Allagash Interlude

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

Bottle. Hazy honey color. Aromas filled with oaky sourness. Flavors are very involved: lots of oak, tartness, even some bitter backbone. Seems crazy but it all came together for me.

Bottle dated December 2007. Hands down one of the sourish beers. The sour notes are subdued though and balance the oak notes that are also present. SOme nice flavors of peach and apricots, with a hint of tartness. Outstanding!

Bottle. My rating is from the 2007 bottle. Poured a deep red hazy body with thin head. Aroma is sour, Brett(?) and oak. Flavor is slightly soure, oaky, earthy and Bretty. I honestly didn;t know that Brett was added to this beer and it was a welcomed surpise to find it here. This really hit the spot.

Appearance: Pours a clear, coppery body with a medium-sized, ivory-colored head. Smell: Aroma dominated by Brett with a dailed up musk factor and old, tired oak vessels with a lesser note of sour apple. Taste: Some malts and a syrupy sugar sweetness get quickly dislodged by a powerful tangy tartness and coarse astringent tannins. Splash of sour apple vinegar. Slight vinousnicity. Touch of sour-tasting yeast, a small hint of booze. Oaky finish with a slap of acidity and chock full of tannins. Argh! Mouthfeel: A hair above medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Quite the tongue-coating mouthfeel. Drinkability: Here’s my problem, I found it to be overly tart, sharply so, and a bit heavy on the oak. For me, this left the overall taste to be rather disjointed, with nothing really coming together for me.

I swear this is the second time I’ve entered this rating. 2006. Ok, nice reddish pour with a lasting head. The aroma had the following elements: sour, tart, fruity, bretty, funky, Belgian, spice. Similar flavor, very very nice brew alcohol not upfront. Definitely will be having this again. After a year its getting dry and I likes.

Orange pour with a thin white head. Zero head retention on this one. Funk butterscotch and cherry aroma. Flavor was sour fruit, mainly green apple. Cherry, sherry, vanilla, and oak round it out. Finishes with a nice sour that gets taken over by a sweetness that I didn’t find to compliment the mouthfeel very well. Interesting. Thanks dick!

* did not like would never buy! what a waste of money!!!* aroma: smells like a sweet tart sour pour, nice n ballanced though, not to the level of the big mouth pucker beers.. i am salivating though. app: burnt orange reminds me of an illuminated pumkin patch. its reflection on the face of the looker is like a glimps of all mystery.. flavor: odd chemical tartness. not a refined classic, lots of peper with a big creamy malt back drop. its all good.... just an odd balance. the more you drink the more it balances.. i would have rather had some of the wine out of whatever poor barrle they wasted with this unbalanced mess. palate: fine OA: nope, nother strike for me and allagash. seems this brewery lacks many years of experiance.

2006 bottle. Orange color. oaky leathery grapefruit aroma, like a soft matured geuze. Horse blanket. Oaky, sour, leathery flavor with grapefruit, lemon, grapes. malty, alcohol in the background. A firm flowery hop character. Lots of character and complexity in this world class beer.