Allagash Black

Brewed by Allagash Brewing Company
Style: Foreign Stout
Portland, Maine USA

From a c&c 750 ml bottle from BevMo in Sacramento, CA this poured quite black with a fat brown head and sticky lacing rings. Nose of roasted malts with coffee and chocolate along with some hard to identify spices that must come from the yeast. Rich creamy mouthfeel. Flavor mirrors the aromas and the finish is dry. Very yummy.

750 ml. bottle. Pours dark as night with a tall, fluffy, light brown head. Sweet yeast aroma with notes of fruit and roasted malt. An interesting combination in the nose. Medium-high carbonation with a rich and slightly chewy mouthfeel. The palate is quite complex with bits of dark cherry, mineral, earth, chocolate, coffee, candy sweetness, and malt sweetness. Are those chocolate covered dark cherries I taste? A very interesting interplay between a fruity Belgian and a robust stout. It is like having two beers in one. Medium-long finish with the stout notes lasting the longest. Very interesting and definitely worth trying!

750 ml bottle
Picked up at a store nearby a few months ago I got around to opening this after a tasting the evening before. As I suspected even a few months meant it lost some freshness but it was still a superb beer. The blend of Belgian cultures and stout create a perfect storm of liquid gold.

Aroma / Appearance - The short lived head cedes to a fluid black body. Sheens of lacing slink down the sides of the snifter leaving behind clear trails of alcohol. The smell of cigarette smoke in a dusty used bookstore gives this beer a nice musky profile. Some sweetness sneaks in after a period of letting it warm.

Flavor / Palate - Washing smoothly across the tongue this beer has enough taste to make it enjoyable and yet not heavy on the palate. Roasted malt, ash, black coffee, and a woody finish mark a balanced experience. A bit pricey at $8.99 I may not be picking this up again but if you are a fan of well made stouts from intelligent breweries share it with a friend.

On tap at The Big Hunt, Washington, DC. Black pour, dense tan head. Toasty, roasty, chocolate, coffee, smoke, chicory, yeast (banana), with a nice alcohol note in the finish.

Pours a truly opaque black. Light brown head. Aroma is all belgian. Flavor starts off belgian but then transitions to roasty/toasty/burnt flavors. Lovely complexity, nicely balanced.

Pour looked amazing, good size head. Aroma was some cocoa, variety of spices some yeast in there as we.. Flavor was very nice, fruity deep earthiness some roasted malts. Solid beer for sure.

Bottle, batch 4. Pours a nearly opaque brown body with red hues and a light brown head. Aroma of roasted malts, chocolate, and bread/yeast along with a hint of coffee. Flavor is mainly roasted and burnt malts with cocoa, coffee, and tar/smoke flavors. Medium bodied with a smooth, slightly oily mouthfeel; lightly carbonated. This isn’t too bad, but tends to taste one-dimensional after a few drinks as the roasted malt flavor tends to dominate.

750ml. Nice black pour with a creamish colored head. Roast aromas, mocha and some light fruits, red/banana? Tastes was a good mix of roast malt, cocoa, very light coffee. A little brown sugar, cinnamon roasted pecans. Really don’t get the banana flavors I head about and lightly smelled in this. If the body was just a little heavier this could easily pass as a good stout. Finished dry and clean. Normally I don’t care for Belgian style ale’s of any sort, but this passed the grade with flying colors.