Allagash Fluxus 2009

Brewed by Allagash Brewing Company
Style: Saison
Portland, Maine USA

Bottle. Pours a hazy, golden color with a large, frothy tight white head. Lacing is very strong. Aromas of bananas, wheat, biscuit, and citrus. Lively mouthfeel throughout with a slick finish at the end, clean afterwards. Flavors of banana, wheat, spice, and a nice aftertaste of pepper. Recommend buying a bottle if you can find it!

Verre de 8 oz, d’un fût au Novare Res. Arômes de levure belge légèrement épicée. Robe dorée et claire, effervescence moyenne et belle mousse. Assez ronde en bouche, un malt mielleux bien développé supporte une levure fruitée et épicée. On remarque également la présence du poivre, sans que celui-ci ne soit vraiment expressif. Finale moyennement sèche et légèrement amère. L’alcool est réchauffant, mais bien intégré.

750ml bottle. Pours a hazy peach color with a 2 finger frothy white head....light lacing. Nose was light and a tad funky with a faint peppery spice that lingered. Flavor was much more in your face than the nose. Very funky and peppery. An ok Saison overall....not worth the $18 price tag.

750mL bottle. Pours hazy yellowish gold with some small particles in suspension, topped with a medium sized off white head that fades to a thin head. Aroma of spice, pepper, cantaloupe, candi sugar, and earthy notes. A big dose of spice hits the palate first, and is only partially tempered by yeast and candi sugar. Mild citrus, grain and mild hops round out the flavor. Spice and pepper stick around for a lengthy finish. This has a lot of potential, I just think the spice is a bit too intense.

(Cask) Poured amber and clear with medium sized white head. Aroma was of spices and sourness. Beer had medium bodied palate with low carbonation. The flavours were sourness, fruitiness, malts, hops, bitterness and pine. Finished with sourness and hops. Really good.

75cl bottle at K&L. Gold with a thick white head. The aroma is quite peppery and floral with some sweet potato being a definite possibility, though it is not pronounced enough for me to be sure that it is not just the power of suggestion. Blind, I would never pick it out. The flavor is lightly sweet with lots of pepper and some herbal hops showing in the finish. Light bodied with a dry finish. The pepper seemed a bit too forward as first, but the beer seemed to gain balance when it opened up. Nice saison with a unique twist added by the sweet potato; definitely overpriced though, and I can’t imagine buying any of this when even Fantome is less expensive. (7,4,8,4,15=38)

Rerate: 75cl bottle again. This actually smelled really good this time, with the sweet potato and spices working very nicely together. The spicing was still strong in the flavor, but didn’t seem out of balance at all actually. I’m going to go ahead and give this a success rating to Allagash for doing a well-done, interesting saison, though it is still way over-priced.

Bottle at Rare Beer Fest at Wynkoop. Yellow with little head. Nose is strange, a bit citrusy, sour, some funk but overall not real appealing. Flavor is very light, lemony, spicy, zingy. Overall not a bad beer but I expected more.

Draft at Kuma’s corner. Pours a glowing orange/gold. Nose is a bit funky. Spices, citrus, a little acid in the nose, bread and pepper. On taste, super refreshing. Nice spicy malt notes, clean bitterness with a nice tang to help you along. Damn fine Saison.