Allagash Hugh Malone

Brewed by Allagash Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Portland, Maine USA

Extremely overpriced, and not a lot of bang for the buck in my opinion. As with all Allagash beers I find the nose to be glorious, but the palate on this remains struggling to be affable. Pleasant and polite in the beginning, this devolves into somewhat of a trainwreck of flavor. Slight sour and tart upon first taste that melds into a bit of drying alcohol, followed by some fruits, anooying spices and a thin bready malt character. Belgian beers, well most beers, are just not meant to be overly hopped, I don’t know what it is going to take to make brewers see that.

Draft: pours a cloudy orange with a thin white head, aroma of citrus, hops, and kinda grassy, taste of citrus, some hops up front with a fairly clean finish, kind of a thin mouthfeel. Overall a pretty good brew - I thought it was an IPA so I am surprised to see it listed as a belgian ale here.

750ml caged&corked bottle. Pours a very cloudy orange that seems to glow intensely from within when held to the light - beautiful. The head pours up off-white in color and very thick, even, with small spots/pockets - like pancake batter. A large ring of lace remains on the glass. The aroma is mesmerizing and hoppy: grassy and herbal with oranges and pears. There is also a tinge of crystal malt and honey drifting around the nose. The flavor starts sweet with some breadiness and a very pleasing hop flavor and bitterness. By mid-palate, the bitterness grows as do notes of pine, flowers, and grapefruit. The finish is bitter and somewhat dry with a hoppy aftertaste and some residual malt sweetness. The alcohol is almost unnoticed - just a subtle warming in the chest after a few sips. What a beautiful beer! The mouthfeel is heavily carbonated and the carbon dioxide tickles and stings with pinpricks all over the tongue, greatly accentuating the perceived bitterness. Overall, an absolutely awesome brew that defies category - though I’d say it’s closer to an Imperial IPA with some ester and grassy character from Belgian yeast than it is a Belgian Strong Ale with lots of hops. One of the best beers I can remember tasting in a long time.

a very cloudy dark gold/orange beer under a large creamy white head. very hoppy aroma of sweet mandarin orange. very balanced hoppy flavor with a lot of earthy, bready malts. dry, grassy, herbal finish from dry hopping. pleasant.

750ml bottle-pours a with a champagne pop then foamy to rocky off white head and copper color. Aroma is some pine/floral hops, secondary medium malt. Taste is pine/earthy hops, sour, yeast, medium malt. Thanks jwc215 [@BA] for sharing.

This is a good beer but why is Allagash doing a flipin IPA at $15 a bottle. I know a portion goes to a good cause, but come on. Aroma is lacking the intense dry hop aroma it clams to have. The hop flavor and bitterness come through well. English malt aroma and flavor with balanced hop profile. Not much Belgian yeast profile. I love Allagash but get the Tripel for half the price, and get much better beer.

(n) Belgian yeast, english malts, and an assload of simcoe hops? Interesting one from allagash. Pours a thick hazy copper color, smallish head, but plenty of active carbonation going on. Smells of muted candy sugar and some lingering spicy bitterness. Tastes more balanced and complex than the nose would suggest. Some sharp bitterness and booze. Yeasty sweetbread flavors fill out. Hop character seems to manifest more in the bitterness than flavor, though a fair amount in each. Palate is full and aggressive, filling out all over the place. Only real problem with this one is the same as the other Allagash big beers- $$.

Bottle. Not found of this beer. overhoped, you can taste, some herbs and green flavors. Not a big fan of this dry hoped beer. overpriced.