Allagash Odyssey

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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When I first tried this brew at a beer festival, I didn’t think much of it. At the time, I found it very astringent with whiskey-like qualities. This is definitely not the case out of the bottle. Feb 2005 bottle. Pours dark with an average light brown head that diminishes leaving a thin crust throughout the tasting. Scents of molasses, caramel and coffee are present. Taste is of bananas, raisins, prunes, dates, cassis with cask, wood, butterscotch and honey on the finish. Body is full and oily.

UPDATED: OCT 6, 2005 This is a good beer to sip, not to drink all at once. Very strong, sweet, with a dark brown color. This won’t go down as my favorite beer from Allagash.

UPDATED: JUN 2, 2006 Bottle, February 2005. Pours brown, with a white/tan head. Aromas are wood, dark fruit, bourbon, and raisins. Flavors are wood, vanilla, bourbon, dark fruit, raisins, and brown sugar. Body is medium to heavy, with a decent amount of carbonation. A very nice beer, much better than Curieux, and right up there with the Four.

Bottle. My bottle states bottled in February 2005 and 10.4% ABV. Pours dark clouded brown. Small dense foamy tan head. Nose is very woody and sweet with dark fruits, light brown sugar, and light toasted bread notes. Taste is very rich! Big oak flavors, vanilla, raisins, plums, figs, brown sugar, creamy chocolate, light bubblegummy notes, light spice, mild grains, and maraschino cherries. Very nice! Body is a bit creamy but has some carbonation sharpness. Otherwise is medium-full. Finish is chocolately and oak-laden with mild toasted notes, more dark fruits, vanilla, alcohol, and wheaty notes. To me, this seems to be Aventinus Weizenbock combined with a Westy 12. Nice beer, nonetheless.

750 ml bottle. Brown in color with a nice fluffy tan head. Creamy. Fruity aroma with a nice smooth smokey note. Fruity flavor. This beer will age very nicely. Nice beer. Enjoyable.

750 ml, Feb 2005 bottling, 10.4% ABV. Brown, with a fluffy, creamy tan head. Oaky fruity aroma with a smokey component there as well. The flavor is fruity and hot, with a pleasant oaky component. This is young, and it is fairly obvious to anyone that this will be fun to age in a cellar for a couple of years or more. To all those who have rated samples at fests: buy a bottle and age it, then re-rate. It will be worth it.

UPDATED: MAR 21, 2007 Re-rate... Bottle purchased cold and downed slowly at Bodega Blue in Vero Beach, FL on St. Patrick’s Day ’07... This beer rocks!... I don’t know if it was the setting, the blues music, the company (boboski & Wendy), the extra year spent in the bottle, my buzz, or what, but the second time I sampled this beer was definitely the charm. An incredible malt bomb with lots of complexity and character. Initial Rating = 3.6; new rating = 4.7! A new favorite... **** Original rating****... Bottle... Hazy, dark orange ale with a mid-sized, frothy, lightly tanned head. The aroma is, by far, the star of the show. Very oaky chardonnay with notes of cocoa, dried plum and a touch of lemon. The relatively high ABV is fairly well-hidden in the well-balanced, woodsy, chocolatey flavor. Undertone of sourmash whiskey. I didn’t get any of the distracting sweetness that turned off my Canadian friends at the Extreme Beer Festival in Boston, MA. Medium-bodied and fizzy. Short, lightly bitter, medium-dry finish. Not at all a disappointment; but at $15 per bottle, it’s a bit spendy.

Rating # 700
Polar Beer Tour 2005

Rating # 700 by default.
Sampled at 10:50am at the Allagash Brewery, and this was the correct approach to starting the day!
Ahh… Allagash served us up what they call, “a dark wheat aged in oak,” and it was a rather nice blend indeed. Poured a rusty brown body and a flaky brunette head. The aroma and flavor hit with serious notions of the cask. Large submissions of oak and vanilla that had been leached from the wood; hints of almond and a bit of black pepper intermingle with mention of smoke and cherry. There was a delicate yeasty tartness in the finish, but it was lightly covered with hints of raisin and toasted barley. The palate wasn’t forceful, rather light and stringy, but just enough vigor for a breakfast treat.

Had about 4 samples of this at EBF. Dark brown color with spices and dried fruits in the aroma. There are so many layers of this complex beer that each sample brings out something else. The sugar, malts, yeast, spices, vanilla all combine to form a liquid masterpiece. A great beer by one of the top 5 brewers on the east coast, Rob Todd.

UPDATED: MAY 5, 2007 Feb. 05 vintage bottle sampled on 2/24/07: Pours a clear dark copper mahogany with a frothy, nicely-lacing light tan head. Aroma of sweet toasty dark caramel and complex vanilla notes. Body starts sweet and caramely malty with a touch of drier woody oak and earthy complexity. A nicely balanced, well-aged brew.

On tap on 1/30/05: Poured a dark mahogany brown with a nice, well-lacing whispy light tan head. Sweet Belgian malty aroma with candi sugar and dry bourbon oak cherries. Nice, sweet full malty body with great tart fruity oaky balance. Hides its alcohol wonderfully through a dry, semi-tart finish. This actually reminded me more of a Flemish sour than whatever it’s supposed to be. Quite tasty though and well-balanced.