Allagash Curieux

Rated batch #378 - WOW!!!!! This is incredibly good. Sure it’s a bit one-dimensional, but damn...what a one-dimension it is!!! The aroma is whisky, oak, vanilla, alcohol, orange peel and more whiskey and more oak. INTENSE! The taste is full on alcohol but damned if it doesn’t switch gears and go strong on the whiskey/oak/vanilla combo and then back to alcohol. This is obviously a sipper but what an insanely good beer this is. If it weren’t so damned hard to find I’d buy as much of it as I could. There is something to be said for beer perfection. The guys at Allagash did this one to near perfection.

This 2/2006 corked and caged bottled brew from Brendan at a rating party poured a large sized head of foamy fine to medium sized white colored bubbles that was long lasting and left behind a hazy typically carbonated dark yellow-orange colored body and an excellent lacing. The aroma was musty and spicy. The mouth feel was tingly at the start with a mellow finish with a biting hoppy aftertaste. The flavor contained notes of hops spices orange oak and bourbon. A decent one that I would consider buying again.

A crazy sour apple aroma. Crisp, bubbly, the strength come through near the end. Excellent. First rating at a festival 4.2 Beer 32. Smells like a tripel but tastes way heavier, almost with some malt liqour like characteristics. These go away though and it is pretty good stuff.

Interesting brew. Definite bourbon flavor. Sweet and smoky notes and very smooth especially for 11%. Some spicy fruity(orange?) flavors from the charcteristics of the trippel come out too. Really good BIG beer. Wish I had another bottle.

This hazy yellow ale poured with a thin white head, eliciting a strong alcohol aroma. There are some fruit and yeast flavors, but what stands out are the heavy oak and bourbon characteristics absorbed from the barrels. This is a very spicy and warm drink, that would likely improve with age.

On tap @ the Maproom: Pours a wheat colored yellow with a tight small head that fades with thin lacing. Sourness, distinctly sour cherries and oak aromas are surrounded by sweetness. The sweetness slides in with a medium body some sour cherries, yeast and trippel spices that fade into a balanced oakiness before the bourbon comes in and knocks it all apart. The bourbon finishes dry, leaving me intrigued and wanting more, until I grow tired of the overbearing bourbon. Hopefully it will blend and balance well after a couple years.

Golden, somewhat hazy, with a small white head. Quite a sweet nose, strong notes of apple cider, a bit of bourbon (malt+charcoal), hints of oak. Somewhat overly effervescent, hiding the flavor at first. Once we’re past that--mmm...bourbon. The whiskey character dominates, but it’s nicely balanced by the tangy, spicey profile of a Belgian ale. A lovely combination.

Although I seemed to enjoy this more at the beer advocate belgian beer fest 2006, in the bottle was not crazy about it. (2007 version) This is basically their tripel (which is one of my favorites of the style) completely overpowered by bourbon and oak. completely boozy, a train wreck packaged in a nice corked and caged bottle.