Things are becoming a bit overwhelming at home and at work, and, more than ever, I’m looking forward to my trip to Beervana next week. Usually after a day like I’ve had today, I reach for a nice stiff glass of bourbon, but instead, I decided it was time to crack open one of my bottles of Avery’s Maharaja Imperial IPA. The bottle says, “Maharaja is derived from the Sanskrit mahat, “great” and rajan “king.” Much like its namesake, this Imperial IPA, is regal, intense, fierce and mighty. With hops and malt as his servants, he rules both with a heavy hand. The Maharaja flaunts his authority with a deranged amount of hops: tangy, vibrant and pungent, along with an insane quantity of malted barley, or fashioning a royal scarlet hue in an exquisite malt essence. Welcome to his kingdom!” It was bottled in June 2009 and was Batch 10. It was 1.090 Original Gravity with a finished ABV of 10.69%, and 102 IBU’s.
When I poured it, it had a nice dark copper color, and it was a bit hazy from accidentally stirring up the yeast sediment when pulling it out of the fridge. The head was thin, yet creamy, and as I drank it, it had some nice lacing on the glass. The aroma was a nice citrusy, earthy hop smell with some floral notes and hints of sweet maltiness.
When I finally took a drink, it was medium bodied. I first noticed a slight malty flavor, followed by an earthy hop bitterness. Although the hop flavor was big, it is a bit less than when I had a fresher bottle of it.
I would definitely have food before drinking this, since it’s over 10% ABV, however, with a big hop flavor like this, I like to sit and enjoy it all on its own. It has a smoothness, yet a lot of hop flavor complexity, and is one I wouldn’t recommend for anyone but a hop head. I really enjoy this beer – so much so that I’ve brewed a clone of it.
My Rating: 
Reader Ratings[five-star-rating]
July 18, 2010
This is a spectacular beer. I agree, it might not be good for a first beer, but I just offered this to my non-beer drinking mother last week. While she did note the bitterness, the balance and other flavors are just so overwhelmingly awesome that it’s tough not to love.
A+ Good luck with the rest of your 1000; almost 10% done; I’m around 630 now, and it does get harder… 🙂