Allagash Odyssey

750ml bottle at Columbus 2.0 tasting - Pours light brown with a short tan head. Aromas of oak, caramel, and some candi sugar as well as a little brown sugar. Flavor is oak, caramel, and candi sugar. Lots of barrel notes in this one all the way through. Smooth soft medium body. Pretty tasty..

Dark reddish brown with a thin off white head. Wow, in aroma, grapes and chocolate with woody peaty notes, and light fruity esters. In mouth, a sweet porto with woody character, some funky Bret notes, vanilla, alcohol, very interesting. Rich and smooth. Thanks Capflu for sharing this.

Feb 05 bottle. This Belgian Strong Ale pours a deep dark color from a cork finished 7050ml bottle. Medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is fruity and sweet, brown sugar and lots of bourbon. Touch of wood. A medium to full bodied Belgian Strong Ale. Malts are dark fruits, brown sugar, bourbon, oak and a touch of chocolate. Lots of flavors mix and match in this beer: oak and fruit, chocolate and vanilla, brown sugar and spices, with lots of bourbon flavors throughout. Nice balance. Touch of alcohol bite at the finish, but nicely smooth. This beer is a nice example of bourbon barrel aging. The bourbon and oak flavors highlight and accentuate the malt flavors in the beer. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is crisp and dry. Aftertaste is slightly bitter, touch of alcohol.

February 2005 batch: Holy smokes, Batman! This beer defies any classification system. If you wanted a Belgian, you’d cry funky. If you wanted a strong ale, you’d cry odd. Poured a nice dubel like dark brown color with a humungous head that really sustained itself well. The lacing was incredible and clung to the walls of the glass well after finishing. The aroma was very strong vinous / wine-like and with a definite oak presence. The flavor was very complex with vinous / oak flavors coming across first. The candy sugar and spices came out underneat the main flavors as the beer warmed, but the alcohol also increased. Oddly enough, minutes after each sip, there was a mild chocolate flavor in the after after taste (take that for what it is worth). Mouthfeel was medium bodied.

750ml bottle. Good stuff. Nice malt character to it. Bourbon hit in the finish. Very well balanced.

750 bottle, Feb 2005. Poured nice enough, dark reddish brown with a nice, but small head on top. Good enough aroma of many dark fruits (fig, plum, raisin), some breadiness and a load of bourbon. The mouthfeel followed suit, but it was slightly more bitter than I’d have liked. Finishes dry and sweet and somewhat malty, and oh yeah, lots of bourbon. Basically, it’s like they took thier dubbel and threw it in some barrels ... It’s funny, the ingredients are there, but there’s something about it that doesn’t add up.

Thin light brown head of fine bubbles. Very good carbonation keeps a thin foam on the surface. Nice aroma loaded with raisins, grapes, plums and vanilla. Color is a dark port brown. Rich and lively in the mouth. Loads of malts, vanilla, caramel for sweetness and some more raisins. The wheat gives it a little extra body also. Very good stuff. Rich and potent. A little oak in there but not a lot. I have been noticing a lot of beers aged in oak pick up some vanilla notes. Finish is creamy and smooth with a nice alcohol warming. A very good belgian strong ale.

Brown color. Aroma of malt, vanilla, zabaione. Medium body structure, good malt, pungent carbonation, vanilla, sweet nuts. Warming alcohol
Well done!