Allagash Hugh Malone

Piney hop aroma and sweet caramel malt aroma. Light yeast aroma. Clear light amber color Thin off white head with low head retention and good lacing. Low malt flavor. Big, piney hop flavor and bitterness. Big hoppy dry finish. Medium body and smooth mouthfeel with some alcoholic warming. Very interesting

Hugh was happy to see me as he quickly erupted upon withdrawl of his cork. After settling down, it pours a clear copper orange with a thin ring of wispy-lacing white head. Aroma of earthy grapefruity hops and drier toasty malt. Body starts fairly effervescent with a nice light caramel malty sweetness, some mild oak and more earthy bittering and flavor hops toward a drier finish. A pretty nice hoppy Belgian strong ale, but not something I’d normally buy given the price.

Pours an amber color with an off white head. Aroma is malty, piney, and earthy hops. Flavor is malty, piney, and earthy hops with a mild bitter finish.

Is this an American hopped Belgian tripel? Is this an American Imperial IPA with Belgian yeast? Beautiful hazy deep amber with huge foamy head. Nose of bread and yeast and oranges. Strong taste of pine and orange and grapefruit, of bread and yeast and sweet malts and caramel. Nailed it overall only because of the price. For $160 / case this should be in the same league as Westvleteren 12, and of course it’s not.

Bottle. Nose is hoppy-sweet with notes of pine sap and citrus. Deep opaque brown with a thick foamy white head which leaves heavy thick lacing. Serious palate, heavy with carbonation. Not too comples, hop bitterness with some sweeter undertones.

Sample from 750 ml bottle, RBSG Minneapolis Grand Tasting, June 23 2007. Solid, thick and lasting off-white head topping the dirty bronze body....hoppy, lightly funky and the first things that pop into my head as I nose it; at first it’s more IIPA than Belgian Strong, but gradually the fine Allagash yeast exerts itself, some nicely mellowed dried caramel and light earth tones competing with the grapefruit and underripe apricots for dominance....alas this interest is not kept up on tasting it, for it is dull and flaccid in the mouth despite the heavy carbonation; I never thought I would describe an Allagash beer as "soda-like" but this one is, the light body and strong fruitiness are far too dominating, malts just don’t assert themselves enough and the yeast fades quickly....a real disappointment, though I will confess this was near the end of the tasting and my palate wasn’t at its best. Still I appear not to be alone in assessing this as one of this brewery’s weaker projects to date. Hope to resample a full bottle sometime.

Bottle from Mike at the beerinator gathering 7/8/07. Poured a golden amber with a thin white head. Nose is hoppy with belgian spices. Flavor is similar and smooth. I thought this was much better than the scores its been getting here. Yes, its way overpriced and probably not worth 20 bones (ok, definitely not worth it), but I still thought it was on par with some of the other american hopped belgian-style beers on the market.

750 ml bottle poured a hazy copper with a lasting creamy ivory head. Aromas of carmel, orange peel, pine, light grapefruit and a hint of spice. Palate was light bodied and crisp. Flavors of orange, carmel and hints of pine and spice with a crisp lightly bitter finish.