Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Avery Ale to the Chief

The Democratic National Convention ended last week and this week we're already in the middle of the Republican one, so yes dear friends we're neck deep in political season. As you all know the DNC was held in Denver, home (or near) many a craft brewery. Many of these folks made special beers for the event, but Avery Brewing went a step further and made one to celebrate the political season as a whole. They also made enough to bottle and distribute around the country. But unlike the Maharaja its not an Imperial IPA, but a Presidential IPA (PIPA?).
The Beer: This one weighs at 8.75%, much lower than their DIPA. It pours a cloudy amber with a thick white head and plenty of lacing. Hops, grapefruity and earthy, on the nose, with not as much malty smell as the Maharaja. The mouth is thick and creamy, with hops up front and spiciness and again not as much malty character. This is much more of a straightforward hop bomb. One of the more interesting characteristics was the spiciness of these beer, it was pretty intense white pepper notes among other things that I couldn't place. It added a different flavor profile than what I'm used to, it was rather pleasant though. There's also some citrusy bitterness, that along with the hoppy resin really saturates ones mouth. Even with all this intense character it went well with our dinner of hatch chili turkey burgers on ciabatta bread with fried potatoes. It was a good match with the PIPA really standing up to the spice and even helping reduce the intensity of the spice on the tongue. All in all this is a fine beer, while not as good in my opinion as the Maharaja, its pretty close. This one gets an A- from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

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