#IPAMonday Avery Brewing Co. The Maharaja Imperial IPA
Monday, November 30, 2009
0
comments
A couple years ago, after the Heads-Up brewery closed, I was hanging out with one of the ex-brewers at Tizley's Europub in Poulsbo and he talked me into trying a couple bottles of Avery's "The Beast" and "Samael's Ale," (I'd post links, but Avery's whole page is flash, so I can't) which are beers from Avery's "demon" series -- some of their more "out-there" beers -- Since then, I have been looking forward to trying more beers from these, "Small brewery, Big beers," beer makers. I don't recall where I picked up the particular bottle I'm tasting tonight (most likely Bottleworks in Wallingford or the Puget Sound Wine Cellar), but I do believe, when it's in season (see "Availablity," below) you will find this in most decent bottle retailers around around the Pacific Northwest.
Avery Brewing Co. -- The Maharaja Imperial India Pale Ale
Raw Stats:
ABV: 10.69%
IBU: 102
OG: 1.090
FG: ?
Style: The high-side of Imperial IPA
Malts- Two Row Barley, Carmel 120L, Victory
Hops- Simcoe, Columbus, Centennial, and Chinook
Yeast- ?
Availability - Seasonally produced from March through August. 22oz. bombers, 1/6BBL and 1/2BBL kegs.
Availability - Seasonally produced from March through August. 22oz. bombers, 1/6BBL and 1/2BBL kegs.
Website: http://www.averybrewing.com
Background:
Beyond what's on their website, there's not much I know about Avery. The brewing company, in Boulder CO, was established in 1993 and started up by producing a handful of English and Belgian style ales. Today they appear to be more interested in eclectic tastes and less interested in categorical styles, with a whole line of beers including their standard pours, a couple groupings of seasonal and series beers, and a small number of specialty ales.The Maharaja is the third and latest member of Avery's Imperial "Dictator" series, joining the earlier The Kaiser Imperial Oktoberfest and The Czar Imperial Stout.
Expectations:
Looking at the numbers, I expect this to be a big IPA. The hop level is really high in this one, but given the high gravity, it might actually balance out to something decent. I guess I'd recommend serving something like this in a larger goblet rather than a pint glass, as i think the greater surface area will help this beer breathe and open up.The style guide says I should expect an intense ("high to absurdly high") hoppieness, a supporting but minor malt backbone, and a long, lingering (but not harsh) bitterness.
Tastage:
Whoo! I can smell the hops as I pour this.
The bottle I have, has been laying down for a few months, and a good bit of sediment has collected on the bottom, so I am actually a bit suprised at how clear this pours. This beer is redder than typical IPAs -- it's nowhere near what I'd call a brown IPA, but I'd put the color as pushing towards a light mahogany -- maybe 11 or 12 SRM.
I'm still recovering from being ill a week ago, so I don't totally trust my olfactories... but the Simcoe on the nose is unmistakable along with a clear hint of malty sweetness. I get: Grapefruit, peaches, skunk, and I think a bit of clove. Different ale yeasts will give a clove smell sometimes -- I think I smell this in a lot of Belgian beers. I wouldn't expect a Belgian ale yeast in a IPA, but the initial high level of sugars in this beer may have required something stronger than a standard English or American ale yeast to get it to ferment out.
In the initial taste I feel the sweetness, but I can't taste much of anything beyond the hops -- even the hopping though, is well done -- well balanced across the whole tongue and not so highly aggressive on the front (ie. the part of the flavor profile that I'd call the "rip your face off" part).
The first retro-taste is strong, dirty, wet hops with a strong body in the mouth-feel. The flavor hangs on and on.
This is a beer that encourages drinking big, but infrequent mouthfuls. By that, I mean, it's not a chugging beer, but it's not what I'd describe as a "sipping beer" either. To me, I just want to quaff large mouthfuls and hold them on my tongue -- this is not something I want to drink quickly.
Drawing air into the liquid really opens up the other flavors in the brew and you get a good sense of the carmel malts and where all that body is coming from. Also, by drawing the air in, you get the heat from the alcohol content -- whew! Not overwhelming, but it's there.
