Allagash Musette

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

Serve in Thistle

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Bottle... Hazy, copper ale with a small, fizzy, off-white head. Terrific retention. Complex nose... woodsy, fruity, chocolatey, spicy and slightly Flemish. Notes of port, mandarin orange, banana and malt whiskey. Possibly a Belgian yeast strain. The malty, earthy flavor is moderately bitter from the booze, charred wood and hops. Full-bodied and creamy with fizzy carbonation. Lengthy, bitter finish.

Bottle. Poured cloudy brown with an average fizzy off-white head that mostly diminished with good lacing. Heavy complex caramel malty and wood aroma. Medium to full body with a slick texture. Heavy balanced flavor with a medium sweet bitter finish of long duration with a small alcohol bite. Another very good Allagash beer.

Bottle, at argo0’s pre-RBSG tasting (thanks Ken I think) and, again, at DenverLogan MD gathering (thanks Logan), July 2006. Hazy bronze colour. Light, yeasty aroma. Yeasty flavour too, with mellow malt character. There’s some clean underlying bitterness, moving in the direction of tartness on the finish and aftertaste. Pleasant enough but there’s not that much to it really. Don’t see the Scotch ale thing. My ratings varied from 3.1 to 3.5. I’ll err on the side of generosity and go for the higher.

On tap (dry hopped version). Poured a deep amberish color with a smaller sized off white head. Aromas of floral hops, fruity, vanilla, some bourbon, wood, and caramel. Tastes of vanilla, wood, bourbon, caramel, and fruity.

Bottle at Københavnske øldage 07. Orange/ brown colour with a beige head. Aroma is alcohol, yeast, caramel, spices. Flavour is alcohol, spices, yeast, caramel, wheat. Nice beer.

Tap at Blind Tiger. Deep brown beer, thick tan head. Fairly assertive oaky aroma over a rich sweet maltiness. Prune and a soft plumminess and raisiny sweetness along with an understated malty sweetness. While sweet it is drinkable and not cloying. Figs and dates also appear. Falvour is quite soft and dubbelish, figgy fruitiness, Belgian crystal malt and a lovely soft oaky quality. Oak is subtle in flavour compared with that which appears in the nose. Warming brings up some vanilla and a bit of toasted oak. Tasty brew.

Bottle sampled in mid-July 2006: Pours a transparent dark orange copper with a well-lacing frothy light tan head. Complex woody oak and sweet dark caramel malty aroma has some toasty bready notes. Body starts with a lightly sweet, full caramel and Belgian maltiness wtih some big buttery oaky flavor. Nicely-balanced, unique and enjoyable.

March 2008 bottle. Pours with a large, creamy light brown head covering a murky deep auburn body. Good retention. Aroma of vanilla, peet, burbon, alcohol, and some dark fruits. Taste is peety, nutty, alcohol. A bit on the lively side carbonation, creamy mouthfeel. I feel that it is not even close to being worth the nearly $20 I paid for it.

Bottled May 2006. Brown colored body with ample light seen through but still quite opaque. Wondeful creamed banana and bourbon nose, full of cedar and oak wood scents. Flavor more of bourbon (light butter), dark overripe oranges and bananas, even some fig in there as well. Creamy, lightly frothy, rich, delicious.

Any first impressions?
-A veil of foam covers the hazy, dull orange.
-Courteous maple sweetness and lightly-smoking oak have to speak louder due to the blaring alcohol.
-Yeast nags the maple and caramel sweetness, an odd union on the palate.
-Carbonation is refreshing, alleviating what could be cloying maltiness.

What if you dig deeper?
-The finish is sugary and boozy.
-The subtle fruitiness of white grapes is appreciated.
-Creamy omelets are curiously imagined by the nostrils, covered in brown sugar; a veritable sugar shack experience.
-Yet another very interesting Allagash experiment which needs to wisen up a bit before the next tasting.

Bottled in May 2006.