Allagash Musette

In short: A kick-ass big extra-caramelized woody beer that goes beyond the standard scotch ale style.
How: Bottle 750ml. Consumed 2 years after bottling date.
The look: Partly cloudy orange-copper body topped by a persistent small beige head
In long: A big full body with flavours loads of caramel. Notes of maple. Distant orange peels. Strong oak presence that resembles woody hops but obviously coming from the oak barrel aging. I found the wood/oak particularly well integrated and it really dried out the beer. Alcohol is very well hidden. Very yeasty and with a lively Belgian-like lively carbonation. I never cared that much for it before but I fell in love with this bottle. It was either a superior batch or had the perfect aging on it. A very original take on the style. There are obvious scotch ale elements in here but also many things I’m not used to find in scotch ales, a style I usually don’t care much for. But I could love a romantic comedy, if it was a love story between two lesbian vampires with lots of blood and explicit sexuality.

750ml Bottle, cork shot off as I undid the cage. Bottled March 2008. Deep red pour with thin, off white head. Aroma of pecans, caramel, maple syrup, some clove. Flavor is mostly maple syrup, nuts, and caramel, some fruits, with most of the oak character and some smoke in the back of the throat. A tiny bit of hops and alcohol in the finish. Pretty solid, tasty ale.

Sampled at Max’s American Beer Fest. Pours a translucent amber, brown with a lacing head. Sweet caramel, chocolate aroma with nuts and a little bit of booze. Flavor is the same, nuts, caramel, some milk chocolate. Sweet, crisp finish. A little disappointing as there was very little hop presence and very little wood or barrel presence. Glad I didn’t pay for a bomber.

Pour slow, large foamy head. Nice clean and clear caramel brown color, head leaves behind no lacing at all. Spicy peppery lemon grass& pear aroma. Heavy bodied brew with good warming sensation in the chest. Notes of malty sweetness in the foreground subsiding to a spicy flavor.

(750 ml bottle (March ’08) from Tully’s, cellared for 10 mos. after purchase) Pours rusty reddish-brown with one finger of light tan head. Aroma of fruit, candy, alcohol and wood. Mouthfeel is fairly fizzy, slightly thin, a bit sticky and also a bit dry on the back end. Fine, weepy rings and sheets of lacing. Tastes of dark fruitiness and light chocolate, light hints of wood and bourbon. Some rock-candy sweetness. Light yeast. A bitter pinch in the finish. The barrel-aging aspect is quite low key in the flavor. Slightly hot but the cellaring may have toned it down a bit. Pretty nice but seems much more like a Belgian than a Scotch.

750 ml at home served slightly chilled. Bottled date- March 2008. Last of the birthday beers... Dark brown / mahagony in color, with a rocky head that mellows but never quite disappears. Beautiful aroma of sweet malt, dried fruit, yeast, and a very slight hint of oak. Some alcohol too. Taste is sweet right away, very boozy, no discernable oak though. This beer tastes a lot "younger" than it is- could benefit from another year in the cellar? (I’m biased with the incredible year-old Goose Island Pere Jacques I had last night). The finish of this one is slightly bitter / spicy / peppery but ends a touch too sweet and too quickly. This is a very nice beer, although I had higher expectations of it at $15 a bottle. BUT...I will say now that it’s 30 minutes later, the bitterness has mellowed a bit and the oak and smokiness are both a bit more present, which adds some complexity to it (as well as to the rating). Still a bit too sweet though at the finish. I need to not drink these so damn fast!

Aroma is woody with some smoke, peet and malt. Taste is sweet and very oaky. A hint of spice but muttled by alcohol.

Bottle shared at Trappeze. Poured clear dark brown with a nice big beige head. Aroma of sweet malt, sugar, fruit, oak, almost like a barleywine. Taste is also sweetly malted, fruity, oak, and lightly spiced. Mouth is nicely carbonated and full. Finish is dry. Overall, a very enjoyable brew.