MICHAEL>>: Hello. I'm Michael Dawson. CHIP>>: I'm Chip Walton.
MICHAEL>>: We're from Northern Brewer, and this is Brewing TV's review of Avery's Maharaja.
CHIP>>: The Maharaja. MICHAEL>>: The Maharaja.
CHIP>>: This ain't just any old a Maharaja. This is an Imperial India Pale Ale from Avery Brewing Company out of Boulder, Colorado.
They released this during the wintertime, so this is the winter 2011/2012 release, clocking in at 10+ ABV, 102 IBUs.
The website will tell you to expect a deranged amount of hops; tangy, vibrant, pungent, with an exquisite malt essence.
When the good folks at Avery sent us these bottles of the Maharaja, they told us the recipe changes a bit every year.
This year's release has Columbus, Centennial, and Simcoe throughout the boil and then dry-hopped to heck and back with Simcoe, Centennial, and Chinook fermented at 74 Fahrenheit.
MICHAEL>>: What do our noses tell us, Chip Walton? I get a mix of super dank hops with lots of pine and citrus notes -- CHIP>>: Yes.
MICHAEL>>: -- in the nose; tangerine; red grapefruit; some candy apple malt character. CHIP>>: I get candy cherries, kind of like a fruitcake kind of vibe. MICHAEL>>: Um-hmm.
CHIP>>: Still high on the pine. MICHAEL>>: Um-hmm.
CHIP>>: The resin. MICHAEL>>: High on pine. Mouthfeel, flavor, tongue-coding hops, wave after wave of pine, herbs, more of that orangy citrus. Really potent alcohol.
It's got a dry finish. It's very lean and attenuated but it's still got a substantial mouthfeel.
CHIP>>: Slick. Oily. I mean, you can toss it around in this kind of wine glass snifter. It's definitely got legs. It's got foamy, silk legs.
MICHAEL>>: Um-hmm. CHIP>>: It's a very beautiful beer as well.
So if it's -- as high as alcohol as it is, it should be a sipper, and it's going to be a nice one to kind of have. It's kind of like a work of art that you're going to have around for a little bit -- a little part of an evening.
MICHAEL>>: It's obviously artistic. It's obviously huge. But it's so dangerously drinkable. Best place to drink this beer? Go.
CHIP>>: Firepit. If you got the guts in the wintertime, January, February, outside firepit. If you're a wuss, you can take it inside by the fireplace.
The downside of this being a seasonal is we have reached the end of the Maharaja's season.
You may be able to find these in stores for the next month, but at the end of March you're out of luck,
unless you're a homebrewer because the fine folks at Avery gave Northern Brewer and Brewing TV the goods.
We have the five-gallon recipe for a home-brewed batch of the Maharaja. We're going to post it alongside this video, and you're in luck, so you can make it all year long.
MICHAEL>>: Find it at northernbrewer.com/connect.
CHIP>>: Looking at the recipe just super shortly, what -- what do you detect? What's standing out? MICHAEL>>: There's a lot of Simcoe in there. If you're like me, you probably will have problems finding that super-low acreage, high-demand hop at this time of 2012.
My number one pick for a substitute is the Zythos Blend. It's a little tropical fruity; very dank; similar alpha.
CHIP>>: So cheers to Avery Brewing Company for making yet another amazing batch of the professional-scale version of the Maharaja this winter.
MICHAEL>>: Cheers also for making that recipe available to us appreciative homebrewers. Thank you, guys. All for brew.
CHIP>>: Brewed for all. We do mean all. Get brewing.