Allagash Bacchus Tripel

Brewed by Allagash Brewing Company
Style: Abbey Tripel
Portland, Maine USA

Draft at Barcade. Oak and some hard alcohol in the aroma, also some standard belgian spice. Flavor was the same, not my favorite style. I just don’t really want my beer to taste like bourbon.

Tap at Barcade’s 3rd Anniversary Party: Golden pour, with a head that becomes a thin ring. Aroma is dominated by oak, with some spicy alcohol hints and citrus fruit esters in the background. The original Tripel is a great beer, but this rendition is not working out. There’s no harmony between the rich, fruitiness of the base beer and the wine character from the oak. It seems the beer only sucked out a bunch of oak/wood/cork flavors from the barrel. The vinous qualities are lacking depth, if there at all. It just has a citric, mild burn. There’s also even more oak in the woody finish. Didn’t work out all that great, but still an interesting experiment.

EBF, 2/2007. Pours a dark golden orange with a lacy white head. Aroma is a mix of spices, fruits, and a pronounced oak quality. The oak takes over the flavor of this beer, masking both the new vanilla and spicy characteristics and the phenomenal flavor and mouthfeel of the classic Allagash Tripel. I always applaud Allagash for its willingness to experiment and think outside the box, but this experiment didn’t work out as well.

EBF 07. I wasnt really feeling this one that much. The regular tripel is great, but they shouldnt mess around with it. Pours a slightly deeper color than the regular tripel, with a more diminishing fizzy head. Aroma is oaky, vanilla, slight butter, and the usual yeasty phenolics like clove and light vanilla- subdued on the ester/fruity quality. Flavor is also dominated by oak and other woody/earthy qualities- lots of tannins from the oak and possibly the wine- orange rind astringency with a slightly tart acidic finish. Ok.

Draught at EBF on 2/10/07
Vibrant golden-amber, with a coppery sheen to it, just like the regular trippel, of course. Large white head is held at cover and leaves quite a bit of lacing. The liquid shows moderate carbonation and a high clarity, although there is a touch of unfiltered haze. I thought there was just a slight peachy-rose tint from the wine barrel, though that could just be my imagination.
Intensely fruity/tannic nose, much like the En Garde, indicates a relatively fresh barrel with tons of wine character. Red currants, cranberries, curacao, tart cherries and strawberries all seem to comprise the wine-like aroma, which is decidedly strong. Chewy aromatic malts and light biscuity notes sit behind it, with the strong, ester-rich yeast and light earthy tones seeping in to the barrel character to produce curious results. Moderate tannic qualities on the end produce a dry, acidic finish but it leaves a little room for some soft, pale malt sweetness. Fruitiness continues, a very deep and juicy (but tart) red berry fruitiness, that is probably a bit too much and really leaves the beer component searching for an identity (though it is nice for what it is).
Strong fruitiness again in the flavor, with plenty of acids up front and a very dry, almost grainy, woodiness that stretches the malt sweetness to its limit. The fantastic yeast character of the trippel can’t be held back, however, and it’s there, in it’s estery, spicy glory, but a moderately sharp tannic acidity, and sweet fruitiness begin to win out on the finish. The vanilla and almond-cream-laced alcohol esters from the base beer are still present, though they sort of clash with the lighter, brighter wine notes, I think. Still, very intriguing overall, and it certainly is much nicer than the obnoxious trainwreck that is curieux. But I still think it’s got too much wine. I get the impression of drinking wine, like I did with Cantilon Reed Pinot, and not enough of drinking beer. The fruitiness gets a little fatiguing as well. Texture is perfect, just like in the Trippel. A touch of slickness from the barrel does not really disrupt.

EBF 2007: Hazy gold with a white head. Aroma yeast and some spice, a bit bready, along with some oak. Flavor, spice, some wood, light fruits, and a dry finish. Nice brew.

EBF 07. i like woody and nice nothing wawawewa. just nice and oaky and vanilla. and i enjoyed it more than the tripel i believe

EBF 2007 - the third barrel-aged beer of the night from these guys - sans the fruit of the other two (avance, inoculator), this beer was free to soak up all the wood it wanted, and, hence, leave it soaking into my palate - I got way too much wood from this - vanilla and oak overpower very faint flavors of wine grapes, honey, some floral hints - this just lacked balance to me.