, light resinous hops and sweetish, caramellish malts. Taste is heavily hopped, more citrus, evergreen, resin and tropical. A fairly dry malt body with lots of caramel flavor is strong enough to deal with the hops. Well-bodied. Slick mouthfeel. Slight malty, bold hoppy finish. A powerful one, yet well balanced. Excellent.

On tap at The Porter. Golden orange color with light carbonation, foamy golden head that leaves nice lacing on the glass. Aroma is floral, with lemon tartness and pineapple sweetness. Flavor is more of the same, big floral hoppiness, some grapefruit, but also sweeter fruit like pineapple. Ends with moderate bitterness.

On tap at Tustin Brewing Company.. I looked for reasons not to give this a 5 but I really couldn’t find any. On tap this was the perfect beer... Pours copper with a creamy white head that leaves a nice lacing.. Aroma was amazingly floral and piney with a nice malt sweetness.. Flavor was piney with hop resin and a nice caramel sweetness.. Medium bodied with medium carbonation.. I would have probably drank myself stupid on this one if I didn’t have to drive.

On tap at Zeno’s Pub. Dank, resiny aroma, starting to turn lemon rind. Pours a darker orange-tined golden. Hazy. Flavor is rich and hop stinky. A nice balance of bitterness and body. But, the residual sweetness gets a little heavy for me, with a few too many residual esters. There’s an extra level of expressive hop juiciness. Solid, of course.

(on tap at the brewery). Copper color with some cloudiness. Medium off white head. Hoppy aroma. Hoppy/pine flavor. Avg duration. Oily texture. Moderate carbonation. Fair lacing.

Great looking, strong red ale with a good thick head. Sort of fuddy hops to the nose with a deep caramel sweetness. Loads of hops with a not unpleasant lightness to it. Darned sweet and puly all round, the hops slowly fade as you drink it. It has a lovely mouthfeel and is very, very drinkable for its percentage. It sort of tastes dumb though you know? It lacks a real sophistication.