Murky, oily looking pour of an orange/amber body that produces a nice head of creamy off white which sheets the sides of the glass in Brussels lace.. Deep fruity yeasty aroma. Bread dough and spices. Complex malt and spice flavors are well blended and balanced. The sweetness is not overdone and in the middle is a nice acidic interlude. Re sampled 5/06 at Noogfest This sample left an impression of being a bit thinner and would score a point lower in palate and a point overall, but I will leave the rating unchanged.

Bottle. Batch 10. Pale golden straw with a white head. Yeasty aroma with wheat and some fruity spice. More wheat flavor and less yeast/spice than I’d have thought. Crisp, dry some lemon and corriander, but just not enough going on. Still another disapointment from Allagash - it’s a brewery that I want to like but just can’t.

Thanks to Skaughty for bringing this one to sample at KP’s. Hazy gold with a thin head. Honey in the aroma. Sweet with a tangy finish. The bourbon and alcohol are both very subtle and well masked in this. Well mellowed and overall a pleasant brew. I need to start bringing my Allagash’s up from the cellar.

Corked bottle, Batch #46
Hazy, pale blond color. Good Tripel, strong spicy character and quite dry in the beginning, a bit alcoholic, with a light corky character and a very light fruitness, good but not so extraordinary.

A big thanks to Shadey who sent this one my way! I poured this one straight into the snifter and managed to raise a small fleeting head over a clear, ruby tinged, brown body. Aroma of sweet raisin with some light malt. The flavor is sweet but rather one-dimensional. Somewhat thin.

XBF05. The beer I was most excited to try at the fest, and probably the most disappointing. I even went back for a second sample, hoping that something had gone wrong with the first, but alas, not so. Appearance is a dark brown/black body, light amount of sediment, but otherwise quite clear, with large bubbles and a light beige head, foamy and prone to clumping. Aroma has notes of cola and spiced rum, not unlike a Rum and Coke, with some dry yeast tones and an almost peanut brittle-like smell. Only a faint hint of esters I would expect from a Belgian Dark Strong, no doubt covered up by the toasted oak aging. Flavor closely approximates the aroma, with notes of cola (lots of residual sweetness, dark candi sugar traces), some bubble gum and a strange flavor of light ash, or dry papery malt. Confusing. The body, is, perhaps, the worst part of it all, with an out of place carbonation that breaks up any semblance of a smooth rich palate, that I would desire. On top of the carbonation, it is very watery, and the flavor leaves quickly on the finish. Lightly astringent notes, with some faintly dry/sour oak and more sugar round out the finish.

From the bottle, Feb 2005, sampled 9/24/2005. Hmm, was hoping this would be quite different in bottles, but I can’t say I enjoyed it anymore than on draught. What it did have was a better body, not nearly as watery/flat, which I expected. Though, it still was nothing to write home about, body wise. And the flavor, yuck, I barely had a few sips before deciding to leave the rest of the bottle for someone else to deal with. Obnoxious sourness from the oak, acidic and just dominant. Not at all what I look for in a Belgian ale.

Batch #41: Hazy golden color with a thick white head that has good retention. Thin and silky lacing. The aroma consists of yeast, fruit and spices. Medium-bodied with sugary sweet qualities. Lightly fruity with some yeast and spice flavors, but none in any abundance. As a matter of fact this was not quite as flavorful as expected. Still it is a good beer with nice balance. The finish is mildly sweet with fruit, yeast and a bit of pepper. So far Allagash has been consistently solid for me.

Bottle - Batch #42
A bit of a cheesy nose. Hazy brown, good cover. Green cheese, fruit, nuts and roast. Medium body, creamy mouthfeel. Nutty aftertaste, weakish body. The beer has a raw edge to it. Not sure - either I had a bad day or the beer did.

Batch #56. Cloudy golden with a very large white head. Aromas of sweet alcohol and banana. Very nice flavor: mainly banana, with some other fruitiness. Finishes with a tinge of alcohol. Nice!