Allagash Tenth (10th) Anniversary Ale

Formerly brewed at Allagash Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Portland, Maine USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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thanks to cmubeerman for a pour. great appearance. cloudy tripel. spicy aroma, tiny malt. maybe a tiny bit sour. much sweeter taste. explored, but not heady or carbonated. slightly thick.

Thanks to beastiefan2k for breaking this bad boy out. After losing 1/3 of the bottle the remainder poured a deep yellow-orange with loads of hazy yeast suspended throughout. Nose is very spicey and sweet, with lots of clove and cardamon aromas. Nice pale belgian malts with a bit of cotton candy sweetness. Soft fruity esters with apricot/peach and pear all coming through. A bit of pineapple tartness as well. Flavour is lovely as well, with sweet fruit, yeasty spice and a sweet fruity finish. Awesome brew.

750ml bottle thanks to Eric @ Novare. This pours a golden hazy yellow with a quickly receding head. Aroma is a nice subtle of sweet fruits, bready, and some malt. The flavor is a wonderful caramelly, vanilla, lemons, oranges, and cloves. The palate was super smooth, this beer was fantastic. Aging helped it i think, but my god was I glad to get this finally!

Damn... first bottle I’ve ever had to explode on me when not expecting it... joy of joys.... Nice thick gold body with a nice white head. Honey hop aroma, light dough, some fruits as banana and apple, yeast. Taste is outstanding, smooth and creamy, hops with a nice spice and good malt balance. Clean ending, overall an extremely nicely done beer.

Corked and Caged. 750ml bottle 3 years and 9 months oldwith many thanks to fordest who brought this to my 2000th rating tasting and left it, and then said he would be happy for me to drink it. Shared with my girlfriend Cyn after a spicy carrot soup dinner she made. Pours golden orange with a bright white head and a lot carbonation eminating from the center of the glass. Nose is sweet, light and yeasty with a touch bread and a nice hint of malt. Taste is sweet, light, with hints of clove and fruit. There is even a touch of hop bitterness. Gotta say this is a tasty high alc wit like brew. Yummers.

My friend popped the cork which proceeded to shoot up to the ceiling along with half of the beer. The other half that we drank was quite good. I just hope the ceiling enjoyed the rest of it.

Thanks to Dorwart for the trade. Pale and hazy yellow-gold color with a very thick white head and spotty lacing. Aroma of yeast, lemon and spices. Medium-bodied and I like the amped-up Allagash White interpretation. Floral character with lots of sweet spices, citrus and yeast. The alcohol is always in the background too. The finish is dry and lightly bitter with a bit of toasted malt. Impressive.

UPDATED: FEB 3, 2009 RBSG 05. Pours a light golden color with lots of haze and a medium white fluffy head. Aroma is spicy, herbal, grasssy, and lightly fruity. Flavor is also grassy almost like dandelion (pissenlit-like) with some woody notes. Phenolic and yeasty as well. Finish is a little harsh right now due to its age. After some time this one could get a lot better.

750 mL bottle, sampled a little less than a year after bottling: even well chilled, I had a gusher…though, thanks to some inside intelligence, I was at the sink and had a large glass ready to catch the outrageous flow, tragedy averted (all beer in the glass)…After the off-white foam recedes, the body shines with a pale gold luster. A strange, algae-looking lace is left throughout the glass. Soft, doughy esters pass softly through my nostrils with undertones of fruity alcohol and bubble gum. Floral notes are more evident in that last sniff right before the liquid hits the tongue, along with golden raisins, and freshly cracked spices (dull star anise, pepper) and yeast. Thick, full mouth feel with a steady and lingering carbonation on the tongue, delivering luscious oranges, hop resin and a nicely restrained vanilla bean sweetness. Given time, alcohol warmth is noticeable along with a deepening malty sweetness (figs, apple cider, candi sugar). The depth of flavour continues with lingering rose petals, honey suckle stamen, and a long hop bitterness. A special treat, from a special beer drinker and friend…T.rappistA.lesR.ule…thanks & cheers buddy – after a month and a half without I wasn’t sure that I would even like beer anymore…boy, was I mistaken!

I suppose at 10% abv, this is hardly a witbier, though it is a blend of two witbiers, with probably a bunch of sugar and yeast added to pump up the abv. Anyways, I’ll leave the style classification up to the admins and write the exciting stuff here.
Had this on draught at the American Beer Fest on 6/17/2005 (quite a few samples).

Pours a thick, syrupy, viscous looking dull-golden, honey yellow, with a smattering of light orange/copper highlights. No head, though there is a thin layer of bubbles initially, and when swirled it can be coaxed out as well, but no actual formation of what I would call a head, thus no retention. Lacing, not in the typical sense, more like legs that a cider leaves; bits of thick, clear residue. Aroma is very floral, very spicy. Like a field of wildflowers with some highly fragrant pollen in the air. Some light citrus notes and a definite overtone of clove. Sweet honeyish malt, but gentle on the coriander and bubblegum. The spices take over at first, really shooting right up your nose, and exacerbated by the light citrus. Flavor begins with a little bit of dry oak sharpness/tartness, smoothing out very fluidly in to some sweet honey-dough malt. Spices congregate quickly on the palate, though they are not overdone. Clove, cinnamon?, vanilla, white pepper and light tangerine notes gently finishing it off. The malt is not so much sweet as it is thick. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still very-well malted, but I didn’t find it to be unbalanced by any means, even for a beer that must support 10% abv. Lightly syrupy, not in a bad way, with very low carbonation. I found the spiciness and wood dryness to provide enough complexity and interest on the palate to make up for the low carbonation, but in the end, more couldnt hurt (though this is probably a draught vs bottle issue, not a brewing problem). And oh yes, I shan’t forget the yeast. Copious amounts of that Allagash yeast that we all know and love are very present here. It really gets under your tongue and sticks to the palate, making you lick your lips with pleasure. Thick, chewy and unending. Body has some thinning on the very end, but by no means does it become watery. Perhaps a touch of alcohol, but the spices and thick malt cover it nicely. Moderate spice acidity/astringency grows on the palate, the more that I drink. I find little in the way of hops flavor, probably just saaz or hallertauer adding to the spice effect. Having just had Southampton Double White out of the bottle, this one had some tough competition, but I really enjoyed it. Full flavor, some carbonation issues, but nothing that I didnt enjoy, really. As with Odyssey and Curieux, I think these beers do much better when bottled, so I score it a little leniently, with that in mind.