Allagash Odyssey

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

mostly clear dark garnet chesnut color, with a medium tan head that is dense and foamy. aroma is raisins sauteed in demerera sugar and dark rum, brown sugar too. high carbonation, flavor starts bready malt, sticky sweet, then prune/plummy and rum finish. aftertaste is dry like white vermouth.

Sampled at Oakes’ ’05 Xmas Party
Big puffy head and thorough lacing. Nice citrusy Belgian character with subtle roast in the nose. Sweet rustic flavor with a soothing level of carbonation and a balanced mouthfeel. Finishes with a snap of alcohol and orange. Nice Belgian Strong with very little alcohol.

02/05 bottling. Deep brown beer, thin white head. Big fruity aroma, nice Belgian yeast character. Toasty malts backed up by sweet plummy malts. Yeasty aroma, minty character, sweet toffeeish malts, peppery alcohol. Cherry flavour oxidized sherryish character. Chewy texture. Great brew.

Dark mahogany color with a fairly wispy looking and diminishing light taupe head. A quick whiff reveals a zinfandel quality. Deeper sniffs reveal oak, lightly roasted malts, dark chocolate, dark cherries, and aged port. Seems thin, yet has a somewhat chewy quality. Warming from the start. Oak start the flavors and yields to a raisin sweetness. Some cork flavors come in mid quaff. Hot brew. An oak aged simple belgian strong. Needs some additional malt depth. I like it from a simple strong brew. Thanks Barry.

(Bottled February 2005) The beer is very dark with ruby highlights and a rich oaky, vanilla nose. The oak and alcohol really come through on the palate. A smoky element becomes more apparent as the beer warms. This beer tastes something like a bourbon milkshake. My tastes would probably prefer a lighter toast on the oak.

750 ml corked bottle: Pours a murky mahogany brown colour. Whitish rocky head, leaves nice sheets of lace. Fruity, alcoholic nose, grape must, fig, vanilla, bourbon, wood. Palate is more of the same. Quite sweet, cloying, cocoa, bubblegum, cherry, icky. Body is somewhat nice. More wood, and vanilla and bourbon. I think the Allagash should rock cognac or sherry, or port or wine barrels. Leave the whiskey for other American breweries. Maybe get a barrel from Cantillon?

Bourbon alcoholly aroma, coca cola colour. But the taste, bourbon more than whiskey, and very drinkable. Went down really well, smooth on the tongue. A great example of wood working, with vanilla coming through. SUitable understated carbonation

How is this different from the Curieux?? Both fine brews.They both look about the same and I could tell very little difference between them.Mostly just the bourbon flavors coming thru’ and not a lot of much else.Still, I happen to like that flavor.