Allagash Musette

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

Tasted at Noogfest 4.0 (2008). This scotch ale pours a light brown color from a 750ml bottle. Small to medium sized white foamy head. The aroma is caramel and sweet, touch of bourbon and smoke. A medium bodied Scotch ale. The malts are fruity, caramel and sweet, yet it is kind of estery and yeasty. The hops are floral and earthy. Touch of bourbon as well. Nice carbonation. Nice beer. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Bottle at Noogfest 08. Pours deep amber with an off white head. Aroma of belgian esters, which smelled like lime juice. Medium bodied with a very nice feathery texture and fine, dense carbonation. The flavor was a nice balance between the malts (caramel, maple, ) and the belgian yeast (lime, berries). There is some very light vanilla in there as well. Finish is dry and woody, with alcohol hidden very well. This is a good beer, but expensive as well. Not your traditional scotch ale. I was actually surprised to see this classified as a Scotch Ale. Seems more like a Belgian Strong to me.

750ml corked&caged bottle, shared with several, including ealdent. Pours a deep brown with mahogany highlights and a thick, quickly-fading, light tan head. The aroma is rich and malty with notes of toffee and chocolate and has a good dose of fruity esters, too (peach, banana). The flavor follows the aroma: malty and complex with notes of caramel, toffee, and biscuits. There is a distinct fruity ester quality, too. There is some flavor of wood and the oak aging, but it is much less boozy than Curieux (both are blends of beer aged in bourbon barrels). There is no significant vanilla or bourbon tones in the beer - just a subtle note of freshly sawed hardwood. The finish has a subtle, balancing hop bitterness and is medium with a good bit of fruit and malt character. The mouthfeel is rich and medium-full with a vigorous level of carbonation. Overall, this was a great beer, but not as interesting as Curieux. I was hoping for something a little more "wee heavy" tasting, but this beer has considerable fruity esters that are characteristic of Belgian yeasts - which makes it taste like a Belgian dark strong ale, not a wee heavy (despite the little drawing of a bagpipe that appears on the label).

deep brown pour with a nice thick off white head. oak, malts and caramel on the nose. not bad on the palate at all. quite an overflow of malts and oak that are very well balanced. the aftertaste is very woody and lingers for quite sometime.

750 ML bottled in 2006: Sparse/no head of cream colored bubbles with a deep amber, lightly hazed body. Aroma is toasty malt, toffee, and plasticky/band aid phonelic w/ a hint of earthy, barnyardy tartness similar to Jolly Pumpkin. No real yeast character, other than described in the last sentence, at least not to my nose. Not really fruity , but there is an underlying woody oak to it. Maybe a touch floral. Flavor is well balanced, and the tartness perceived in the aroma isn’t really there. Still lots of woody oak flavor, but you can tell it’s diminished over the years. Toasty malt throughout, lightly sweet up front, but seriously dry, woody finish. Lots of caramel flavor as well mid palate. Aftertaste is lingering with wood, toasty malt, and an earthy dryness. Higher medium CO2, dry m/f, well hidden alcohol, medium body. Not a bad beer! I’m not sure I’m a fan of the yeast character in the aroma, but the flavor doesn’t seem to be as strong with the band aid/plastic phenolic. Not sure I’d buy more of it at 16 bucks a bottle, but I don’t have any problems finishing this one.

(on bottle) Rustyred, white head. Aomas from cranberries, wood and mash. Sweet ´n´soft mouthfeel. No real peat or tar here, gets very sweet in the finish, so sweet not even the 10% can balance it out.

Small sample off of a friend’s 750ml bottle. Pours almost a dark mahogony in color. The aroma is nutty and spicey, a mix of anisete and cloves. This beer has a syrupy sweetness, but in a good way almost like a vanilla/honey flavor. It has a full body ending in a warm, creamy finish. Very good.

pours a nice brown color with a medium sized off-white head. nutty, caramel, toast, brown sugar, licorice aroma. flavors brown sugar, honey coated nuts, caramel, spices.....very brown. sugary. i don’t notice any smoked notes. i would consider this more of a dubbel or brown ale but excellent either way.