This morning, Duns and I had a scientific conversation about hoppy beers. It started by me sending him a brief email saying I had an extreme and immediate urge to consume something hoppy. He replied explaining to me that he always has this urge. For some reason, this didn't surprise me. However, he went onto explain to me why this urge was ever present with him. He believes that hops release the same endorphins that spicy foods release causing your body to experience a "food high". Since Duns doesn't like spicy foods, his endorphin rush is always satiated by hoppy, lupulin-packed beers. Scientifically speaking, I don't think you can obtain more conclusive evidence than this. In fact, I believe this to be the reason why breweries tell us to pair spicy foods with hoppy beers. It's like a double whammy of endorphins to your brain!!! Best marketing ploy ever.
Tonight's brew is from Avery Brewing. Duns went on a brewery tour of Avery back in April and was very impressed with what he saw. Avery is one of those breweries that seems to have every type of beer you can think of. Just between Duns and I, we have reviewed 11 of their beers! Check out the Review Archive for a full list of reviews including one of our personal favorites, Maharaja.
Avery's Kaiser is an Imperial Oktoberfest. As you have seen in the past week, both of us are big fans of the Oktoberfest style. My favorite so far has been Hacker-Pschorr's Oktoberfest. I like the classic examples of the style. If they are too big, smokey or hoppy I generally am not a fan. So I'm going out of my comfort zone getting an imperial version of my favorite Autumn-time marzen.
The Kaiser has little to no head. Nice, deep amber and brilliantly clear. Very malty aroma with a mild hop presence that seems subdued. Other than the darker than normal color, I wouldn't be able to tell that this is an imperial example of an Oktoberfest. The taste... well, thats where this brew shows its true colors. A nice body, bold, but hot on the way down. This could use some age to lose the heat. Plenty of bready and caramel flavors persist throughout with a mild hop bitterness and plenty of alcohol warmth.
Overall - I really wanted to like this beer. But the heat from the alcohol just brought me out of it. All the flavors were there to make this a great beer. In fact, I think it is a great beer, but just not right off the production line. If I let this bottle age for a few months I'm sure it would live up to my expectations. Grab a bottle and cellar it until Christmas or Thanksgiving. You will be happy that you did!
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