Allagash Four

Brewed by Allagash Brewing Company
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Portland, Maine USA

Awesome. First review in a while, and what a way to get back into it. Pours a dark amber, and forms a nice dark tan head that hangs in there. Nice malt, belgian nose. Great flavor to this brew, amazing.

I love the smell of this beer. Big sweet aroma. Very smooth, doesn’t taste like a 10% beer whatsoever. This bottle was aged for about 1 year. Would say more but I just finished an 8 hour drive and this was my reward.

Bottle: Pours a rich mahogany color with a modest beige head. An aroma of caramel and sweetness abounds. Flavor is very rich with brown sugar, caramel, dark fruitiness, and raisons. I loved the balance here. No one flavor stands out, but its not lacking either.

Bottle pours a cloudy redish carmel color with a smann dense sandy head. Big soft sweet aroma of carmel and brown sugarm. Tastes of butter honey toast and a touch of tinfoil at the end. Thanks Jake !

Tap at the Brickskeller, vintage 05. Pour is rusty orange, clear. Aroma is all heavy syrups, with juicy oranges, dirty, peaty, malt and thick cider. Earth tones in aluminum and iron, but still bright and fruity. Tastes dark with foreboding richness; raisin, scotch, chocolate and honey, evolving into deeper beauty as it warms. Bold, and full; well-aged. Coating and unabashedly thick resonance on the palate. Earthy sweetness finishes; a pulse of maple syrup, seemingly fresh from the tree. Slow to blossom, though quite lovely at that point.

In short: An uncharacteristic take on the Abt genre. A great earthy/well-malted/yeasty/fruity/tralala Belgian Strong Ale
How: A few times at tasting sessions and a few 750ml bottles by myself (fresh and 1 year old). I think I prefer it slightly aged
The look: Clear mahogany body with small particles with a medium beige head
In long: Aroma is rather discreet yet but very enticing with hints of fruity yeast in a rich malted body. Taste is just a bit of everything but doesn’t feel all over the place. Definitely strong and complex malt profile with cookie malts delivering rich caramel that is both spicy and earthy. Fruity notes range from red fruits like <insertprefix>berries to the darker figs, dates and friends. The leafy hops do their balancing job but the focus remains on the malt and yeast profile. Overall feels rather sweet with its brown sugared caramel. The alcohol is unfortunately apparent and that’s about the only bad thing I can say about this beer. I really dig those earthy beers with complex fruity notes. Allagash Four dot Four.

750 ml. bottle. Light stone fruit aroma with biscuit, perhaps raisin. A slight suggestion of chocolate. Ruby tinged amber color with a white head that left rapidly. Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. The flavor is yeast, light stone fruit (peach), and spice. The finish is dry and somewhat earthy. It’s really good stuff. The alcohol is not at all intrusive.

750ml Bottle from Country Club Liquors; nose of peaches, breadiness, and a slight tart hint; cloudy copper with a medium beige head; flavor has a hint of funkiness, in front of fruity esters (apricots and a little bananas), yeast and spices. Pretty good quad!