Allagash Odyssey

Bottle. January 2008. Brown beer with a light tan head. Oaky, malty, yeasty, light spice aroma. Rich malty, caramel, stone fruit flavor with yeast and light chocolate. Medium body. Lingering malt, caramel, yeast, light spice, and light oak. Nice complexity.

Pours a dark brownish red in color. A decent half inch of head on the pour, but that doesn’t last. Decent amount of carbonation forming in a ring atop the beer. Smell is heavenly. Dark cherries, plum, oak, vanilla, and some light bourbon. Taste is incredible. More of the dark fruit there with the barrel aging complimenting everything quite well. A definite sipper, but that’s the way this beer should be. Great beer.

750mL corked. pours dark brown with a nice soft tan head. aroma is slight with pleasant notes of wood, fruit, and roasted malt. mouthful has strong flavors of molasses and some of the toasted oak. finishes with a bit of an alcohol note, but in a pleasant way. hard to believe this is a wheat ale.

750ml caged&corked bottle. Pours a deep brown like a cherry/mahagony wood stain with a minimal (though very long-lasting) light tan head that leaves occasional, thick, tendrils of lace on parts of the glass. Aroma is complex and interesting. My first impression was, "bacon?" from a distinct, though far from overpowering, smokiness combined with malt sweetness that subtly resembles maple. Layers of malt sweetness with caramel and chocolate follow along with a big whiff of alcohol. There are notes of dried cherry in the aroma, too, along with a subtle woody character. The flavor starts rich in roasted and caramel character - like robust porter. There is a hint of smokiness - much less than alluded to by the aroma. The smokiness actually blends well and accentuates the roasted grain character. The second wave of flavors is fruity with esters. As the beer nears the middle of the tongue, notes of Scotch whiskey (dry, a little smoke, alcohol) emerge. There is a nice dryness with notes of chocolate. Very complex, very tasty, and very nice. The mouthfeel is medium-full in body, slippery, with tendrils of thickness. The carbonation is decent, but low for strong Belgian ales - but in a good way as the lack of extreme bubbles makes the beer softer on the palate and helps bring attention to the complex layers of flavor herein. Overall - another knockout from Allagash. These beers are really pricey (~$13/bottle - $20 for Interlude!) but so worth it - so much better than buying a $13 bottle of wine (which is pretty common).

Bomber. Poured a cloudy mahogany with an impressive coffee/cream head. Aromas typical of strong ales - candied fruit, bittersweet chocolate, toffee, molasses. Taste is very heavy in chocolate, with a good amount of hops to give it a nice bite.