Avery The Maharaja Imperial IPA
I usually don’t do another review of the same style of beer from the same brewery so close to one another, but with all the comments left about the Avery DuganA, I had to review the Maharaja fairly quickly while I could still recall the DuganA. The DuganA was Avery Brewing Companies double IPA, the Maharaja it its big brother, and Imperial IPA weighing in at a hefty 10.6% abv. Lets see if it trumps its little brother, which I might add was pretty darn tasty.
Maharaja is derived from the sanskrit words mahat, – “great” and rajan – “king”. Much like its namesake, this imperial IPA is regal, intense and mighty. With hops and malts as his servants, he rules both with a heavy hand. The Maharaja flaunts his authority over a deranged amount of hops: tangy, vibrant and pungent along with an insane amount of malted barley – fashioning a dark amber hue and exquisite malt essence.
Appearance:
The Maharaja poured a hazy orangish brown color with some red highlights tucked in. Fairly small head on this beer with just a tiny bit of lacing. I generally expect a big head on my IPA’s to unlock the potential of the aroma. I’m not sure if my glass is dirty or the high alcohol has knocked down the head. I’ll drink this first glass and determine the head on the second glass. (I love 22oz bottles). The head on second glass was much better, mush have been my glass…
Aroma:
For all you hop heads, bottling disclosure. This bottle was bottled in June of 2009 (batch 10). So this beer is 7 months old. On the nose, a pretty big caramel malt, lots of orange and mango along with a bit of pine. Actually pretty decent for a 7 month old beer.
Taste:
Avery Maharaj
This beer actually tastes like it smells like it tastes, big sweet caramel malty, which lead into a citrus flavor of ripe pineapple and grapefruit. The big citrus middle mouthfeel leads into a big long lasting bitterness. The two big differences from the DuganA, the pineapple and some significant alcohol backbone.
Calories: 10.9% abv and with an Original Gravity of 1.090, this beer would have about 300 cal per 12 oz.
Glassware: Tulip or Narrow Goblet
Overall Impression:
A big IPA for sure, no holds bar. Tons of malt, tons of hops, and lots of alcohol. A good IPA that packs a big punch!
Love this beer . . . after naming my team in its honor it even gave me a fantasy football championship! I would love to have a steady supply at home.
Lucas, guess you liked this one too 🙂 There isn’t a big supply here in Jersey, everything I’ve seen is a bit on the older side, but Another good beer from Avery! These guys seem to have it dialed in.
Now I want to taste it again and look for that Pineapple. Which do you prefer of the two?
Nate, I like the DuganA better, little less abv made it more “drinkable” IMO. However they were both good beers, both worth buying. Would be fun to drink them side by side.
Yeah I don’t remember pineapple. Maybe with the bit of age it came out more. I drank the one I reviewed right when it came to our area and had a few more back in the summer. I have to give DuganA a proper review. I only had it at a bar but preferred Maharaja.
Mike, It probably did come out with age, ripe pineapple tends to be a sign of oxidation.
This sounds good. I’m thinking I will get a bunch of Avery products and give them a try. I have the Mephistopheles Stout that is their 16% ABV Stout, but I haven’t tried it yet. I can get just about all their stuff though, and most of the reviews of their beers are good. I will give it a go.
Don, I’d highly recommend getting as many as you can, for the most part they are very good beers.