As far as beer fads go (which we have discussed here and here) the imperial craze (that is, big malty beers with big ABVs) was never so obvious to me as when I went to purchase the Sip With Us Saturday beers, Avery’s Maharaja and DuganA.  There, sided by side on the shelf, were not only two imperial style beers, but two imperial IPAs made by the same company.

While I realize that Maharaja is seasonal release and DuganA is a limited release, brewed at the whimsy of its creator, I thought it a bit odd to see these two side by side.  It’s natural to compare different takes of one style, and Avery seemed to set themselves up for reviews such as this.  In fact, as I sat looking at those two bottles I chuckled as the words of Christ came to mind, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Hmmm…I wonder how Christ would rate these beers?  I digress…

If you recall, I wanted to taste these beers side by side to determine which I preferred.  Since these brews come loaded with alcohol and only come in 750 ml bottles, my wife and one of my buddies offered to lend their palates.  I did not tell them which order they drank the two big IPAs until they had rendered a verdict.  Here are my condensed notes.

DuganA

DuganA pours a clear amber/orange color.  Where my glass was narrower, the liquid presented more golden colors.  A very decent white one inch head with nice retention eventually dissipates leaving spidery lacing.  The aroma boasts citrusy hops.  Grapefruit, orange, pine, and pineapple dominate the nose.  There are also noticeable cotton candy aromas.  For the most part, intricate malt aromas are lost to the hop vapor cloud.

This beer is a hop bomb.  Despite the higher ABV (8.5%) the caramel malty backing I enjoy in an IPA is masked considerably by the grapefruit explosion in my mouth.  The body is much thinner than expected and there is an equally surprising amount of carbonation,  leading to somewhat of a dry drinking experience, which actually makes DuganA somewhat interesting.  The finish of the beer is reminiscent of sesame crackers.  Very interesting.

The thin body and bubbly nature of this brew lends a session able quality (though it’s not a session beer!) however I felt it to be just a tad boring.

Nate’s Review:

Overall Satisfaction:  

Among other Imperial IPAs:  

Maharaja

Maharaja looks quite a bit like DuganA, and it should…the grain bill is pretty similar.  There seemed to be a bit of a haze that wasn’t perceptible in the DuganA, and there were deeper shades of red.  The head was less glorious than its little sister:  A nice pour only yielded about a half and inch of head the dissappeared quicker but left behind similar sticky lacing.

At first whiff there is a noticeable difference.  The hop aroma is more multi-dimensional than the DuganA in my opinion.  While I would say it is more abrasive, it allows more malt aromas to penetrate the nostrils.  I would say there is more balance between pine and grapefruit aromas, but there is also a bit of funk that reminded me a bit of the smell of butane.  While it is heavier in IBUs (102), the higher ABV (10.24%) and thus maltier body allows sweet caramel, sugar, toffee, cappuccino, and grainy malt characteristics to reach the nose.

The flavor packs a punch.  In my opinion, I found Maharajah to be more balanced, and this is strictly personal.  While I love hops, my tastes requires a bold malt backing to balance out the biting quality of the hops, and Maharajah really packs a bite in its hop profile.  There is a peppery bite woven in the citrus quality that I attribute to the use of Simcoe hops.  At times, it was almost minty.  At the same time, that sweet molasses/caramel body lent itself to careful dance of flavors in my mouth, alternating between sweet and bitter depending on where I swished the brew in my mouth.

Maharaja is thicker, stickier, and much, much more of a sipping beer.  I can see why many may prefer the DuganA.  As for me, while I am growing a bit weary of all these imperial brews confiscating shelf space, when it comes to IPAs, I prefer either a classic more sessionable beer (i.e. Boulevard’s single wide or even a classic British IPA) or a bombastic, in your face, highly complex sipping IPA.

Nate’s Review:

Overall Satisfaction:  

Among other Imperial IPAs:  

For the record:

My wife preferred DuganA while my buddy, Aaron, leaned towards Maharaja

WHAT DO YOU THINK???

What do you prefer???  There is no right or wrong answer.  Different strokes for different folks, right?

***note*** I will update this post with pics I took of our tasting as soon as they are emailed to me.  My digital camera was destroyed at the hands of my three year old.