Avery Brewing: Maharaja IPA

[The Niz]

EASILY the best IPA I have ever had. Very strongly hopped, but without the bitterness that many hoppy beers can bring you. Usually IPA is a style that is completely lopsided, however the Maharaja is very equally put together. I look at good beers like a good Barbershop quartet; you have to hear all four voices, just as you must taste all four of the key ingredients. This is the Max q or Acoustix of the IPA style.

Can be found in large bottles at stimmels along with several other of Avery's selections. If you try and are craving more from Avery, Reverend Chico's on Wooster st. has another amazing brew of theirs called the Reverend: Sinister Minister on draught. If you havn't been to Chicos yet, their draught selection is far and away the best in this entire area. Small, but ALL CRAFT BREWS.

[ZiggyZoomba]

Very strongly hopped, but without the bitterness that many hoppy beers can bring you.

But.... but... I LIKE it bitter! And an IPA is SUPPOSED to be bitter!

From BeerAdvocate.com:

American IPA

Description:
The American IPA is a different soul from the reincarnated IPA style. More flavorful than the withering English IPA, color can range from very pale golden to reddish amber. Hops are typically American with a big herbal and / or citric character, bitterness is high as well. Moderate to medium bodied with a balancing malt back bone.

[The Niz]

There's kind of a difference between bitter and hoppy. A lot of people consider them one in the same, I did for a long time. If you try this beer it is easy to tell the difference. It was a thing of beauty.

[hammb]

I'll have to check this brew out Niz.

I'm here mainly to give a grand +1 on Reverend Chico's!

Went there last Saturday to start drinking on my birthday. I got a quesadilla and some chips/salsa. The food was only "okay".

However, the bar freaking ROCKS. They had 6 or 7 taps and NONE of them were BMC, pure real beer across the board. So I went wussy and grabbed an Edmund Fitzgerald which I know I love. I was sitting at the bar enjoying my drink when I see the bartender making a mojito and doing it the right way with a mortar & pestle. Seeing this caused me to look at their drink menu...holy crap, a bar that actually knows how to make a MARGARITA!?!? WOW. I'm talking a real Margarita: Don Julio, Cointreau, simple syrup, and fresh squeezed lime juice. They're pricey at $8, but worth it for a real Margarita. I actually paid an extra $1 to get the dark Don Julio rather than the blanco, but these were the real deal. Had a couple of those before leaving the establishment.

Must say I was impressed. The food was alright, but here's a bar in BG that has real beer on tap and combines it with the proper way to make cocktails. I'll definitely be checking this place out again in the not too distant future.

[ZiggyZoomba]

I'll have to check this brew out Niz.

I'm here mainly to give a grand +1 on Reverend Chico's!

Went there last Saturday to start drinking on my birthday. I got a quesadilla and some chips/salsa. The food was only "okay".

However, the bar freaking ROCKS. They had 6 or 7 taps and NONE of them were BMC, pure real beer across the board. So I went wussy and grabbed an Edmund Fitzgerald which I know I love. I was sitting at the bar enjoying my drink when I see the bartender making a mojito and doing it the right way with a mortar & pestle. Seeing this caused me to look at their drink menu...holy crap, a bar that actually knows how to make a MARGARITA!?!? WOW. I'm talking a real Margarita: Don Julio, Cointreau, simple syrup, and fresh squeezed lime juice. They're pricey at $8, but worth it for a real Margarita. I actually paid an extra $1 to get the dark Don Julio rather than the blanco, but these were the real deal. Had a couple of those before leaving the establishment.

Must say I was impressed. The food was alright, but here's a bar in BG that has real beer on tap and combines it with the proper way to make cocktails. I'll definitely be checking this place out again in the not too distant future.

Sounds like a proper pre-game watering hole!!

[The Niz]

We just ate lunch there today. Had a Magic Hat #9 with my pulled pork sandwhich. +1 on the food, it was great when the place first opened but they changed their menu a little bit a couple weeks ago and havn't been too good since. My sandwhich was good today though.


Another beer note, the beer and wine tasting every Monday and Thursday night is pretty awesome.

[ZiggyZoomba]

There's kind of a difference between bitter and hoppy. A lot of people consider them one in the same, I did for a long time. If you try this beer it is easy to tell the difference. It was a thing of beauty.

Hops can add flavor, aroma and bitterness to a beer depending upon the time they're added to the wort. Boiling hops, added early on, add the bitterness to the beer... most of the flavor and scent boils away, leaving the bitterness. Hops added at the end of the boil impart that hops "nose" on a beer, that bright green taste and smell.

Hops impart bitterness units to a beer based upon the variety of hop and how it's used. Cascade hops add more bitterness than Chinook hops... Hallertau hops impart a different character and flavor, etc... the measurement of the bitterness is done in IBUs. Many beers, especially IPAs are now advertising their IBU content on their labels.