In my glass, the head dropped relatively quickly, but I noticed it held on longer in the bottle, which means I didn't clean my glass well, and thus, can't really comment fairly on the head retention. I had let this warm and sit for a bit, so by the time I started drinking it, the nucleation in the glass had really dropped off. There's still some going on, but not much. On the tongue the carbonation is there but not explosive, which I really like and I felt worked really well to accent the bitterness while at the same time bringing my attention to the pleasant mouthfeel.
This is not a beer for wussies. If you think you like IPA's but you don't dig the richness of strong Belgian style ales, you may not like this. Being that this beer comes in a 22 oz bottle, I think it would be a good idea to share. I'm not saying that this is a Belgian style or that it uses Belgian ale yeast, as I mentioned before, but this is on the higher end of the spectrum of beers that qualify as IPAs, and as such, it's a different style.
The style-guide says I should be getting a beer that's, "all hops and nothing but the hops," but I find it hard to see how that would be possible at these gravities -- there is going to be a solid residual sweetness, no? Without the sweetness to balance the hops, a beer like this wouldn't, IMO, work.
I look forward to trying more Avery beers :) Avery: Send phree beer. KTHXBAI
Whoo! I can smell the hops as I pour this.
The bottle I have, has been laying down for a few months, and a good bit of sediment has collected on the bottom, so I am actually a bit suprised at how clear this pours. This beer is redder than typical IPAs -- it's nowhere near what I'd call a brown IPA, but I'd put the color as pushing towards a light mahogany -- maybe 11 or 12 SRM.
I'm still recovering from being ill a week ago, so I don't totally trust my olfactories... but the Simcoe on the nose is unmistakable along with a clear hint of malty sweetness. I get: Grapefruit, peaches, skunk, and I think a bit of clove. Different ale yeasts will give a clove smell sometimes -- I think I smell this in a lot of Belgian beers. I wouldn't expect a Belgian ale yeast in a IPA, but the initial high level of sugars in this beer may have required something stronger than a standard English or American ale yeast to get it to ferment out.
In the initial taste I feel the sweetness, but I can't taste much of anything beyond the hops -- even the hopping though, is well done -- well balanced across the whole tongue and not so highly aggressive on the front (ie. the part of the flavor profile that I'd call the "rip your face off" part).
The first retro-taste is strong, dirty, wet hops with a strong body in the mouth-feel. The flavor hangs on and on.
This is a beer that encourages drinking big, but infrequent mouthfuls. By that, I mean, it's not a chugging beer, but it's not what I'd describe as a "sipping beer" either. To me, I just want to quaff large mouthfuls and hold them on my tongue -- this is not something I want to drink quickly.
Drawing air into the liquid really opens up the other flavors in the brew and you get a good sense of the carmel malts and where all that body is coming from. Also, by drawing the air in, you get the heat from the alcohol content -- whew! Not overwhelming, but it's there.
In my glass, the head dropped relatively quickly, but I noticed it held on longer in the bottle, which means I didn't clean my glass well, and thus, can't really comment fairly on the head retention. I had let this warm and sit for a bit, so by the time I started drinking it, the nucleation in the glass had really dropped off. There's still some going on, but not much. On the tongue the carbonation is there but not explosive, which I really like and I felt worked really well to accent the bitterness while at the same time bringing my attention to the pleasant mouthfeel.
This is not a beer for wussies. If you think you like IPA's but you don't dig the richness of strong Belgian style ales, you may not like this. Being that this beer comes in a 22 oz bottle, I think it would be a good idea to share. I'm not saying that this is a Belgian style or that it uses Belgian ale yeast, as I mentioned before, but this is on the higher end of the spectrum of beers that qualify as IPAs, and as such, it's a different style.
The style-guide says I should be getting a beer that's, "all hops and nothing but the hops," but I find it hard to see how that would be possible at these gravities -- there is going to be a solid residual sweetness, no? Without the sweetness to balance the hops, a beer like this wouldn't, IMO, work.
I look forward to trying more Avery beers :) Avery: Send phree beer. KTHXBAI
Labels:
#IPAMonday,
beer
View my complete profile
Subscribe to Captain Video by Email
Subscribe to the Mountain Retreat's feed
