Allagash Curieux

well i love bourbon.. .and i love tripels... good combo... makes the back of your cheeks and tongue curl up. worth all $15.

Bright orange, carbonaceous body with small off-white head. Sweet aroma belies the bourbon/alcohol flavor which is initially very strong but becomes less noticeable as I finish the drink. This was good for me because I don’t like the taste of bourbon. Still, I appreciate the use of the bourbon flavor in this beer. Full bodied and smooth. Alcohol aftertaste is strong in the back.

2006 bottle. Hazy/cloudy yellow/gold colour wiht a thin white head. Beautiful aroma, vanilla/bourbon oaky character that backs up a soft sweet Belgian malt base. Orange citrus, some soft rummy notes in the nose as well. Flavour is surprisingly well integrated. Sweet chewy malt, some honey, toffee and vanillla. Light bourbony flavour, black pepper and a nice sweet spicy yeast profile. Cardamom and clove appear briefly behind the soft bourbon. The beer has good balance. It’s clearly barrel-aged, yet the tripel character also comes through and isn’t clobbered by the bourbon or the oak. I’m still not certain that barrel-aging is the best option for these lighter styles, but this one come pretty close to changing my mind.

Pours a slightly hazy amber that forms into a nice white foam head. Pretty goo staying ability here. It smells of fruits, but not much alcohol or bourbon. Taste has some alcohol, esp. when it warms up a bit. Very good brew here.

tap. Pours with a golden color. Very nice head. Aromas of botrubon and fruit but mainly bourbon. Flavors start out with a heavy dose of bourbon, later one gets orange, bread and some spices. Nice mouthfeel, nice finish with just a bit of alcohol

On tap at City Beer Store. Opaque neonish yellow, curieux-ly sour aroma (sorry) with some scotch whisky. A bit of Jim Beam in the taste but not overpowering, some lemon, yeast. Weird combination of bland and interesting, I’ll probably buy a bottle of this to try again.

Bottle, corked and caged. Poured a slighly hazy golden color with a thin white head. Aromas of spice and hay. i was expecting some oak or bourbon notes, but sure didn’t find them in the aroma....nor in the taste. This just tasted like a regular triple to me, I don’t get any oak or bourbon anywhere. I was a really good triple, but I was expecting some more complexity.

Bottle from PP Belgian Beer Fest. More sour on the aroma than in the flavor. The flavor was a little bitter but with nice citrus notes in the finish. Some alcohol in the finish as well. I think I liked this one better than the Interlude