Allagash Gargamel

Formerly brewed at Allagash Brewing Company
Style: Sour Ale/Wild Ale
Portland, Maine USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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UPDATED: MAR 15, 2010 pours copper with thin white head that lasts to the end. aroma is tart and fruity with the brett very present. flavor is bursting with tart fruits and i got a lot of white grape. raspberries didnt play as much a part in this as i was expecting but came across in the finish as just a kiss of sweetness. aftertaste lasts with tons of fresh sour apples and tart grapes. really a fantastic brew from the amount of carbonation to the slight grittyness at the end where all the yeast laid. re-rate drank 3-13-10. hazy red/gold with thick head. aroma is oak, raspberries, barnyard, sweetness. drinks smooth and sweet with juicy raspberries, lots of fresh oak, some barnyard funk and just a light puckering. time has made this astonishing.

EBF ’09. Holy funky batman! A very pleasant sourness here, and even a little bit of the fruit shows through.

UPDATED: JUN 28, 2009 Flamboyant carbonation for style, lively. Sour raspberries have morphed into strawberries on the nose with a dose of sour funk. The mid-palate is rather short and un-evolved, perhaps with time it will flesh out. Cashews, toffee, and praline blanket the palate as this beer finishes. A warm biscuit dough lingers as the end of this beer seems to be the main event. French oak is firm and serves to bring eveything together. Dry and clean.

coppery pour with medium white head. Aroma starts with rasberries and mild acetone, some woody notes, yogurt. Nice tartness up front, warming alcohol, a little bit of solvent quality is a detractor. Finish shows some buttered popcorn, which again is a detractor.

375ml. bottle. Pours a stunning brown-red-amber with a medium white head. Aromas of sour cherries, niagra grapes, sweaty socks, and a hint of oak. The flavor is truly fascinating: it starts out with sour cherries, grapes, and a touch of funk then transforms into yeasty, bready flavors that are rich and refreshing. Gargamel is a very clean, smooth, and refreshing creation that was very carefully constructed and is unlike anything I have tried before. This a an extraordinarily special beer.

Draft EBF. Fantastic. Thank you Allagash. Great sour character. I got a hint of wine but not much. Sourness struck a great balance between brettiness and acidicness. Great stuff. Multiple pours of this one.

Finally getting around to open one of these up. 375ml corkced and caged bottle that was wrapped in tissue paper with a gold seal (sticker). Opens with a loud "pop" and poured into Darkness tulip. A - Pours a reddish-orange copper color with a fingers worth of fizzy white head which disipitates into a very thin white film on top with a thinker white ring around the side of the glass. Some thin lacing is presents when the glass is tiled from side to side, but nothing actually left over from the original pour. S - Medium sour/tart notes, pears, sour apples, slight funk/barynard, oak. I don’t get straight-forward raspberry notes, but I do get sweet fruit notes, which I attribute to the raspberries. T - A nice helping of sour/tart notes paired with the raspberries. It’s much easier to pick out the berry notes on the palate then compared to the nose. A semi-tart finish, that also has a touch of sweetness. M - Light, fizzy champagne-esk carbonation, buttery finish (which some seem not to like, but I kinda dig it). I would rather the finish be dry, to go with the carbonation, but something different is always nice. D - A pretty straight-forward offering from the 1st limited release from Allagash. There are better wilds out there, but I would say this is a good start. Easy to drink and I’ll be consuming the bottle myself.

Great beer.....nice oak character present in the aroma and flavor. Raspberries are there, but not necessarily as much as I anticipated. Nice finish. Perfect mouthfeel with "prickly carbonation," yet a surprisingly creamy smooth finish. Nice, yet odd, grainy malt flavor in the finish. Yellowish/Amberish/Orangish color, with minimal off-white head.