Allagash Black

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

Serve in English pint, Snifter, Tulip

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Pours black as the name implies with a large brown head. Nose is coffee, sweet bread, toffee and nuts. The taste is well balanced sweet and bitter. The texture is creamy and smooth, body is light to medium and finish is long. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Carbonated deep brown pour with bubbly, creamy head. Lots of smells waft out the glass; licorice, chocolate, fresh-baked bread, and a little smoke. Really complex taste. Starts with a hit of dark roasted coffee and adds notes of bitter chocolate, candied sugar, caramel, and slight belgian esters. A bitter piney hop presence really lets on during the finish, much more so than I would have expected. Great mixture of a stout with a dark belgian. Really awesome beer, but what else would you expect from Allagash.

Pours a hazy darker brown with very little head. Smells like roasted coffee. Palate is a little light with mild carbonation. Taste is roasted malt, sweet with a ice yeasty profile and subtle hop at the end. Unbelievable beer. Truly unbelievable beer that is a little rare in its style and therefore unappreciated. Way to go allagash!

Pours a dark cola brown with a light taupe colored head. Mild smoky chocolate and dark roasted malt on the nose. Mouthfeel is full and smooth. Light notes of chocolate underlie an nonoffensive Belgian yeast presence. The entire beer is smooth and very drinkable.

Pours a chocolate-kola, with 3 or so fingers of ivory-tan head, of which leaves fair amount of lacing. Smell is of fruity, spicy Belgian yeast, with notes of graham cracker. Taste starts with tropical fruit, grape, and hay, before segueing into peppery yeast, lightly bitter coffee, and earthy grains. Finish is lightly bitter, with sweet undertones. Mouthfeel is medium, with a very mild chewiness. The Belgian is more prominent than the stout part of this beer.

Bouteille de 750ml avec bouchon de liège. Bière brune foncée avec une mousse beige qui n’est pas durable. La première impression est l’iode, vient ensuite les grains rôtis et les fruits. La bouche est mince, liquide, poussiéreuse. La finale est sur les houblons verts avec une amertume quelque peu désagréable.

Pours deep black with a thick brown head that lingers. Aroma is less estery than I had expected and I get bakers chocolate, hints of toffee and slight french roast coffee. Taste is sweet with the esters presenting a slight spice on the tongue of cinnamon. Palate is interesting as the more typical belgian carbonation levels make this quite drinkable. Overall a good beer but not quite the match I hoped it would be.

Yummy and full of stouts and Belgian characteristics. Would undoubtedly drink again!x .

I poured a 12oz bottle into a chalice. There was no discernible freshness date.

Appearance: Dark brown/black opaque body. Forms a small, eggshell, soapy head which mostly dissipates and leaves little lacing on the glass.

Smell: Classic stout aroma plus a classic Belgian yeast aroma. Strange but interesting.

Taste: I should disclaim this review by mentioning that I have had this beer before on tap and it was pretty amazing. I’d never seen it in bottles until recently, so I grabbed one when I had the chance. I have to say I’m pretty disappointed by the difference between the tap and bottle versions. Even though it’s been a while between decantation, the memory of that beer being amazing stayed fresh. Allagash Black in the bottle isn’t so much a good or bad beer as it is weird. The authentic Belgian yeast strain really makes itself known, but so does the classic strong stout base and the two conflict.

The palate begins rather mild with a general stout flavor. Light chocolate and coffee notes are noticeable, though they amplify greatly at the apex. There’s a strong dry bitterness of burnt coffee, dark chocolate and Belgian yeast spiciness. As it finishes the Belgian yeast becomes much more prominent, imparting slight banana and potpourri flavors, but there’s still noticeable chocolate and coffee as well. When all these notes collide they create for a strange, almost fish-like taste, leaving an aftertaste of coffee. Though at no point is this palate repulsive, it’s just an eyebrow-raiser.

Drinkability: Belgian beers are known for being zesty and effervescent, and while that’s true of Allagash Black, it’s still a remarkably drinker-friendly palate. A mouthfeel that’s on the thinner side with no alcohol presence at all. The aftertaste is slightly dry and bitter, but is akin to coffee so it’s easily tolerable. The 7.5% ABV seems right on point, if not a tad high, but I doubt many drinkers will find it challenging to drink in large quantities.

On tap at tripel. Dark, thin, with thin ran head and medium lacing. Fruity, esthery aroma. Very rough, Belgian yeast taste. Bold coffee and roast malt taste, somewhat overpowered by yeast and alcohol. Not very refined. An interesting idea, but not very good execution. Not a repeat.