Allagash Odyssey

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

Feb. 2007 - Wowsers, this was tasty. Beer poured dark as night brown, with nice whitish head and lacing. Aroma was dark fruits and oak. This was an odd belgian...dark fruits, spices and chocolate (?) to go along with a strong bourbon/wine-like presence to go with the oakiness. Rich, sweet, thick, full, it’s got it all. Delicious!

(750 ml (bottled 10/06) from <A HREF=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/maine/portland/ target=blank>Downeast Beverage Co., cellared for 10 mos. after purchase) Sweet, chocolatey and lightly boozy...Pours dark brown with a half finger of tan head that recedes to a thin but lasting layer. Aroma of brown sugar and red wine. Mouthfeel medium-full, smooth, fairly soft with a lightly dryish finish. Very light sheets and rings of lacing that melt away quickly. Flavor is initially chocolate with a sort of lightly boozy red wine presence - may not sound elegant but it is. Then as it warms there is emergence of sweet oak and sweet bourbon maltiness. All flavor elements come together in a nice tight symphony in the end. Nice warming alcohol presence ie., slightly hot but perhaps the cellaring toned it down. I was glad at how good this was as I really didn’t know what to expect.

october 2006 bottle: dark brown body, with a slight reddish hue..medium beige-colored head..aroma of caramel, bourbon, oak, and milk chocolate...flavor similar with a large toffee profile as well..certainly one of the most enjoyable and distinct bourbon-aged brews out there..very creamy and nutty, almost like a melted heath bar..very nice

Oct 2006 bottling. Pours very dark brown with big red highlights and a cafe-au-lait colored head that leaves ample lacing all the way down the glass. Aroma is bourbon, oak and chocolate, no hops. Flavor is smooth oak, malt, chocolate and dark fruits (raisins and figs) with balancing but almost unnoticed hops. Finish is all dark malt and oak, but with hints of bourbon. Body is on the high side of medium.

750, corked and baled. Pours black with a thick, moussy, somewhat bubbly darkish tan head. The head really hangs around, but just leaves little leopard spot lacing. Rich, fruity (dark ripe tree fruit) nose with plenty of sweet vanilla in there as well. Nice medium body, almost watery, surprisingly light in the carb, given the huge head. Has a nice wheat sourness on the mid-palate, along with the dark fruit and the light vanilla from the oak. Clean finish. Great stuff.

25.4 oz bottle, 10/06. Clear orange brown with a tan skin. Nose of smoky caramel with hints of boozy raisin. Mild carb, medium light body. Taste is dark toffee with smoky oak touches. Close to a Quad but not as rich; Scotch Ale sweetness. Nice brew.

C&C 750, October 2006 bottling. Alcohol listed at 10.3 % on the label. Dark brown with a beige head. Nose is sweet, raisin and molasses, light wood and a hint of smoky peat. Strong flavors of brown sugar and raisin, mild bourbon, hints of peat. Sweet, warming finish. Very good!

Corked and caged, from boboski. Bottled in October 2006, sampled in late November 2007. Strong vanilla and oak aroma, trace smoke and a memory of bourbon. Faint alcohol. Deep amber-brown/mahogany is nearly opaque, with a large, immobile soapy beige head. Crisp taste is yeasty, ripely fruity with alcohol but little burn, warming smoke with vanilla and oak/bourbon. Slightly acidic. Medium-fullish body and somewhat numbing. Compares with an Abt/Quad, has some Orvallish notes but the latter still wins out. Very dry aftertaste and calming effect, alcohol well-hidden and brew well-crafted, but overall complexity still can’t cover for a somewhat uninteresting taste.