Allagash Interlude

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

750mL bottle, KW tasting, thanks to tupalev/Jeff. 2006 vintage. Pours a straw gold with little head. The aroma is dominated by the brett, sweet & sour sauce, and vinegar. Nice! Flavour is your typical spritzy brett dominated Belgian ale, mild malt body in here to provide some sort of side-show. Not that this is a bad thing, but it seems very ’American’ to me, as in, a strong ale, mild malts with a lot of brett thrown in to be the main attraction, no real complexity to it. Not terribly distinct from other bretty US brews I’ve had. Still quite enjoyable, though I doubt if the abv is actually as high as they claim.

Sampled at Max’s American Beer Fest. Pours a yellowish brown with a cloudy white head. Great complex aroma, sweet tarts, grass, candy and perfume. Great flavor of butterscotch, rum without being boozy, coconut, white grapes, pineapple. Slightly chalky but otherwise clean with a sweet finish. I thought this would be good but I didn’t realize how great this would really be. For those who think they don’t like beers with brett this would be a good introduction as it is very complex but also very well balanced.

Tap at City Beer Store in SF. Attractive hazy golden-amber appearance with a foamy off-white head. Funk, malt, and fruits on the aroma. Flavor was pale malt, oak, funk, light fruits, green apple, and a Bretty sourness that is much less biting than more hardcore sours like some of the Russian River stuff. I like that - too sour is just not enjoyable sometimes. Smooth palate.

Poured from a750ml bottle into a small water glass (hotel). Poured an amazing looking Auburn with a ridiculous amount of haziness. It looks like it was filtered through tree bark with it’s hints of brown and slightly tan head. The head was too fizzy. It resembled martinellis sparking apple juice and smelled just like it as well. The taste is one of the more dynamic that I have tried. A little bit of sweet malt, then completely washed away with a very dry sour apple taste coming form the Brett. Its hard for me to drink as I’m still trying to get used to brett, but its amazingly complex, yet refined. The traditional belgian yeast flavors I expected to still taste are nowhere to be found, which makes this beer all the more new to me. a 750 is WAY too much for me, but a fun beer to try nonetheless..

Bottle, 2008. Aroma of a wide variety of funky fruit notes (banana, fleshy orange, grapefruit seed, strawberry preserves, all over the board from yellow to red), sweet toffee malt, nice sweetish, red wine notes surrounding the beer, sort of holding it together if that makes any sense. Quite lovely. Flavor is sour and grapey up front with malty notes still remaining and tart citrus livening up the finish. Low carb, very soft in the mouth, sort of wine like without tannins. Fascinating and elegant beer.

On tap at Novare Res. Pours a dark amber with a white quickly disappearing head. The interlude is a mildly sour and sweet grape-like flavor. I like what this beer does, but it’s a little simple compared to the other beers in this lineup.

Goblet poured draft at Binnys South Loop (Chicago, IL). Pours an interesting dark amber, well hazed, with a film of an offwhite head and notes of orange and red through the body. Aromas display some nice sourness and funk, picking up some intense fruity flavors of berry, tropical fruits, sour cherries, and dry oak. Initial is underwhelming in the carbonation department, ighter bodied wit some wateryness. Pushes into some oak and funk. Dry with light sourness, pushing tame yet flavorful tropical fruits, light berry, citrus, with sourness and funk on the back end that sticks to the palate and aftertaste. Tart, yet a touch underwhelming. Some swiss cheese and a touch of rubber is picked up through the body, funk. Very interesting, with a touch underflavored in the beginning, and more interesting towards the backend. I was happy with this, aside from body and carbonation.

Man is this the shit! A crisp triple base - slightly on the dry side, with subtle brettanomyces and woody elements coming through. Balance is truly out of this world! Fizzy and refreshing, but highly complex and absolutely wonderful!