Allagash Musette

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

Bottle. Pours with a brownish, copper color. Definitely aromas of wood and oak as well as dark fruit. Flavors of oak, roasted malts and cherries. A heavy dose of Belgian yeast supplies the background of typical breadiness. Well constructed beer.

Bottle. 2006 vintage. Rich amber beer with an off-white head. Yeasty, earthy, sweet malt aroma. Oaky, sweet malt, slight caramel flavor with yeast and earthiness. Medium body. LIngering oak, yeast, and sweet caramel malt. Hides alcohol well.

Draft @ Capone’s. Amber with some reddish tones and a small white head. Sweet & oaky aroma with some dark fruit. Taste is sweet & smooth, with plenty of dark fruits, oak, a bit of bourbon, and some vanilla. Very tasty! Another good one from Allagash - can’t wait to try my 2006 bottle of this after a few years aging!

Draft at Capone’s. Slightly hazy copper. Aroma of oak/bourbon and brown sugar. Taste of brown sugar, toffee, bourbon and vanilla. Full bodied. Very nice.

On tap at Capone’s during the Great Lakes tasting. Pours a lightly hazy golden amber with a smaller off white head. Aroma of caramel, dark fruits, Fig Newtons, slightly earthy with some oak. Flavor of candi sweetness with hints of oak, vanilla, light alcohol, Belgian yeast, spices and a bit on the hot side.

Hazy dark amber color; small but dense white head. Aroma has hints of smokey peat malt and some oak. Oak tannins, light toast and smoke come across the palate. Light hop presence in the background with some fruity yeast and dry oak in the finish. Not bad.

Jacksonville, Fl. - Total Wine - 750 ml bottle. Dark copper pour, white silky head - leaves a nice coat of lacing. Aroma is gentle, not very persuasive. Faint nuttiness, some smoky notes. Smooth flavor. Pick up some of those same roasted notes, a hint of cherries, some caramel and toffee to round it out. Flavor improves as it warms. High ABV is not noticed at all. Mouthfeel is thick and luxuriant and coats the mouth. Good belly warmer but just missing that little but of oomph I usually get from Allagash.

2006 bottle shared by SuIIy on 3/9/07
High clarity shows off a beautiful auburn-amber body with deep garnet highlights and a bit of beige swirled in. Light beige head is medium to small in size, but is rather dense and is retained well at cover, leaving light to moderate amounts of lacing on the glass.
Mushy peaches and apricots are mixed with caramel and toffee. Lots of fruitiness from the malt up front. A more dry shot of vanilla (though still not that dry) comes through the middle, with light phenols (cinnamon, clove, white pepper) harrying the finish and adding more dryness. Very fruity esters pronounce the yeast as Belgian, with a strong strawberrry/cherry/red apple appeal. Elegant cork/wood flavors on the end seem more a product of the yeast (the musty cork-like notes, anyways) while I’m left wondering how anyone could complain about the amount of barrel aging. I think I actually forgot that this was barrel-aged until a few days after I drank it. Strong aroma, with the big cushion of malt sweetness and fruitiness up front really showing the most dominance. It’s, perhaps, a bit strong yet, and you may even call the musty yeastiness on the end slightly vegetal in nature, but yet again, I’m shocked by how well this beer has cleaned up from when it was fresh (fair amount of DMS when young). Alcohol seems mostly relaxed in the nose, certainly some warmth/dryness is perceived, but it matches the strong Belgian nature of the beer just fine, I think.
Seductively soft on the palate, with toffee, vanilla cream and very light, spicy whiskey notes. Fair amount of fruitiness plays about with some phenolic dryness, though the beer remains mostly sweet until the finish. A fair amount of "peachiness" for lack of a better term, builds up on the palate, on the finish. Some type of combination between the malt fruitiness and light yeast (I think it’s the yeast, not the barrel) acidity/alcohol. But the sumptuous malt, with a fine-tuned oakiness trumps the negative aspects of the beer, and the soft mouthfeel certainly helps as well (though there is a bit of wateriness/looseness).