Allagash Interlude

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

Deep golden cloudy body, oily in appearance. Tall frothy off white head, recession reluctant. Lacing is thick and arc shaped. Aroma is sweet and moderately tart, with notes of oranges, brettanomyces, oak, red wine grapes, cherry, light caramel and cumin-based spice and a touch of must and vanilla beans. Truly exciting nose, though more reserved than I’d like. All reservations are cast aside in a flavor that is similar, but dialed up several notches. Brett is crushing in its sourness, fading quickly to pleasurable levels that don’t throw the rest of the quaff into acetic dissarray. Yeast is moderately funky and well blended into the mold, a beer that is clearly Belgian in inspiration, even moreso in a farmhouse-rooted expression. Vibrant but never overwhelming carbonation pushes forth a tart citric acidity that is refreshing and complex. Finishes bold and medium dry. Alcohol is dutifully masked throughout. Palate is light to medium bodied, dry with sweet intervals and biting pepper notes. Very refreshing, a daring example. Another lesson from Allagash, I hope many American brewers experimenting with Belgian styles are taking notes. This is how you do it.

Bottle from PP Belgian Beer Fest. Aromas were definitley sour from the Brett. I didn’t get that as much in the flavor though. Some alcohol came through as well as a touch of woody spice. Pretty good

’07 bottle at Liar’s club. ha! i told cmubeerman that i was getting lots of farmhouse flavors and he told me there was none of that and no sourness. i was doubting myself for a long time. but the description clearly says that stuff is there. the aroma was mostly a white wine floral aroma. flavor was one of the most balanced beers of this style i’ve ever had. very sweet, some yeasty flavors, certainly complements of bret, i think i got some cherry as well. very very good. worth the $22? yes.

750ml bottle.
Pours a hazy, fiery copper amber with a quickly building fizzy head that almost as quickly recedes to a 3-bubble layer. Aroma is grassy sour like a farmhouse ale with leafy, earthy hops, straw, and a substantial bit of sweet malty goodness. Flavor misses the mark a bit for me with a funky corn-adjunct-like sour-mash flavor that seemed out of place. Other flavors taking their turn were a subdued but prickly hop bitterness, grassy grains, clover, a touch of acetic acid and plenty of candy-sweet malts. Finishes with a full mouthfeel and a dancing, tingly palate. I wasn’t quite as wild about this beer as most other reviewers, but like just about everything else Allagash puts out, it’s a pretty solid hit.

Pours a great hazy peach color. Aroma is brett, alot of oak and dry red wine. Flavor is really nice: more oak, peaches, red wine, with a great dry, tart finish. Peach skins and cherry skins. Younger bottles show more bready qualities, sourness increases quite a bit with age. This beer tastes alot like Russian River Temptation. Mouthfeel is creamy and lush. Loved it!

What a fantastically fine and unique beer. January 2007 bottling. Pours hazy copper with a sudsy light tan head. The aroma has lots of farmyard yeast, plums, hints of Sirah and Merlot barrels it was aged in, brett, light fruits (grapes and nectar fruits). The wine side leans more towards the fruit forward Sirah. Fan-f’n-tastic aroma. Medium / full body that is lush and rich with some unobtrusive sharp carbonation. The flavor starts with a mix of Belgium style earthiness and dry red wine that still seems more Sirah than Merlot - and that’s fine with me since I like Sirahs better. There is also some nectarine and pepper like spice along with a tannin aspect. There is a light sweetness, but this is mainly drhy. The finish is sharp and wine-like with earthy malt and yeast and spicy hops becoming noticable. What a succesful experiment. While this is terribly overpriced I will probably get another & I’m also excited to try the 2006 vintage. rerate for adjusting erroneous numbers

Thanks to markgugs for this one. Pours a medium dark copper, and really cloudy. Smell and taste is a lot like a Jolly Pumpkin Luciernaga (The Firefly). Sour fruits with a crisp finish.

Vintage 2006. Poured in a goblet, aroma hits you from across the room, no need to stick you nose in the glass on this one! Big fruit, spice and brett on the nose. Flavor was cidery, they must have used a but load of sugar in this one, also oak, red wine, barnyard funk, brett, finishes dry. I liked this one, thought I found that the strong cider flavor took away from this beer.