Allagash Four

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

Bottle into tulip glass. Sampled with jefcon at RFK in Washington DC. This is a quad? I guess I can see that, although it’s like a bastard child of what I expect a quad to be, as if the illegitimate father was of a different ethnicity or something. If I were rating to style, I might care about that, but as I’m not, I have no problem saying this is a great beer. Also, since the only quads I really know are St. Bernardus and Westy, I don’t claim to be an expert on the style. Caramel malt and roasted sour cherry with some cinnamon in the smell, but not as good as that sounds (like they aren’t blended correctly or something). Musty golden raisin, orange peel, and malty alcohol on the nose as well. Starts almost sweet like powdered sugar, transitions into some noble hop type flavorand ends mealy malty with Indan corn and a bit of sharp cherry flavor to begin the finish. Alcohol numbs the tounge a bit, but doesn’t influence the flavor that much. Large tan-beige foam head leaves a beautiful and thick lattice of glittering sticky lacing with wide, uniform spaces in the pattern of otherwise small bubbles. Transluscent glowing amber in the glass. Medium to full bodied in the mouth with a smooth, even feel. Brown sugar notes come out as the beer warms and makes the finish better and longer. Solid.

750ml bottle, pours a light tan head, cooper color ale that’s semi cloudy. Aroma is grainy/malty& sweet. Taste is as aroma leads: grainy/malty& sweet, then a little alcohol. Good carbonation. Good for this style, an occasional ale.

I just had this wonderous beverage out of a cask pour at one of the more beer friendly wateringholes here in Portland, ME. They served it in a small tulip glass and the wonderful warmth (even though the drink was chilled) and earthy, stimulating smell was just a heavenly experience. The typical fruity spice flavor of this beer had completely blended whilst contained within cask and had the consistancy of a fine beer liqueur. It was nearly instinctive to swirl the glass before each taste to enjoy the aroma with each sip. Damn, that we can’t have all of our beer straight from keg or cask.

Bottle thanks to GirlyBeer. Pours a nice dark red with a tint of brown. Head is small and reasonable. Aroma is heavy of dark fruits and sugar. Very sweet smells of fig, grape, plum, clove, banana, cherry and oak, reminds me somewhat of Avery Samael’s. This comes off as a bit agressive at first taste. There is still some considerable kick to it, from the alcohol or hops, its got some strong presence for the mouthfeel. The flavor matches the strength of the mouthfeel well. It is strong and doesnt pull any punches with a good durable taste of malt, sugary sweetness, and some fruit-like aftertaste. The more this warms up, the more balanced it feels. The kick seems to come in later, in tune with the sweetness of the beer. While the malt and strong fruit character seep in first.

Dark caramel colored in the glass with a very healthy head. Lots of floral, caramel, malt and cherry aromas that are in very good harmony. Flavors are even more intricate, with gingerbread, warm spices such as allspice, and some astringency of alcohol. Good weight on the palate, and appropriately long. Duly complex and a great brew!

Reddish brown, almost no head. Aroma is typical quad - darker fruits like raisins with dark sugar, alcohol comes into play as well. Medium bodied, fairly dry for the style. Enjoyable, but comes off too clean... can’t keep my interest.

Reddish-brown with a thin off white head, the flavor and aroma are a bit sticky sweet with notes of cherry & vanilla. For a quad, this struck me as a bit thin. It was a nice beer, but not great

Pours brownish red, with a little tan head that lingers around for a half of the beer. Smells of apples and malts. Flavor, really seemed apple dominated while the hops and malts tangoed together in perfect harmonial bliss. Felt smooth on the mouth, and the alcohol wasn’t noticable much until the aftertaste. You could smell it a little bit in the nose of the beer though. All and all my first quadrupel really makes me want to dive in and experiance more of this style beer.