I was reminded this weekend of how important it is to take time to just let everything go and truly relax. I had an Avery Maharaja Imperial IPA and was transported to a place of quiet, peace, and tranquility. It truly was an enlightened state. See 4th of July weekend in my house is somewhat hectic. At least it was this year. Saturday the 3rd we got going and cleaned out the garage. Then we wanted to go buy fireworks to launch ourselves on the 4th so we did that. Came home and realized that only three of us would be home for dinner because two of my boys had gone to the movie and would be joining us later that evening at the fireworks (my town launches theirs on the third). So we ran to Subway and got dinner and then proceeded to the fireworks. This was after we made coleslaw and Potato Salad for the 4th. The day of the 4th we prepped for dinner and made home made ice cream that afternoon to have after dinner and then did a few more things before barbecuing hamburgers and brats and then ultimately launching fireworks in our driveway and then finally getting to bed at about 2 am.
Now I’m not saying it was completely crazy like many weekends can get, but it wasn’t really relaxing either. Most of the activities were fun, with the exception of splitting firewood and cleaning the garage, but they were still active. Every once in a while you need to slow the pace and detach the mind and just be. Monday was that day for me and the Maharaja Imperial IPA was central in making this happen…
I decided that Monday would be the day to rejuvenate this week. Fortunately for me I got Monday off since the 4th fell on a weekend. So Monday was a great day. I poured the Maharaja and it was a beautiful orange spice color with about a one finger white head that dissipated quickly, but left a lot of lacing on the glass. It was almost like a sheet of lacing. The nose was big and piney. At 10.4 % ABV the alcohol made quite an impression on the nose as well. The combination of smells almost gave a nutty smell to the brew like pine nuts.
When I took my first sip I was taken away on a magic carpet. The alcohol is very big, but it integrates well into the overall flavor profile. It has a nice piney IPA flavor with 102 IBUs making an impression. It was a touch hot with all that alcohol, so it is not for the faint of heart, but suited me very well. While 102 IBUs is big, it isn’t an overwhelming bitterness that combined perfectly with a big and creamy mouth feel.
I took the beer out onto my front porch and lit up a big cigar. That is when time and space slowed to a crawl and I felt as if I had found Nirvana. 
Here is the view off of my front porch. Of course the rainbow wasn’t there Monday and you could see the mountain peaks in the background, but it was a beautiful 75 degrees and sunny with light breezes, perfect weather, great brew and a relaxing cigar. Slow down, take time to refresh yourself, and enjoy all that you have.
-Don
Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
Great post Don…I love sitting outside and sipping a beer. While a big beer like Maharajah (one of my favorite DIPAs) I only drink once in a great while, the sipping nature of the beer really does enable one to relax and separate from the rat race.
I completely feel you on how a fun filled weekend can just be exhausting. It doesn’t mean it’s bad, but one still needs decompression time.
You are correct there. A fun weekend can still lack rejuvenation. I needed it, and the Maharaja gave it to me. Just the right thing at the time. The rest of Monday was great too. Wen to the local fruit stand and picked up orchard fresh cherries, then that evening I watched my favorite western “Unforgiven”. It was a great day. Having a little trouble getting my motor started today though! 🙂
Should try the Dugana next. It’s my choice of the two.
Happy 6th.
Funny you should say that Daniel. You’re the first. Most people I have heard , actually all people, said the exact opposite. Now you’ve got me intrigued. I’ll pick up a Dugna next time I see it.
This is one of many reasons my friends don’t take me seriously as a beer snob. Which hopefully gives me more credibility as a beer writer…
Like I said, you have intrigued me. I will be checking it out in the near future. FYI, I also included your site on our friends roll in a censored sort of way.
All the swearing helps with the credibility, too, Daniel. 🙂
I was about to comment that I’ve been dying to try this but haven’t (Jim, can I find it locally?) when I saw Don’s comment about a censored link…..I had no idea this was a “clean” site….geez, and you guys haven’t kicked me and my potty mouth off yet?! I’m humbled, LOL.
It’s funny, but Don and I have discussed it, and swearing here just feels weird to us. Not sure why, but every time we’ve gone to lay down an f-bomb we get gun shy. It’s not a rule or anything, just something we’ve both decided independently.
It’s funny, because you’d think I was a sailor in real life.
Also, I’m checking about finding the Maharaja locally. I’ll email my findings…
I thought for sure you’d talk about living in Fairfield Iowa when we were kids, the meditation capitol of America. Half the town were farmers, the other half were what we called “gurus,” students of the Maharishi Mashesh Yogi (the fella in the picture above) who came mostly from the east and west coasts to find inner peace. What an amazing combination of folks in a small town in the middle of nowhere. I could write a book.
The magician Doug Henning got married at our contry club, and the Beach Boys, Andy Kaufmann and other celebs were randomly spotted in town. Surreal.
Anyway, maybe I should find a transcendental beverage and spin it that way.
Yeah, I took it a little more personal than that. I could have talked about working at the Baskin Robbins in town and having to wait on people that took 20 minutes to buy ice cream like it was the most important decision of their lives, or the time I worked the 7000 conference and got way overpaid because they all had way too much money and were really bad at math. Perhaps some other post! 😉
I love this beer. It is my favorite DIPA. There are many good ones but this is just plain out my fav.
It was a very good beer, and one I will have again. I would say it is my second favorite of the style. My first being Southern Tier’s Unearthly. That isn’t saying a lot though, because I haven’t had that many to compare them too. 😉
Don’t forget Gubna. That’s an imperial pale ale as well.
Nice post Don. Not sure I’d be into this one, but I’m definitely into the view from your front porch. I think any beer would be better from that spot!
But what you don’t smell is the prairie dog dung and other farm-like odors that are surely thick in the air.
And nice new avatar, fancy boy.
Not to rub it in Scott,…OK Too rub it in…but my county has less than one person per square mile! I’m pretty sure you could fit most of Jersey in my county. Its like the 3rd largest county land wise in the US.
No wonder you have no friends. There are no people.