Allagash Tripel Reserve

Brewed by Allagash Brewing Company
Style: Abbey Tripel
Portland, Maine USA

750 ml, batch #98. Orange-golden with a four-finger, creamy pillow head and nice lace. Spicy yeast, citrus, and Juicy Fruit gum aroma. Vinous, fruity, yeast and sweet malt flavors are well balanced by some toasted nut, caramel, peppery alcohol, and a hint of bitter herbs. Body is on the lighter side of light-medium, alcohol-tingly, and smooth but disconcertingly airy and effervescent at the same time. Crisp, dry, apple martini-and-herb finish gives good balance to the caramel malt and bubblegum ester flavors.

May 2006 - Batch 74. Pour was pale yellow with nice, but quickly dissipating head, minimal lacing. Aroma and flavor was spicey and wheaty. Flavoe might have been a tad too sweet and very peppery. Touches of banana and strong yeast presence as well. Pretty darned good for an American attempt (better than Golden Monkey), but definitely isn’t top notch.

My first thought was "I am pouring silk into a glass!". The head came out very silky. Slightly amber/yellow. Small uniform bubbles puff into a cloud like pillow of awesomeness. After a minute or two the head quickly dissipates into a thin layer of bubbles that form a prairie on a far away fantastic planet. What I mean is that it falls unevenly. The color of the elixir is a light golden. It is cloudy enough to be completely opaque. Nothing can be seen through the glass with the exception of light. Holding in front of a source of light makes the beer appear to generate its own happy glow.

The aroma is sweet and a touch heady. It has that indefinable (until I review more beers:) scent that I correspond with Belgium beers. Almost sickly sweet; as if a honeysuckle has been sitting in the sun for a few hours. Nothing freshly plucked about it. Although this beer (on the top of the smell stack) does have some fresh sweetness. The smell overall is a touch too light - my nose is yearning for just a hair more.

The flavor hits me first with the sweetness then sharply drops off and my taste buds hit a near vertical wall of this sweet-dropping-off effect. Then the taste takes a visual jump and comes back a little smoky. From the third taste on this sharp drop and rise effect mellows out into a more smooth visualization. The taste is a slow climb, then a slow decline of flavor. Almost like a slight frown. But there are no frowns about this brew - it’s frickin delicious. It hits me as fruity - almost like a dried apricot that was rubbed with some raisins. This beer is incredibly drinkable. I’m glad the bottle is more than just one pour. A quick swallow sometimes brings a bit of sharpness to the back of the throat. So this is definitely a beer to drink slowly.

The palate is smooth with a touch of tickle from the carbonation. It slides smoothly, yet it is still thin. It says to me "I am very drinkable, but I have substance, so take heed and don’t drink me like water". I feel like as I near the end of the glass the palate becomes more viscous, but still very slippery.

Overall I truly enjoy this beer. I would drink it again. The bottle is numbered by batch number. I am partaking in batch #102. One thing to note is that there is a slight sign of mold on the top of the cork (underneath the metal pull down). It’s dry, but seems that it was wet at one point; maybe during transportation? I have been storing the beer on its side. The solids in the beer fell to the side and stuck to the bottle. It doesn’t seem that any solids make it into the beer, but I’m a true believer in not trying to avoid the solids - I believe they are part of the experience of a particular beer. On a side note - this beer goes very well with "Neutral Milk Hotel" on the speakers. As I near the end of this fantastic experience I note that I can feel the alcohol.

Really really good. I didn’t know what to expect from this, but the subtle sweetness of this beer is delicately balanced and serves to cement this Maine beer’s place along side some of the great Belgian Tripels.

I really enjoyed this one. The aroma slaps your senses when the bottle is opened. Visually, it would be hard to find a prettier one. The body of this beer has all shades of yellow, gold and orange...a sunset in a glass. The head is a thick merrange and the taste is that of citrus, banana, and honey. This beer is juicy...extremely tasty...get it if you can!!!

Pours a pale hazy yellow with a two finger creamy white head. The aroma was soft, yeasty, some Belgian characterstic, spicy, . The flavor was very spicy, coriander and curacao, wheat, earthy, banana, and a little alcohol. Very nice tripel. Dry finish, bitter mouthfeel with a little bit of alcohol.

The color was a light hazy golden. The head was creamy, thin, and white. The aroma was yeast, spice, grass, and alcohol. The flavor was strong, spicey, hoppy, and alcohol. The palate was lively. The finish was warm.

Bottle. Pours a light golden with a nice frothy white head. The aroma is mostly malts, spice and banana. The taste is really smooth; some coriander, holiday spices, malts, a slight fruity aspect also. Really nice and easy to drink. A well made beer.