Musette

Bottle. 2006 vintage. Rich amber beer with an off-white head. Yeasty, earthy, sweet malt aroma. Oaky, sweet malt, slight caramel flavor with yeast and earthiness. Medium body. LIngering oak, yeast, and sweet caramel malt. Hides alcohol well.

2006 bottle shared by SuIIy on 3/9/07
High clarity shows off a beautiful auburn-amber body with deep garnet highlights and a bit of beige swirled in. Light beige head is medium to small in size, but is rather dense and is retained well at cover, leaving light to moderate amounts of lacing on the glass.
Mushy peaches and apricots are mixed with caramel and toffee. Lots of fruitiness from the malt up front. A more dry shot of vanilla (though still not that dry) comes through the middle, with light phenols (cinnamon, clove, white pepper) harrying the finish and adding more dryness. Very fruity esters pronounce the yeast as Belgian, with a strong strawberrry/cherry/red apple appeal. Elegant cork/wood flavors on the end seem more a product of the yeast (the musty cork-like notes, anyways) while I’m left wondering how anyone could complain about the amount of barrel aging. I think I actually forgot that this was barrel-aged until a few days after I drank it. Strong aroma, with the big cushion of malt sweetness and fruitiness up front really showing the most dominance. It’s, perhaps, a bit strong yet, and you may even call the musty yeastiness on the end slightly vegetal in nature, but yet again, I’m shocked by how well this beer has cleaned up from when it was fresh (fair amount of DMS when young). Alcohol seems mostly relaxed in the nose, certainly some warmth/dryness is perceived, but it matches the strong Belgian nature of the beer just fine, I think.
Seductively soft on the palate, with toffee, vanilla cream and very light, spicy whiskey notes. Fair amount of fruitiness plays about with some phenolic dryness, though the beer remains mostly sweet until the finish. A fair amount of "peachiness" for lack of a better term, builds up on the palate, on the finish. Some type of combination between the malt fruitiness and light yeast (I think it’s the yeast, not the barrel) acidity/alcohol. But the sumptuous malt, with a fine-tuned oakiness trumps the negative aspects of the beer, and the soft mouthfeel certainly helps as well (though there is a bit of wateriness/looseness).

Pours mahogany into a trappist glass. Micro head quickly subsides to skim rim and bubble the center. Fig and bourbon aromas. Upfront sticky sweet caramel with a dry, lasting slightly sour oaked bourbon finish.

Dark red brown color...no lasting foam...nadda on the aroma except for the expected oak and bourbon....."looks like iced tea"-M...well disguised high alcohol....."just ain’t doin it for me" -J.Funk

I dont know, is it just me or is this beer just a freaking mess. Dont get me wrong i like Allagash and I wanted to like this but it hasnt worked out. I first had this when it hit selves in NYC and just had it again tonight at the Collins bar. Its like there really arent any good Scotch aspects, weak Belgian aspects and its over hopped for what its trying to do. The nose comes off hoppy, there really is no strony maltiness or roastiness, and there is a slight belgian sweetness that really seems to be wasted. I thought it needs time but I dont seem what aspects could improve. You want to try a good Belgian Scotch ale look for Glazen Toren Canaster.

A hazy orange beer with an orange head. The aroma is sweet and very spicy - though I can’t name any individual spices. The flavor is also very spicy and it reminds me a lot of a Belgian Ale, but it also has notes of berries and fruit, and of the spices I pick out cloves, and somewhere there’s just a touch of brettanomyces. The end has a light woody note combined with bourbon. This beer really confuses me - so much is going on at the same time.