Allagash Brewing Company Confluence Ale

Confluence Ale

 

Allagash Brewing Company in Portland, Maine, United States 🇺🇸

  Belgian Style - Strong Ale Rotating Out of Production
Score
7.35
ABV: 7.5% IBU: - Ticks: 73
Allagash Confluence is a strong golden ale that benefits from mixed fermentation and dry hopping techniques. Brewed with a blend of imported and domestic Pilsner malt, as well as a small portion of caramel malt, Confluence boasts a complex malty profile.

Both our house yeast strain and our proprietary Brettanomyces yeast strain are used in fermentation. This layered approach creates a unique blend of fruit and spice flavors along with an incredibly silky mouthfeel.

After fermentation, Confluence undergoes a lengthy aging process in stainless steel that allows its complex flavors to fully develop. Just prior to bottling, it is dry hopped with Glacier hops, providing a pleasant, fruity aroma.
 

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7.4
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5

At WTWBA. Yellowish pour. Nose is filled with fruits and yeast. Tastes of pineapple, pear, vanilla, yeast, floral, and some funk. Interesting all around brew. Deep flavors

Tried on 03 Jun 2015 at 19:00


7.4
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle - Nice tart, slight perfumy stone fruit. Cloudy yellow gold with a small white head. Lemon, some funky peach and grassy notes. Nice.

Tried from Bottle on 30 May 2015 at 00:27


7.5
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

750 ml bottle from March 2011. Aroma is full of tropical fruit with nice pineapple, mango and passion fruit notes. Some lighter stone fruit and moderate citrus. Light white wine character. Light coriander and pink peppercorn phenolics. Pours a cloudy, pale, golden straw with a large, frothy, white head that steadily recedes to the edges where it lingers with moderate lacing. Medium small legs. Flavor has a light acidity with light tropical and stone fruit notes. Medium light phenolics, similar to the aroma with an herbal character as well. Moderate bitterness. Light graininess that has turned a bit stale. Finish is herbal, grassy and a bit harsh. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium high carbonation. Low astringency and low alcohol warmth. Overall, an alright beer. In my opinion, the aroma was helped by the age but the flavor, especially the finish, was hurt by it. Not really any dry hopped character left.

Tried from Bottle on 10 Dec 2014 at 21:23


8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

On tap at Cask and Vine with Mr Barleywine. Light and fruity with a bretty funky earthy edge to it. Cereal grains and bits of earthy hops round this one out nicely.

Tried from Draft on 05 Nov 2014 at 16:24


8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Two-ish oz draft pour at ChurchKey’s Allagash 5th Anniversary event courtesy of craftycarl21, thanks Carl! 2013 vintage. Hazy yellow with off-white head. Aromas of tart notes, citrus, lemon lime, oranges. Tastes of tart notes, citrus, floral notes, oranges. Medium-light body with a dry finish. Aging pretty nicely.

Tried from Draft on 28 Oct 2014 at 20:22


7.3
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Location: Draft at Cannibal, 7/14/14

Aroma: The nose is mix of some brett notes, yeast, spice, and some fruit
Appearance: It pours a cloudy golden-orange color with a decent sized white head
Flavor: The flavor is along the same line, spice and funk mostly, with some fruity notes
Palate: The body is medium, it has a bit of stickiness, and a decently clean finish
Overall Impression: I thought this was a pretty nice one. There are some good bretty flavors here. Definitely worth checking out.

Tried from Draft on 30 Jul 2014 at 20:48


6.5
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Drought. Cloudy bright orange with smalll foamy white head, fruity aroma, high carbonation, sweetish spicy taste with bitter ending. Medium finish goor brew but I am sure I would enjoy it more if I had not had cold!

Tried on 20 Jun 2014 at 16:43



7.5
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Batch 1 bottles and draught (2009) and as recently as Dec 2013 (draught at Publick House).
Mountainous head is white, frothy and very well-retained. No barrel tannins or heavy acids/fruit bi-products to knock this one down. Beer has a moderate haziness to it, though it is certainly not cloudy. Soft, amber body has a slight deeper bronze hue to it.
Spicy brett in the nose is crisp, clear and moderately strong. No alcohol vapors/fusels and a strong malt backbone of thick honey and even a bit of doughy, sweet bread. Orange and tart lime brett notes burst forth but eventually yield to the house yeast character (banana-peach esters) with light vanilla notes and more malt on the finish.
Tart up front, with a noticeable strong, chewy body that has ample maltiness. Not that it’s too sweet or anything, just certainly not as light and crisp as, say, Orval. A touch of caramel and plenty of honey, leading to plentiful esters and white pepper phenols on the end. Glacier hops, to me, are like the worst of both worlds (those being European and American hops) in that they have more acidity than European varieties, but the flavor waffles between ctirus and floral notes. Not that they are adding much bitterness here, being only used for dry-hopping, but I don’t think the flavor belongs in a somewhat delicate Belgian ale. Why not just use the EKG’s or tettnangs for dry-hopping?? No alcohol or flaws noted, very assertive carbonation.
I like the idea here, and though I have not had one, I would imagine an aged bottle to be more dry and a little less full-bodied. As is, it’s not quite as refreshing as it could be. Too chewy/thick in texture, with the fresh Glacier hoppiness and phenolic dryness contrasting heavily with the lovely brett acids. Still, I’d rather drink this than about 99% of beers out there and it’s quite well-done for what it is.

Tried from Bottle on 05 Feb 2014 at 09:25


8.1
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

750mL bottle, sent from Gregg657 (thanks a lot, Pete), pours a clear golden with a small white head. Aroma brings out lots of dry hops and moderate brett character, with some subtle Belgian yeast. Flavour brings out lots of bretty funk, light hops, Belgian yeast, and a nice funky finish. Very dry and funky on the palate, with everything in perfect balance. Extremely high drinkability. Wonderful stuff.

Tried from Bottle on 10 Jan 2014 at 20:55