Allagash Confluence Ale

Brewed by Allagash Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Ale
Portland, Maine USA

Bottle from Dilly Deli. Poured clear golden color with a large frothy off-white head that was lasting with excellent lacing. Moderate brett, woody and tart citrus aroma. Medium body with a smooth dry texture and lively carbonation. Medium to heavy sour & sweet flavor with a medium to heavy sour & sweet finish of moderate to long duration. My expectations where met with a standout change of pace brew.

Bottle. Oh. Yes. You love it sweet, you love it crisp and refreshing, and Allagash is getting down to business for you. I’ve been mistaking this beer for a Saison for a while. Stupid me. Comes out cloudy bright lemony yellow with a nice platinum blonde mousse on top. Big sweet green apple nose...almost floral in quality, but unmistakably a citrus scent. Makes you hungry and thirsty and happy all at once. Big fizzy sharp pleasant body, just grabs you right off. I could see this beer washing down pizzas at a football bash, easy, and it hides the 7.4 so well no one would make it through the second quarter. And that’s the great thing about this beer--it can EASILY be a chugger, because this beautiful dry bitter resin/biscuit note comes bombing out of the mid-palate and leaves it with a super-crisp finish. So, after that very tantalizing sweet nose that you might worry could get you into cloying territory, it dries out, hits you with a nice complex swirl of flavors (nuts, tiny bit of banana, some other soft fruit notes, a bit of light brown toast), and then bang, there’s one of the more refreshing finishes you’ll find at this abv. Awesome stuff.

First impression is that this is not worth the $20. It is a good beer and incredibly drinkable but the price tag does not justify the contents here. Distinctly belgian yeast aroma with some toasty malt adn grain. Flavor is nice and dry, grainy malt, and full bodied. Finish is lemony citrus and grassy, hay hops. Pours an opaque bright yellow color with a nice looking big white head. Not getting a ton of brett yeast here but maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about. Distinctly belgian yeast but not sour bretty.

Bottle from corby112. Let me say flat out: this is absolutely delicious. One of the most unique, well crafted beers I’ve had yet this year. This is the kind of beer that makes me want to homebrew, so I could spend my life trying to nail something like this. Perfect pour, very cloudy, with a huge, rocky, everlasting head. The nose is a mix of very dry, very bretty hay and farmyard notes, and a fruity, spicy hoppiness loaded with pineapple, caraway and saffron. Similar flavorwise, big and juicy and near perfect, delicately complex and just dripping with personality. Like a dry, bretty, hoppy saison, this stuff is just incredible. I need to find some bottles locally for the cellar.

2009 bottle thanks to ericandersnavy. murky light gold pour with a ring of white froth. nose is bretty with wood and random fruits. very smooth with a slight sour note backed with pineapple and earth.

(750ml, bottled Jan 2009, courtesy of ericandersnavy) Pours a lightly hazy yellow body with a small white head. Aroma of barnyard, horse blanket, florals, and citrus. Flavor of brett, pepper, grass, citrus, and some caramel.

Pours yellowy gold with a minimal head. Aroma of earth, hay, pear, and mustard. Tastes of eath, mustard, old fruit, grass and hay. Finishes tart and earthy. Good, but predictable in its brettiness. Still, it’s really well made and I can’t help but enjoy it.

Bottle from Monument in Concord, CA. Hazy gold color with a multifinger frothy white head. Lots of spice in the aroma, covering something like citrus. Touch of barnyard. Medium body with sharpish carbonation. Flavor is quite bretty. Lots of light fruit. Some floral bitter. Astringent. Finishes rather pleasantly.