Allagash Odyssey

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

Favre’s a beast .. . Pours a purple black, sturdy creamy medium head .. . well, i hope your kids look like monkeys .. . slick .. simple but delicious, an underlining brilliance .. . tar, grape, plum, rum, and light fruit squares .. . good .. . you say shit alot..

January 2008 bottling, poured into a tulip. Pours dark, dark brown with hints of copper showing when held up to light. There is a small creamy tan head that recedes to a small collar and swirl in the middle. The aroma is sweet with dark chocolate, molasses and dark fruit - raisins, plums and even some grapes. There is also a noticeable dark roasted malt character and some wood and bourbon. The taste is spectacular and unbelievably complex. There is a base of roasted chocolate malts with molasses and dark fruits mixed in. The finish is chocolaty but with a definite bourbon and oak presence. The flavors just keep coming as it warms - figs, raisins, rum, tobacco, licorice, you name it. The mouthfeel is very, very smooth, full bodied with good carbonation. Dessert-like overall. I had this beer about a year ago and remembered it being good, but, wow, this is an excellent beer, probably my favorite from Allagash. It has so many things going on but they all seem to merge together perfectly. Superb beer.

Pours dark brown to black with a cream-colored head. The aroma is awesome with Belgian yeast, malt and some chocolate. The flavor is roasted malt, yeast, oak and some chocolate and alcohol. I may also get some vanilla, but it is faint if it is there. Medium-thick, creamy mouthfeel with low carbonation. A great beer.

Bomber from the local for a co-worker beer tasting. Pours a reddish black with a small off white head. Aroma was vanilla, whiskey, dark fruits, and oak. The flavor was kind of complex and hard for me to pin down. Coffee, spice, molasses, and oak stuck out the most. This was quite different from anything I’ve had but ultimately I thought it was a bit watery.

750->tulip: Pours a thin, offwhite head that exhibits good lacing atop a black body. Oaky, sweet aroma. Full bodied, sweet taste, sticky mouthfeel, ending milky. A very satisfying brew.

Spicy, zesty and complex. Intriguing, but watery and ultimately too hard to enjoy. On tap at the Flying Saucer in San Antonio.

08 and 09 back to back. 08-pours black with no real head. aroma is rich and malty with some sweetness and chocolate. drinks really smooth with chocolate and malt sweetness but oak isnt really noticable. smooth and sweet chocolate on the finish. alcohol is still present. 09-pours black with little off white head. aroma is the same as 08 but no quite as strong at this point. flavors are the same but a little more muddled and doesnt seem really put together. higher carbination and a little more caramel present. better with age.

Pours a deep brown with a ring of thick tan head. Aroma of malt, currants, caramel, and fig. Lovely flavor of rich chocolate, currants, plum, vanilla bean, and oak. The mouthfeel is excellent: not thick by any means but full and slightly sticky. Very solid.