Allagash Grand Cru

750ml Bottle: Aroma of spices, Belgian yeast, coriander, pepper, and caramel. Poured copper/amber in color with a large, foamy, creamy, off-white head that lasted throughout. Cloudy. Sparkling. Many tiny particles. Excellent lacing. Flavor is lightly sweet. Tastes of spices, coriander, pepper, caramel, apples, and a hint of citrus. I do not detect any smoke or licorice. Medium body. Chalky texture. Average carbonation. Medium-dry, spiced finish.

750ml bottle. Poured into a Trappist glass. Deep golden in color, almost copper, with a bit white head whcih settled down into a nice wite layer. Nose of malt and hops. Taste of malt, spices, particular coriander. Fizzy due to the wheat. Alcohol in back.

Finally got around to opening this one. Bit carbonated, but otherwise much lighter than other sweeter, maltier grand crus I’ve had. Little bit of spice and that Belgian ale taste. I’d like the caramel a bit more pronounced...like Alesmith’s.

Bottle batch 18. Funny thing is I don’t remember buying this beer, but there it was in my fridge, so the dude abides. Yellow orange pour with a white head. Smells of cloves and friut. Good carbination. Finishes very nice and dry, yet leaves a long smooth aftertaste.

From a corked and caged 750 bottle, this poured a cloudy orange with a light orange head with big bubbles and major league lacing. Nose is of oranges and malts, with a hint of coriander. Mouthfeel is fizzy yet it is sticky on the back of the tongue. Flavor is sweet and of malts, oranges and apricots. Dry finish with some spices. A little hard to finish the glass.

750 ml courtesy of Naka, shared with he and Nate. Batch 17. Rating #300. Pours orange red, hazy, off-white, fizzy head. Nice lacing. Nose is wit-esque. Spicy, of coriander, orange peel, touch of clove, some clean fruit, banana, orange-cutrusy type thing. Spice with lots of fruit. Clove, anise, coriander, orange peel, banana, lemon and orange. Lots of flavor exploding in my mouth. Dry ending with mild to moderate bitter. Well rounded and balanced. There is some caramel there, some toffee, but it is subtle and underlying, just showing itself to balance the brew out. Nice treat for 300. Thanks, Naka!

Shared w/ Nate and Juart. Batch 17. Pours a hazy honey color with an off-white thin head. A little bit of lacing. Has spicy coriander, vanilla, and some honey in the nose. Flavor is sweet honey, but a good bit of bitterness. Still got a lot of coriander and other spices. Medium body and kind of refreshing compared to a lot of other winter seasonals that I’ve had.

Batch 5!!! I really enjoyed this one...mixed reviews from me thus far for Allagash but this one impressed. Beautiful murky golden maroon with 1-inch head. Sticky...with lacing clinging to the side of the glass and a bitter aftertaste hanging on my palate. Dominate flavors of toffee, clove, banana and citrus. Didn’t really taste the smoke or licorice, which would have added a nice complexity but this was one that I enjoyed.