 michael-pollack (1493), King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA
Nov 21, 2007
750ml Bottle: Sweet aroma smells of caramel, malts, herbs, yeast, brown sugar, raisins, and piney hops. Poured amber/copper in color with a large, foamy, rocky, off-white head that lasted throughout. Good lacing. Hazy. Sparkling. Flavor is medium sweet. Tastes of malts, dark fruits, roasted malts, herbs, candy sugar, raisins, alcohol, and pine and resin hops. Medium body. Average texture. Average to lively carbonation. Sweet but hoppy finish.
Jokes (1451), Chicago, Illinois, USA
Oct 15, 2008 Mostly clear auburn with a thick layer of off-white bubbles laying atop. The aroma starts mostly sweet with residual sugar, navel oranges, light pine, cake-y scones, mild honey and a faint bit of yeasty esters. The body fully and creamy with a nice carbonation that pricks the tongue only occasionally. The flavor profile shows much more hoppiness than I expected from the nose. The bitterness really comes out early, dips slightly in the middle and picks up again at the finish. The sweetness, grainy malt and alcohol all weave in and out with ease, but never truly challenge the citrus and piny bitterness. The finish starts dry, but I think that’s due to the bitterness, as some lingering sweetness finally comes around again. Good, but not my favorite American IPA/Belgian interpretation.
durhambeer (545), Durham, USA
Oct 9, 2008 Sample from WBF in Durham; better than paying the top dollar for this one. Bright hazy golden pour. Strong alcohol taste overall, though floral hops and yeast are also present. Reminded me of a tripel.
vyvvy (1756), Hazelwood, Missouri, USA
Oct 9, 2008 Pours light bronze with a fizzy beige head. The aroma has musty caramel malt, Belgium yeast, earthy hops and mineral notes. Medium / full body with some mustiness and quite a bit of carbonation. The flavor starts with chewy malt, licorice, spicy / earthy hops, dark caramel and an overabundance of mineral traits. The finish has even more mineral presence. This is an okay beer, but is in no way up to the normal Allagash standards.
kwoeltje (1222), Manchester, Missouri, USA
Oct 5, 2008 (750 ml bottle) hazy orange gold with small white head. Some lace. Aroma is floral/citrus hops and yeast. Flavor is floral and citrus hops, some sweetish malt, and a hint of yeast in the finish.
VTHopHead (702), Barre, Vermont, USA
Oct 5, 2008 750ml - Poured a darkish reddish amber in color with a fairly big whitish head that settled to a creamy foam over the beer. Some nice lacing on the glass. Aroma is an interesting combination of Belgian yeast and plenty of citrus and herbal hops... really nice. Flavor is much more about the bready yeast than the hops. Hops make themselves known at the end... both in a nice hoppy flavor and some finishing bitterness. Unusual hoppiness for a Belgian, but a welcome (and *very* interesting) change from the usual Belgian Strong Ale. I really like this one...
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