Allagash Grand Cru

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

Bottle 12oz - Pours bright amber but cloudy with a small but highly carbonated head. Aroma is citrus orange slight corriander and vanilla. Flavor is malty with a nice touch of corriander. Feels good on the palate smooth in the mouth due to the high carbonation slight spice taste and almost a buttery finish that covers the alcohol quite nicely. A nice beer. I enjoyed it.

Cork popped and scared the crap out of me. Lots of orange in the aroma. LOTS. Almost no head. Like the aroma, the coloring is orange, amber, and the colors right after a firecracker goes off. Flavor is like a spice drop, and then becomes a desert: dry and nothing there. Not in a bad way, it just drops off into a plateau of flavor. I’m going to stop, because I’m not able to write expressively enough about this at the moment.

Orange with a tan head and powerful head retention. Aroma is like and orange julius: orange, vanilla, spices...very good. Flavor is malty, orange, and spices. Has a creamy smooth texture on the palate.

Batch #2

I was upset when the cork did not "pop" so much as "hiss" when I opened the 750ml bottle. It poured a flat, coppery/brown with no head except for some quickly fading soda-pop activity. Aromas were complex, with toffee as the base. I additionally sensed taffy apple, pumpernickel and port. Big malt flavors with a bittersweet start and a tangerine finish. Medium-bodied with a chalky mouthfeel. Flavors were nice but the feel was off.

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I loved the smell which I can only describe as sweet spicy bananas/grapefruit. This beer is very complex. I can taste the fruity flavors but there is a big bitter end to it. I also detect a somewhat sour malty aftertaste which I recognize from other Allagash beers. My wife feels you can taste the alcohol and I agree to a point-its definately not devoid of taste.

Nice semi-opaque dark orange with a settled cream topping. Brilliant spicy aroma and a nice warm flavor ... cookie dough, cinnamon, clove, pine. No way I’d guess this was 7.2% ... little late in the year for this one, but this would be awesome by the fire.

Light brown/orange pour supporting a thick light beige head with tons of retention and very good lacing. Fruity, yeasty aroma with some lightly toasted malt. Delicatly layered flavors of roasted citrus, spice, fresh biscuits and malt. Surprising hoppy kick at the end of the long, smooth and sweet finish. Overall, a very well balanced and refreshing Belgian that hides the alcohol quite well and that works well in any season.

BATCH NUMBER 8:first off the cork was a bitch to get out.when i finally pulled it from the bottle,it shot out at about 70 m.p.h........anyway.this grand cru pours a nice murky orange with little black "floaties" in it.very flat looking 3/4 inch head.the aroma contains orange soda,spice,chocolate,and malts.the flavor is very well balanced and the mouthfeel is a tad on the light side.i taste yeast,corriander,malts,and a bit of hops.this is very nice,but the mouthfeel could have been a bit thicker.