Allagash Four

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

750 ml bottle, corked and caged. Deep ruddy tan colour, creamy off-white head that lasts practically forever. Aroma is oaky and vineous, honeyish malts, woody and oaky, light vanilla and a bit of tawny port aroma as well. Very rich and complex. Malts are light but fairly complex. Oaky and vanillaish notes with a light white grapiness. There is also a soft yeasty spiciness through the middle. Lightly Belgian character of the yeast plays off the softly peppery ethanol. Finish is oaky and vineous. This really drinks more like a full-bodied white wine than and other beer I’ve ever come across. Some lace clings to the glass all the way down. I spent a few hours with this bottle and it was great. As it warms, the yeasty complexity takes a front seat compared with the earlier emphasis on the barrel aging. A lovely minty character on the finish. Excellent.

Gorgeous thick deep orange-copper colour. The scratch in the bottom of the Chimay glass helps maintain a thin head. Rich soft alcohol-spice aroma that somehow makes me think of Frank Herbert’s Dune novels. The flavour blends a subtle alcohol with the spice promised in the aroma. It lacks the complexity that I would have expected from the style and ingredient list. Still a subtle addicting little sipper.

I bought two of these and the hype from my beer buddies over the last month finally came to a disappointing end. Pours a dark copper. Nice citrus aroma. Very inviting. Taste is very sweet, raisons, plums. Not as much hops or bitterness as I expected.

750ml bottle via trade with DocLock! - Thanks Jeff! - What a coincidence I’m drinking this on a night where we start talking about another trade.. - This pours a lovely copper color with carbonated bubbles rising to the top and a short offwhite head that fades back to a ring pretty quickly. Aromas of caramel, toffee, raisin, and a touch of candi sugar. Flavor is yeasty with lots of raisin, some caramel, toffee notes, and some candi sugar. Palate is light well carbonated and soft in the mouth. A touch of alcohol warmth on the finish but it is covered very well. A very well made quad and amazingly enough it is American.. Very nice..

Bottle; tasted at River’s Bend - Thanks Matt! Hazy amber/honey color. Moderate carbonation. Flavor is slightly yeasty, malty, and sweet like candied fruits (with a tinge of apple). The alcohol comes out a bit more in the finish as does some, but not too much hop bitterness. Over all this beer was quite good and well worth trying.

Pours a nice amber with a thick and creamy off white head. Aroma is more muted than the other quadrupels I’ve had: st bernardus, rochefort, westy 12, but is still nice. Chocolate, slightly earthy yeast, dark fruits. Taste is earthy yeast, minerals, chocolate undertones, dark fruits plums raisins. the finish is very clean, with some alcohol warm. This was a great effort, and I agree with my friend’s opinion: Tastes like a new world take on an old world style.

Pours amber with creamy offwhite head. Aroma is caramel and citrusy hops. Nice dark fruit aroma that carries into the flavor. Nice creamy/sticky mouth. Finish is sweet malt and bitter hops. Nice true to style quadrupel with a little extra hop charater.

Bottle. Pours a ruby red color with a foamy/soapy looking head that fizzed a ton. Nose was spicy (vanilla) and malty and smelled a little bit like limes (seems odd) and sour cherries. There was also a little alcohol in the aroma, and not nearly as much as I’d expected. Great creamy flavor (butter and toffee) that has excellent body with sweetness up fron that gives away to bitterness and then alcohol. Definite cherries in the flavor, and maybe even a bit nutty. Mouthfeel is thick and full, but a bit more oily than I personally like, great bubbles though.