Chicagoist's "Beer of the Week:" Avery Maharaja Imperial IPA

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Sep 24, 2008 6:00PM

Now that's more like it!

We had long given up hope of tasting a hop bomb out of Colorado. Turned out we just weren't looking hard enough. Thanks to the Avery Brewing Company and Archer Liquors (5996 South Archer Ave., 773-582-4767), we got a couple bombers of Maharaja Imperial IPA and stand corrected on much of what we assumed regarding Colorado breweries.

Autumn is the season for bold, hoppy beers. At 105 IBUs, Maharaja certainly qualifies. But one of the things we discovered about Maharaja was that it also had some beautiful balance, thanks to some two-row barley, victory and caramel malts. Warm grapefruit wafted to the nose upon decanting, and an orange cream colored head left nice lace rings on our glass.

Archer Liquors lists Maharaja at $6.99 for the bomber bottles. It's made s think twice about perceptions and is our "Beer of the Week."