Allagash Black

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

Wow. Pleasantly surprised by this beer. Served on draft. I tend not to like Belgian yeasts, so I wasn’t expecting to like this much, but the combination of the roasted malt with the yeast blended so well. Perhaps I’ve grown somewhat tired of conventional stouts, but the lack of an overt sweetness, and the melding of the elements of this beer made me enjoy something I otherwise might not.

Pours black with a dense 1/2" head. Light aroma of chocolate malt and hops. Medium to full bodied with tastes that mirror the aroma. Palate is a bit astringent from carbonation. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

The aroma is muted, but has hints of coffee, chocolate, lemon, yeast. Medium carbonation, dry and roasty in the middle, yeasty, with a nicely balanced finish, which has a welcome citrusy acidity from the hops. Kind of one dimensional, I was expecting a bit more.

Allagash Black pours a almost black color with ruby red highlights. Very small amount of head is poured with minimal lacing. This beer is categorized as a Belgian Strong Dark Ale on BA. Allagash calls it a Belgian Style stout. But honestly by the looks of it you could think this is a stout. First thing I picked up off this brew is coffee. Followed up by dark roasted malt. Slight chocolate presence mixed in with an even smaller candi sugar presence. Decent aroma. Coffee backs off a bit here and meshes well with the sweetness of the chocolate. Some smoked, charred malt character and a yeasty taste can be tasted in the background. Not huge but if I didn’t know it I would think this is a 100% an American Stout. Either my palette isn’t trained well enough yet or I’m losing it in my old age. Goes down easy enough. Low carbonation. Medium bodied.

Pours basically a black color with a medium sized tight off white head that leaves lots of lacing on the glass.

The aroma is fruity and roasty with some mild licorice, but generally this beer is pretty faint smelling all around, it’s also kind of one noted, it’s a nice note but it doesn’t make for very exciting smelling beer.

The flavor makes up for where the aroma lacks. The beer is fairly bitter with a good licorice flavor that builds as the beer warms. The beer is dry, roasty and mildly spicy. Everything in the aroma works pretty darned harmoniously too.

Sweet, milky, chocolatey. Smooth. Wheat undertones. Not too heavy, but velvety.

Beau liquide noir opaque chapeauté par une belle mousse beige. Nez très intéressant et complexe. On y retrouve un mélange bien exécuté entre une belge et une stout impériale, c’est-à-dire d’épices, de caramel et de grains torréfiés. Le goût est très similaire aux arômes. On goûte en plus une touche de mélasse et de café espresso. Très belle surprise. (143-010112)

From notes: Batch #28. Pours ink-black with a small, light tan head. Aroma of chocolate mixed with coffee. Slightly thick, with a nice depth. Roasty flavor, mixed with coffee. As it warms a bit, yeasty and earthy notes come forward.

Bottle, pours light black (if that’s possible?), light tan head. Nose is bitter coffee, dark chocolate, slight funkiness from the Belgian yeast. Taste is nowhere near as sweet as some other foreign stouts. Nice roasted bitterness, lively, champagne-like mouthfeel. Interesting, and very good.