In this brewer/drinker's opinion, a good IPA has both a high IBU level and a strong hoppy character. One of the best style guides I've seen online is here: http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/

I think it'd be really fun to all get together at Hammb's place and come up with a Falconbrau sometime....

[ZiggyZoomba]

Whoops, my Beer Judge Certification Program bookmark was a few years old.

Not that the style guidelines are updated that frequently, but, you never know.

Here's the current link. http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/catdex.html

http://www.bjcp.org/ is a good place to learn about all the styles.

[hammb]

I've got a large garage and all the equipment for All Grain brewing & kegging. Lord knows I haven't used it in awhile...I'm a pussy for the cold and have just been too lazy/busy to brew anything.

On top of that I've been enjoying some commercial beers lately, and my last batch of homebrew sucked hard. Unbelievable that I brewed that in October and haven't brewed since...5 months, wow.

I need to get back into brewing again because brewing my own beer made me appreciate good beer, and now it costs me $10-20 to buy a 6-pack!

If anyone wants to get together and make a group brew we certainly can. I can do 10 gallon batches in the keggle, no problem. We could brew 10 gallons and everyone can take their share of the batch and ferment it at home...could be fun.

[The Niz]

lol, thanks for the lesson.

Just make sure you try the beer.

[The Niz]

I've got a large garage and all the equipment for All Grain brewing & kegging. Lord knows I haven't used it in awhile...I'm a pussy for the cold and have just been too lazy/busy to brew anything.

On top of that I've been enjoying some commercial beers lately, and my last batch of homebrew sucked hard. Unbelievable that I brewed that in October and haven't brewed since...5 months, wow.

I need to get back into brewing again because brewing my own beer made me appreciate good beer, and now it costs me $10-20 to buy a 6-pack!

If anyone wants to get together and make a group brew we certainly can. I can do 10 gallon batches in the keggle, no problem. We could brew 10 gallons and everyone can take their share of the batch and ferment it at home...could be fun.

I am definately a newbie brewer. I'd like to be able to come help out and see the process done by someone with more than just a few batches under the belt. BTW, I also found out last night that Great Lakes has put out another of their high profile brews (like nosferatu) which I believe is either a stout or scotch whiskey ale style. I can't remember.

[hammb]

I've got a large garage and all the equipment for All Grain brewing & kegging. Lord knows I haven't used it in awhile...I'm a pussy for the cold and have just been too lazy/busy to brew anything.

On top of that I've been enjoying some commercial beers lately, and my last batch of homebrew sucked hard. Unbelievable that I brewed that in October and haven't brewed since...5 months, wow.

I need to get back into brewing again because brewing my own beer made me appreciate good beer, and now it costs me $10-20 to buy a 6-pack!

If anyone wants to get together and make a group brew we certainly can. I can do 10 gallon batches in the keggle, no problem. We could brew 10 gallons and everyone can take their share of the batch and ferment it at home...could be fun.

I am definately a newbie brewer. I'd like to be able to come help out and see the process done by someone with more than just a few batches under the belt. BTW, I also found out last night that Great Lakes has put out another of their high profile brews (like nosferatu) which I believe is either a stout or scotch whiskey ale style. I can't remember.

Conway's Irish Red is on store shelves right now. It's pretty good. I've had a few already, and I've got a new sixer in my fridge that was a birthday gift.

Blackout Stout should be coming out sometime in the next few months as well. It's their Imperial Stout that is wonderful and sold in 4 packs, a la Nosferatu.

[ZiggyZoomba]

FWIW, I liked the name so much I just registered falconbrau.com

You never know....

[The Niz]

I've got a large garage and all the equipment for All Grain brewing & kegging. Lord knows I haven't used it in awhile...I'm a pussy for the cold and have just been too lazy/busy to brew anything.

On top of that I've been enjoying some commercial beers lately, and my last batch of homebrew sucked hard. Unbelievable that I brewed that in October and haven't brewed since...5 months, wow.

I need to get back into brewing again because brewing my own beer made me appreciate good beer, and now it costs me $10-20 to buy a 6-pack!

If anyone wants to get together and make a group brew we certainly can. I can do 10 gallon batches in the keggle, no problem. We could brew 10 gallons and everyone can take their share of the batch and ferment it at home...could be fun.

I am definately a newbie brewer. I'd like to be able to come help out and see the process done by someone with more than just a few batches under the belt. BTW, I also found out last night that Great Lakes has put out another of their high profile brews (like nosferatu) which I believe is either a stout or scotch whiskey ale style. I can't remember.

Conway's Irish Red is on store shelves right now. It's pretty good. I've had a few already, and I've got a new sixer in my fridge that was a birthday gift.

Blackout Stout should be coming out sometime in the next few months as well. It's their Imperial Stout that is wonderful and sold in 4 packs, a la Nosferatu.

That's the one I was thinking of.

[TG1996]

FWIW, I liked the name so much I just registered falconbrau.com

You never know....

I am absolutely NOT a beer snob, but that's a damn fine name!