Theme time!
#34: Allagash Grand Cru
This is Allagash’s winter beer, but I chose to drink it out-of-season for a different reason. From the bottle (emphasis mine): “We brew this deep-golden colored Belgian-style ale each year in limited quantities.” Belgium is home to some really out-there strains of yeast and a lot of beer-oriented history, which most famously culminates in rich, strong, complicated ales with little or no hops, probably some spices and a whole lot of flavors good for sippin’ and thinkin’. So of course we in America think we can do the same thing. There are a lot of ales brewed in the New World claiming to be “Belgian style” or “abbey ale,” so I think it’s time to survey some of these attempts, find perhaps some hubris, perhaps some genius. Let’s see how the Mainers did.
Things certainly start out promising. The beer is a slightly-cloudy orange with a huge head that smells malty, a little musky, a little boozey, and like funny-shaped fruits from dusty, foreign lands. Hurray, I think Allagash imported the right yeasts. It tastes thick and sweet, and seems to have some cloves, some orange, and something peppery. The musky smell turns into a musky taste that has a bit of a rubbery, astringent edge. Maybe they didn’t import all the right yeasts. There’s more alcohol heat than I expected for something in the 7ish percent range, and a lot of tickly carbonation, which together have something of a numbing effect.
Allagash gave it a good try. It’s not perfect. I’d rate this beer as a solid OK.