Avery DuganA
Needing to fill a spot in the beer roster between their standard IPA and Maharaja (DIPA @ 10.58% ABV), Avery released this 8.5% ABV double IPA this past October. I’ve never had the brewery’s standard IPA, but I have had their bigger double IPA. It was a while ago, but I do recall Maharaja being one hell of a beer.
A complete comparison between the three beers is obviously not going to happen, so let’s focus on DuganA — perhaps I can get lucky enough in the future to procure all three for a side-by-side tasting.
Appearance
DuganA pours with a massive, off-white head that faded slowly to an excellent lacing. It’s a clear, golden amber in color.
Aroma
The nose is dominated by big hops and big grapefruit as one would expect. It’s quite aromatic with lots of resiny pine, peppery spices and light fruits (apricot and pear perhaps). The alcohol is also in the mix, but certainly not that overbearing.
Taste
Quite simply, DuganA is everything you would expect from a double IPA. It’s big and bold with plenty of hops, bitterness and all. Grapefruit is the primary fruit presence, but there is also a mix of lighter fruits in there, as well. The flavors are very immediate and full only faded to a strong, biting bitterness in the finish. For as big as this beer is in terms of alcohol, it’s well masked and doesn’t really show up until the beer begins to warm to room temperature.
Overall
For as hopped up as this beer is, it’s still quite drinkable — that is if you like yourself a healthy dose of bitter hops. I enjoyed this one and can see why the brewery felt the need to fill in the void within their roster, but if I’m personally going to get a double IPA, I’m going to find the biggest one the brewery has to offer. That said, I will most definitely buy this beer again.
Rating: 3.5/5