Allagash Four

Brewed by Allagash Brewing Company
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Portland, Maine USA

Serve in Trappist glass

25.4 oz bottle. Hazy peach brown with a wisp and a wet lacy edge. Nose is raisin, candi, wood and porcini. Smooth medium light with fine carb. Taste is brown sugar, cola and maple syrup. Clove with drying. Soft and tasty.

From bottle. Pours caramel in color. Aromas include citrus, honey and spice. Hides the alcohol extremely well. Full mouthfeel with hops, dark fruit and candied fruit. Nicely done.

Batch #15 750 ml bottle split in Westmalle glass. Hazy reddish amber with lasting ring. Spicy caramel fruity yeasty aroma. Brown sugar maple syrup sweetness with overripe fruit and spicy sugary finish. Full body and medium low carbo. Well-disguised alcohol. A little too cloying for my taste. Not complex enough. Tastes and feels like it has been mishandled, not much pop to the cork.

Batch #15, nice carbonation release from cork and caged bottle. Light brown with reddish hints and a very thin off white head. Sharp belgian candi sugar, sweet aroma, cloves and slight bananas. Flavor of prunes a succinct tart finish grips the tongue and sits on the palate forever between sips. Potent and a classic quad.

(bottle) The body is cloudy, maybe opaque, dark amber. A small but lasting creamy head that clings to the glass. The aroma is big and strong: sweet, and very fruity (dark fruit and citrus), some floral notes, pine, honey, all on top of an alcohol aroma. The body seems very full at first, but this is partly due to the dense, creamy head; the body thins out somewhat, but overall: medium to full bodied. The flavor has lots of alcohol but somehow stays very smooth and easy to drink. It is sweet with malty roasted malty goodness up front and something more like honey on the back end. Mildly spicy, very fruity, earthy. I really liked this beer. There is a lot going on and it all comes together really well.

750ml bottle. 2004 Vintage. Poured a deeper and slightly cloudy orangish color with a larger sized off white head. Aromas of caramel, candi sugar, some dark fruitiness, roast, yeast, and chocolate. Tastes of plums, raisins, candi sugar, lighter yeast, and I’m getting dried out orange peels. Alcohol content well hidden.

Tap at City Beer. probably the least favorite of all the Allagash’s I had togteher with the Black. Somehow I expected more. The flavor profile is a bit of a mess: You get some oak, some more cradboardy notes, some whisky and some butterscotch and too much alcohol burn. Hops is taking a backseat as do the Belgian yeasts. Could not warm up to that one.

C&C 750 from Whole Foods Charlottesville. Orangish-brown color with a thin head on top of the beer. Aroma of candi sugar, spice, toffee and chocolate. Taste is candi sugar, brown sugar, spice, bubblegum, yeast. Full bodied and smooth. Slightly tart in the beginning.