BeerBorg

Beer Lord sent me some beers and I am going to send some to him ASAP!
One of them was his Maharaja. I put it in the fridge as soon as I got it so it could have at least 24 hours to settle before I tried it. I was planning on waiting until tomorrow but the curiosity killed the cat. ( sorry inkleg )
I always pour my beers really slowly for clarity. I also always tend to over carbonate my beers because that's how I like em. I use 6 oz table sugar for a 5 gallon batch. So don't let the lack of head in the photo fool you. I am just used to pouring higher carbonated beers.
OK. First impressions. I popped the cap and the aroma hit me like a Mac truck. Very floral with a hint of pine is how I would describe it.
Pour...it came right out of the bottle...I like that in a beer.
Let me just say that a few months ago I tried a Breckenridge Batch 471 and absolutely loved it. The first thing that hit me on that beer was a pleasant sweetness. I have been pursuing that in my IPAs since. Paul NAILED that with this beer. It does have a very minor bitter finish on the first sip that goes away after that. But up front I got hit with that sweet taste. I think that must be what Paul is talking about when he says he has a good malt backbone. The sweetness is only a micro second then the hop flavor comes in. That flavor, like the aroma, to me anyway, is mostly floral with a piney background. Extremely pleasant. I seriously want the recipe for this beer.
Overall impression. This is an extremely dangerous beer. The pleasant flavor makes it very quafable but it is an 8% beer. If I had more I would have to be extremely careful with it and exercise self control.
I am tasting now looking for flaws. And the truth is I simply can't find any other than I was unable to get it to pour as clear as mine. But who the hell cares what it looks like when it tastes this freaking good.
Well played Paul. Very well played.

That is an awesome picture of an awesome beer. I was lucky to get one of those a little while ago too. Probably one of the best home brews I have had. Roger...have you had the real thing from Avery Brewing?

No I haven't. But the beers I have had from Avery have been fantastic.

If you had an Avery Maharaja label, you could stick it on Paul's bottle and just about be pouring the original. I thought it was that close.

OK I will go out and buy some

BlackDuck wrote:If you had an Avery Maharaja label, you could stick it on Paul's bottle and just about be pouring the original. I thought it was that close.

See, didn't I tell you he just soaked the labels off the real thing and put on his. It was that good.

It makes me self conscious about sending him mine. Mine are just recipes I made up myself.

Gymrat wrote:Mine are just recipes I made up myself.

Those are the best kind.

Roger, I'm glad you liked it. I think I have enough left in the keg to take to watch the game tomorrow and maybe fill 3/4 of a growler then it's gone.
Thanks for the nice words. But the beer scale is going to tip back as the other 2 I sent you.......well, you have been warned and offered an apology.

I also used the beer gun on this so it may be slightly undercarbed due to that. Still getting use to it. And, considering it didn't finish at 10% like it was supposed to, maybe that was a good thing.

Guess I'll have to make this one again. Was thinking about doing their DuganA first as it seems like a slightly lighter version of Maharaja. I have a friend going to Houston soon and he's going to see if he can get me a Maha....fingers crossed.

If you make it again don't change a FREAKING thing!

Here's the recipe that I used that I got from their website. Simple malt bill which I'm beginning to like. I've not used Victory for a number of months before this but that beer was good too. I'm quickly becoming a Columbus fan now that I made this and am doing the Pliny.


BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Maharaja Clone
Brewer: Paul
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.41 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.41 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.089 SG
Estimated Color: 11.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 100.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 79.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
15 lbs 2.9 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 93.8 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 2 3.1 %
8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.1 %
1.25 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 60. Hop 4 52.2 IBUs
1.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 30. Hop 5 48.1 IBUs
2.25 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 6 0.0 IBUs
2.18 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 7 0.0 IBUs
1.5 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 8 -
4.38 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 9 0.0 IBUs
2.25 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 10 0.0 IBUs
2.18 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 11 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 16 lbs 3.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 20.23 qt of water at 166.9 F 150.0 F 75 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 3.29 gal water at 168.0 F
Notes:
------

Gymrat wrote:It makes me self conscious about sending him mine. Mine are just recipes I made up myself.

Dude, don't be ridiculous! I've been sent a number of beers and there's nothing but great brewers here. I've not doubt at all yours will be enjoyable. Even better now that you've got that nice, new piece of equipment.

I am going to use that recipe to put together a shopping list. The new LHBS is giving a 10% discount on entire orders on October 1. The day they open. I can freeze the hops until I recover enough from my surgery to brew again.

Looking forward to getting my hands on this one.

Roger, I can tell you that we are ALL a bit self-conscious about sending our beer out. I've learned now that we all are afraid that our beers won't measure up but that the other party almost always really likes them.

That beer looks and sounds fantastic