Allagash Musette

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

Draft at Barcade. Aroma is apple and grape. Tart with grape peel and a shitload of bourbon still. This is a real sipper.

I had this at Night of the Barrels at Extreme Beerfest in Boston. This has to be one of the few disappointments of the night. Perhaps my tastebuds were worn out from all the whiskey-barrel brews, but this one seemed extremely muted. Slight flavors of dark fruits, belgian yeast, bourbon. Very little dry-hopping apparent. I think I should try this at another time in from the bottle because it seems as though I am missing out on its subtleties.

First crack at this beer in over a year, a 750 from May 2006. It’s tasting mighty fine right now. Poured into a Duvel tulip, it’s as impressive looking as I remember - nice garnet color, substantive head, with really lively carbonation throughout. Superb balance of malts (and not the usual sloppy one-dimensional sort) and nice hops (would love to try the dry-hopped version). But the barrel-aging comes through subtly in the nose and doesn’t dominate in the flavor either. Rather, it’s nicely integrated; and now that some of the heat is off, it’s a really fine beer and another feather in Allagash’s cap.

Bottle dated May 2006. Cloudy brown body. Leaves sticky white lace on the glass. Aromas of brown sugar and fruit, notably apples. Flavor also shows some brown sugar along with maple candy, and pecan pie sweetness. Wonderful aged.

EBF NOTB; almost missed out on this one. golubj forced them to empty the last few ounces through some gravelling. Muddy brown color. Aroma was sweet and malty; however, there was also some woody sourness. Almost brett like, but not too much. Caramel malty flavor was good. Good beer.

This was probably my favorite of NOTB at EBF 08, and confirmed when they had it again the next day. Pours a nice deep amber with a fluffy long lasting head- spritzy yet smooth carbonation. Aroma si nice smooth woodiness, a subtle earthy hop component, light on the booze- hardly any strong sharp scotch aroma and a modest dose of some farmhouse funk- Yeah- brett infection!! Flavor is smooth and sweet, herbal, phenolic and yeasty, caramel and toffee, light molasses and some light booze, and of course more funky brett with a light tartness in the end. Smooth and sweet lingering finish and a light acidity. Great BA beer, and a huge surprise- I didnt think this was going to be as complex as it was.

EBF- NOTB. You know that sound byte from ’Sideways’ right before THC gets caught chewing gum while tasting wine where Paul G says "and the slightest hint of a nutty Edam cheese"? This beer is like drinking Edam cheese (not texture-wise). Very strange. golubj didn’t taste the hops, and I absolutely didn’t taste the Scotch. Very Belgian.

EBF NOTB. Muddy brown pour. Aroma is the typical sweet malt from scotch ales, with some white-wine like alcohol, and sour wood. I didn’t notice the hops. The flavor is the same; pretty good.
Earlier Rating: 12/1/2007 Total Score: 3.8
Draft at the Blind Tiger. Light brown, slightly orange pour with a thin off-white head. Aroma was sweet malt, slightly roasted, with some banana and something else that I couldn’t identify. The flavor is like the aroma, brown sugar sweetness like most scotch ales, with some oak in the back. Good.