Allagash Victor

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Bottle from Capones. Sampled with Stegosaurus. Cludy orange pour with a bread /spice and fruit nose. Smooth alcohol taste with yeasty under tones. Quite enjoyable.

I appreciate Allagash’s "specials," although at times they leave me uncertain as to whether or not I’ve actually enjoyed the beers. Such is the case with Victor, although I’m giving it a respectable enough rating. Perhaps it’s because it has a strong ABV and I’ve just moved up in the Masters Division... in years, not in ranking. Or mayhaps I like it.
It has a hazy amber body with a modest yet well sustained head. The aroma is (oddly) of green grapes and green raisins, biscuits, and brown spices. In the flavor the malt becomes more bready and there’s a dusty bitterness. There’s a slight tartness from the grapes and the spices become more lively. It finishes with the dryness of grape skins and a mild talcum powder. The alcohol really only shows itself once it’s entered my veins. Interesting drink.

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Draught at Barcade. Hazy orange with a thin head. Aroma of golden raisins, cake, orange, some general spiciness and a bit of vinous alcohol wafting up now and then. Sweet cakey malt flavors offset by spice and a lot of dried fruit notes---golden raisins, apricot, candied citrus peel. There seems to be an underlying tartness or sourness here as well which I guess is from the vinous grape additions. Interesting creation.

Pours amber with a two-finger off-white head. Very spicy aroma, with a big dose of Allagash and a vinous twang. Gets more and more earthy, dirty, as it warms. More fruit comes through in the flavor, at least at the beginning, which is sweet, bready malt with a big grape backbone. About halfway through, earthy yeast and spices take over. This Mr. Hyde proves somewhat unpleasant, the lesser of face of this good, if twin-tempered, brew. This finish is patently Allagash, which makes me worry that maybe the brewery’s going the way of Unibroue: essentially one good beer under various special edition labels.

UPDATE: Upon warming, Jeckyl and Hyde combine more smoothly, a same-sex marriage of the vine and an earthy, musty yeast. The finish becomes an interestingly spicy grape reminiscent of the tail end of a good Syrah. A light bitterness somehow improves the overall effect. The second glass shows a definite improvement.

On tap at Mugs. Hazy orange/amber color with a small off white head. Yeasty, spicy aroma that was slightly vinous, with hints of citrus, pepper and oak. Flavor was fruity and yeasty. Fairly sweet flavor of tangerines, candi sugar, black pepper and grapes. Good, but a bit disappointed as I was really looking forward to trying a new Allagash beer.

On tap at Mugs for STS 07. Pours a hazy muddled coppery light brown and a fluffy head. Earhty, phenolic aroma with some leather, peppery spices, dougy and yeasty- kinda like the tripel, but a bit more unrefined- light tannin grape aroma as well. Phenolic, lgihtly bitter flavor with some dirty and earthy malts and hops, tannic grape quality, but is light, and has a slight sharp mineral/tart quality in the end. Meh- it was ok, but not that great.

Poured a hazy orange color with a small, off white head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of grapes, vanilla, citrus, and an earthy yeastiness. Taste of much of the same, more citrus, tart grapes, dry yeastiness, with a bit of alcohol, and a tart, dry, finish.

Tap at Mug’s Split Thy Skull - cloudy straw color, with an impressive, lasting head - very musty, earthy aroma, with a fair amount of sour fruit (mostly pears and apples) and grapes (of course) - tart up front, with some white wine and yeast qualities - this is followed by the sweetness of overripe apples - light grain character - like Clark states, the grape.wine character dominates, but I enjoyed it because of this - something different.

Draught at EBF on 2/10/07
I think this is now the fourth beer I’ve had with fermented grapes/grape juice. Three of them, Cantillon Reed Gueuze Pinot Noir, Vigneronne and this, just seem overly influenced by the grapes. Perhaps that’s the intention, but all three have a chewiness, a fair amount of "sweetness" (even the lambics), and a "mustiness" for lack of a better word that I associate with wine. And I don’t particularly think it goes well in a beer, as it detracts from the barley character that I enjoy (hence why I drink beer more than wine). In this one especially, I don’t think it leaves enough beer character behind and creates a lot of weight on the palate, both acidity and/or grapey sour/tartness. The fourth one I’ve had, Southampton Peconic County Reserve was much brighter, less heavy and while it had some resemblance to champagne and had a fairly strong/tart white grape character, a strong grainy character and malty feel still came through.
I think brewers probably think, "If I’m going to do a beer with grapes added, I better make sure the grapes are noticeable" and then they probably err on the side of putting too much in instead of too little, which, IMHO isn’t beneficial. I’m sure it just takes practice, as this is very experimental territory. I think they will age nicely, as the fruit character fades and eases up. I’ve got 5 victorias stashed away to test that theory.

EBF 2007: Hazy golden color with an off white head. Aroma, yeast, some grapes and light fruits, a little bready. Flavor, pale malts, and fruits, grapes again, some floral notes. It was good, I didn’t really notice much of a difference between it and the Victoria. Guess I’m not that good yet.