Day 565: Avery The Maharaja

Mr. Blog Named Brew has a sickness. He freely admits not being able to walk past any of the beer displays at our local groceries without stopping to browse and ultimately buying at least one bottle. He succumbed again recently and we found ourselves in possession of The Maharaja from Avery Brewing Company.

"This," the Mr. declared very definitely after his first sip, "is a top 25 beer." Trust me, he says the exact same thing every time he drinks The Maharaja. So you know it's true.

The Maharaja is an imperial IPA, which is an IPA-derivative that I can get behind. Big flavor. Big hops. Big Beer. It pours a bright amber color with a pale beige head. I wrote in my notes that it "smells breast." What in the world does that mean? I'm going with bready--most likely correct because my spellcheck hates when I type bready. There's some honey and citrus hops in the aroma as well. The flavor is citrus, biscuits, lots of hops, and pine. It's a little boozy and has a mild alcohol burn. I like that it also has a strong malt presence to balance out all those hops. (It's brewed with a "deranged amount" per Avery's website and the hops include Simcoe, Columbus, Centennial and Chinook. It's then dry-hopped with more Simcoe and Centennial!)

The Maharaja is part of Avery's Dictator Series. Unfortunately this is the only installment I've ever encountered.

Beer stats
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 10-12% (varies by batch)
IBUs: 102
Rating: Great

Previously reviewed from Avery
My review of Hog Heaven (barleywine) and White Rascal with a five-finger discount confession
A Hog Heaven review from the Mr.