Allagash Four

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

Serve in Trappist glass

From a 750mL Bottle. Pours a murky, caramel brown color with a finger of fizzy tan foam. A vigorous swirl and some warming creates a new layer of head, but the murkiness and general "blah" carbonation activity is rather disappointing. Dark fruity aromas of prunes and raisins, richened by some light chocolate. Some yeast esters add some additional fruity characters, but mostly it’s the sugary dark fruits. Smells pretty nice, but seems to be missing some vibrancy that may be hiding with the rest of the tired appearance. Medium full bodied, lightly carbonated mouthfeel. More carbonation comes out on the tongue, lightening it up somewhat, but a layer of residual malt sugars and leathery yeast spice remains coated on the tongue in the finish. More raisins, plums, and dates, spiced by some mild earthy pepper. Molasses cookie dough and maple syrup. The flavors are pretty good, but this one comes across a bit lifeless for me overall.

750 ml bottle from Bevmo. Pours a murky, unfiltered medium brown color. The head is modest, off-white and lasts a fair while. The aroma is caramel sweet with rich malts, plums, and a bit of spice. The flavor is ripe with malts, dark fruits such as plums and dates, and some distinctly Belgian yeast. There is also just a touch of alcohol present in the taste, enough to take notice of--but not distract from the overall experience. The mouthfeel is smooth and creamy and the carbonation is lively and effective. This one finishes with distinctly sweet notes and a bit more alcohol. Overall: This ale comes across as un-complex, but somehow that seems to work in its favor. It should make a good accompaniment to roasted poultry. Recommended.

UPDATED: MAR 20, 2008 crappy notes from a not well put-together quad tasting...bottle.... appearance: lighter brown than the last, say medium brown with a quickly dissipating light brown head aroma: light vanilla ,caramel, and mild vanilla notes...very light and not totally obtrusive taste: dark fruit, carbonation more assertive than the first, light on the vanilla, taste just doesn’t formulate or come to fruition overall

750 ml bottle via trade - Pours a cloudy amber color with a thin off white head. Very little carbonation and lacing. Aroma is sweet toasted malt and esters. Flavor is sweet malt and lots of dark esters. Medium body. A good beer.

Malty and sweet. Caramel. More like a dubbel. While I dig it, I’m not sure if the "four" idea carries far. A nice beer overall. Taste of Belgian yeast.

So 4x4x4x4 equals...what? All the different malts, hops, and fermentation couldn’t keep this beer from being mediocre. It suffers like a lot of Allagash beers do from mediocrity. There’s no complexity in either the nose or the palate to seperate this beer from the others. The nose is musty sweet, dark fruits, perfumey with a subtle clove kick to it. Appearance is medium amber in color, with a small white head. Mouthfeel lacks any smoothness. Flavor is lightly fruity, some sweet caramel malts, and brown sugar. It’s missing any complexity to have this stand out. Drinkable, but barely.

Amber pour with off-brown head. Very sweet nose, dried fruit, caramel and yeast. Flavor is really sweet, with some caramelized sugars, backed with dried currents. Body is medium with a nice warmth from the alcohol.

Light brown. Mild to moderate carbonation. Aroma is cookie dough, alcohol, rum, & raisins. Mouthfeel is moderately full, butr the alcohol thins it at the end. A good quad, but it seems like most of the American quads are kind of muddled. Overall a good beer, but a below average quad. (Rating from Thanksgiving 2006)