Wow, so it's been a month since the last post.
Ok. So I have in front of me as I speak, The Maharaja. This is a limited time brew from Avery, part of their 'Dictator Series.'
This is an Imperial India Pale Ale; Original Gravity of 1.090, 102 IBUs, and 10.39% ABV.
It pours a nice rich mahogany color and a fragrant head. It certainly has a regal feel to it, it does not try to impress you with a huge explosion of flavor right off the bat, but rather gives a gradually building flavor that you must let yourself drift off into. This gives it a rather smooth finish, particularly for an Imperial IPA. The big hop flavors are there, but they are very balanced by a caramel malt flavor, a little sweet from the high amount of grain.
This has everything I like about Imperial IPAs, it's not about getting a massive pure hop flavor necessarily. Nor is it about getting as much alcohol in a glass as you can, it's more about a meticulously balanced, but distinctively very hoppy beer. This shows because despite the fact that you can't really fit
any more hop in there than this, it still maintains an amazing range of flavor; that really tells me how much care went into making this beer.
I highly recommend getting one before they are gone (which might have already happened).
http://www.averybrewing.com/our-ales/86
