11th Anniversary Ale
Allagash Brewing Company in Portland, Maine, United States 🇺🇸
Belgian Style - Strong Ale Special Out of Production|
Score
7.24
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Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Sample from a 750 ml brown bottle this beer poured an amber-chestnut color with a small tang head. The aroma was sweet, fruity and had a caramel undertone. The flavor was sweet, tart, fruity and had caramel underneath. The finish was long with caramel and fruity hops. Nice.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Bottle courtesy of IMtheOptimator: Poured a deep amber color ale with a small foamy head with adequate retention and lacing. Aroma of sweet caramel malt with some spices which may include coriander is very interesting. Taste is somewhat dominated by sweet Belgian style malt with light candy notes and subtle spices. Body is quite full with some medium carbonation (I think a bit more lively would have benefited this beer) and no alcohol was discernable. Another great beer from a very fine brewer.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle, at csbosox KC tasting 4/14. Pour is cloudy orange - amber. Belgian yeast aroma with some hop coming through as well. Taste is same, with a nice malt medium - heavy body.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
6 months old now, drunk in its entirety on 2/24/07
I don’t know what it is about brewers, but they almost ALWAYS release beers while they’re still too young. Well, it’s probably that they feel it’s good enough and want to get their product out there, and that’s understandable. But I had this when fresh and it was still full of yeast bi-product that I knew would come out with some further conditioning in the bottle. So I didnt rate it then, and I’m glad.
Here we are now 6 months later and this beauty pours a perfectly conditioned, bright, chestnut-auburn with some deep hickory tints and a beige head that is small, but refuses to recede past full cover. Tons of lacing and a plethora of miniscule bubbles all throughout the beer, just like champagne.
Raisins, dates, prunes and a bit of dry alcohol in the nose start things out rather complexly as succulent aromatic malts lend a light caramel flavor that is so far ahead of crystal and American/English caramel malts. Deep, sumptuous and sweet, of course, but not too much so, and it leaves just a light acidity and pleasing fruitiness. Surprisingly clean yeast has low phenol product at this point. Some pepper and very marginal clove/nutmeg-like notes. Very rich, elegant malt aroma mainly, that is quite strong and incorporates the apparent alcohol shamelessly. Light candied apple on the finish, with a light earthiness and very pleasing toffee-covered fig sweet-fruitiness.
Sweet aromatic malts, rich and soft on the palate are the mainstay in the flavor. Rich, mushy dates, lightly piquant prunes dipped in caramel and plenty of plum and raisin. Wow, this is nothing like it was 6 months ago. Exquisitely tight carbonation can do nothing but produce a most engaging, creamy, soft mouthfeel. Very light yeast notes of mustiness, wood and black pepper/licorice. Alcohol is always notable, but never coarse or domineering. Just adds a very light touch of dryness and actually helps balance the caramel-raisin sweetness. Though I dont usually like alcohol used to balance sweetness, it seems to work well here. Great beer, I now must buy more to cellar.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bottle from shigadeyo, sampled with badnewsbeers. Fiery orange-brown body, thin tight buff head. Aroma of sweet grapes and apple, spice, and alcohol. Estery, earthy, bready body, dominated by spices and alcohol. Light fruits (apple and pear) are present but mostly hidden behind spicy esters. Good, but lacks complexity.
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 3 | Overall - 17
Copper. cloudy. Off-white, tight-bubbled, frothy head, nice lacing. Aroma of sweet malts (caramel) and yeast. Light notes of ripe fruit and alcohol. Flavor is sweet, lightly bitter. Dry finish. Smooth mouthfeel, but not the velvet, creamy palate of the 10th anniversary.Slightly tart, bitter aftertaste. Very nice.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Pours cloudy ruby/amber into a tulip. Fluffy off-white micro head leaves receding sheet lacing. Apple and apricot aromas. Full and sweet with upfront caramel apple and a lasting slightly bitter alcohol finish. Just read the excellent commercial description -- it is spot-on.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Clear dark amber body with a small white head. Sweet fruity aroma. Sweet fruit flavor, some caramel and light molassas.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Cloudy copper/amber pour - unlike beastie’s bottle, my sample had a huge, frothy, nearly cappucino-like head, continually fed by hundreds of little bubbles drifting upwards from the bottom of the glass - bright, complex, fruity aroma, with notes of raisins, apple, apricot, peach - background notes of bread yeast and sweet orange jam - the carbonation is very soft on the palate - quite spicy throughout, tasting like a strong saison with bsa influence - a very strong cider-like quality is also quite dominant - other fruits (pear, apricot, a bit of fig) pair well with the underlying sweetness, but the spices and gentle hop bitterness keep the beer from becoming cloying - another wonderful brew from Allagash, but, as with most of their other recent releases, not really worth the hefty price tag (I paid 16.99).
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Finally got a chance to crack this open. Its been sitting in the fridge since August 1st. Poured into a rounded wine glass. Pours dark, murky, deep amber. Slightly translucent but very low clarity. A bit of lacing. Overall, looks like a very still beer, no visible carbonation, eventually all lacing dissipates. Aroma is very present - a mix of effervescent belgian sweetness and sour apple cider. Some hop presence but falls to the wayside as it warms. Mouthfeel is also cider like, low carbonation (I bet b/c of the champagne yeast). Tastes earthy and also apple cider like. This is where I believe the yeast does its work. The belgian sweetness still seems present but engulfed by the sour apple cider. Finishes with no bitterness or any sense of alcohol. In a way reminscent of a Belgian mixed with one of Heavyweight’s bread yeast brews.
P.S. redolent, had to look that one up.