Beer Made Clear: Allagash Interlude

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Allagash Interlude

Allagash Interlude - 2007

by Dan Raposo

This bottle has been bouncing from home to home with me after I picked it up at my favorite brew store (BBC liquors in Smithfield, RI) a couple years ago during my first trip back to college for homecoming weekend. I can't really say why I've avoided it for so long, but I do know why I opened it. Other reviews on this beer spread throughout the internet always mention the fruity and wild complexity the beer offers, and I knew it would match perfectly with a meaty Brazilian dish I had for dinner.

As you pop the cork the beer starts to fix, coming to life from a long hibernation of 5 years of barrel aging and another 2+ years in the bottle thanks to me. Giving it a hearty pour, the foam rises to the top of the glass and settles into a nice, thick, rolling foam, releasing the magnitude of aromas. Fruit - sour apple, strawberry or perhaps notes of cherry, but definitely grapes from the wine barrels this beer is aged in. Upon first taste the beer is tart but then sweet, both from those same fruity tones. Bubbly in the mouth, it goes down smoothly with a dry finish. The end is the only point you remember the brews 9.5% ABV, and you probably wouldn't even notice if you never read the label, or this review.

After a couple more pours, I swirl the bottle and pour the sediment to finish off a wonderful drink. This definitely changes the tone of the beer, as it becomes a little harsher, and more of the Brettanamyces yeast really comes through.

Overall, Allagash does a great job of mixing a Belgian strong ale with the fruity notes of most Belgian ales and American wilds. I wish I had another bottle I could cellar for another 2 years.

1 comment:

Chris said...: Good review man, I really want to give an aged bottle of it a try.; October 8, 2009 at 10:14 PM

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After being in semi-seclusion for four years in rural Pennsylvania as he reached toward a degree in Psychology he would probably never use, Jonathan discovered a love of words, and began to use more of them on a daily basis - both on paper and by use of his vocal chords. You can find some of his writing on Popmatters.com, Glide Magazine’s HiddenTrack blog and Relix.com, but most of it can be found on the floor of his home or stashed away in files on his computer. He has recently fled the comforts of home in New York City for the vast open spaces of Colorado, where he breathes fresh air and is reaching towards a higher degree in Creative Writing. Aside from his work on BeerMadeClear, Jonathan is also the co-founder of the music-related website NoiseReport.net.

I hated beer the first time I drank some, but don't hold it against me, I was about 8 at the time. Then in 8th grade my older sister took me to a pool party at her friend's house and I tasted my first Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blonde. These days I tend to stay away from the fruitier flavored beers, but I owe my beer adventuring to that wonderful brew.

Since the time of my beer virginity I have gone through many phases of being a booze hound, including the high school drink whatever you can get your hands on phase, the college drink the cheapest beer you can find phase, the post college drink as many different kinds of beer as you can phase and am currently in the drink whatever I feel like phase.

Along with drinking beer, I also love to travel and find new beers, brew my own beer, drink wine, whiskey and tequila, and go to beer related events such as festivals and pub crawls. These passions have led to many trips to Europe, across North America and even a short stint in Brazil.

Looking back, the day that I became a true beer enthusiast was during my sophomore year in college when I tried a bottle of Troegs HopBack. Before that, I drank natty light or whatever was available at college parties, and whatever I could steal from my neighbors' garages in high school. One sip of that sweet brew forever changed my perception of what beer could be. Having the Selinsgrove brew pub around only fueled my passion for great beers (their IPA is still the best in my mind)

After graduation, I was lost for a year, working a job that I hated- selling insurance and financial products. The only things that kept me sane were playing music, brewing beer, and visiting the flying saucer in Raleigh NC. It is there that I was truly turned on to the world of Belgian brews. Trying such masterpieces as St. Bernadus ABT 12, Tripel Karmeliet, Delerium Tremens, Duvel, and Maredsous, I was once again amazed at the flavor spectrums that were made available in a beverage.

A year later, I moved back to PA, got a job selling beer and haven't looked back since. Prost!

Many of the beers I stole from my parents in high school made my mouth begin to water profusely after a few sips. Now, 10 years later, this phenomenon happens in reverse - I salavate at the sound of carbonation escaping from a bottle. Maybe I'm too dumb for my brain to appropriately catch on to Pavlov's theory of "Classical Conditioning" or maybe my taste buds just said screw it this guy's in for the long haul. I'm not sure. Either way, I've come to appreciate the many styles and flavors of beer that are around.

Who ever thought the "we'll talk in 10 years" conversation with your parents would sound like this: "Christopher, if you only put as much effort into doing something constructive as you do with your beer drinking you could get a lot done." I don't know what that really says, but as a former band member of the "Booze Brothers" according to my Dad, I would say that I thoroughly enjoy drinking beer.