Pour slowly this lively carbolic Belgian-styled brew. Sophisticated tan-headed, tawny-bodied Grand Cru calibrates brown ale, holiday ale, and barleywine tendencies efficiently. Brisk orange-apple fruiting, floral cinnamon-cardamom-nutmeg spicing and subtle black licorice snippet bedeck sweet doughy wheat spine ’til buttery finish secures wintry warmth.
All posts by John Fortunato
ALLAGASH FOUR (BELGIAN-STYLED QUADRUPEL)
Hazy mahogany ‘four malt-hop fermented’ dry ale retains mellow flow despite hefty 10% alcohol flow. Floral perfume-hopped clove-allspice resonance deepens ambrosial mandarin orange-peach-banana charisma, soured green raisin cusp, and honey-buttered toffee furtherance.
ALLAGASH DUBBEL RESERVE ALE
Captivating billowy tan-headed mahogany-bodied energizer extends fizzy bitter-spiced spritz to floral wheat insurgence and chocolate malt finish. Butternut coercion anchors dry cork backdrop.
ALLAGASH DOUBLE ALE
Introduced in 2003 and renamed ‘dubbel’ thereafter, dark brownish amber ale places orange rind bitterness above coffee bean souring and rosebud-dandelion accent. Roasted hops firmly envelop moderate finish, deepening its floral-citric astringency.
ALLAGASH CURIEUX ALE
Choice amber-hazed Belgian-styled tripel, aged in Jim Beam bourbon barrels, tethers perfumed yeast sweetness to overripe tangerine-apple tang, tart grape-skinned orange peel bittering and dry Scotch licks. Hiked up coriander-clove-currant spicing, white-peppered herbal dryness, oaken vanilla spell and floral hibiscus-lotus conflux cede to faded cognac finish, where honeyed almond-pecan-coconut serenity placates creamy vanilla cleft. Pinot Grigio wining adds buttery warmth to mindbending elixir.
ALLAGASH BLACK BELGIAN STYLE STOUT
Dramatic Belgian-styled chocolate stout works Blackstrap molasses thicket into candi-sugared black chocolate-spiced initiation and apprehensive oats-flaked hop-charred espresso-mochaccino reminder of musty 7.5% alcohol full body. At midst, vague coffee-grounded charred coal insinuation coarsens murky blackberry-blueberry-pureed digression. Peated hazelnut-walnut slunk, wavered pumpernickel toasting, gnarly tobacco chew spew and tertiary anise-currant bittering disperse lactic black chocolate lead-in.
ALHAMBRA PREMIUM LAGER
Up-front glutinous wheat sweetness and cloying corn sugaring embellish simple hop flow. Musty yeast souring counters Vienna-styled cereal-grained malts, combining for prosaic Euro Scotch essence. But unassumingly soapy butterscotch finish lags behind.
ALHAMBRA NEGRA
Indecisive deep maroon-bodied soft beige-headed dark lager (caught betwixt less resilient rauchbier and styptic Schwarzbier) drapes beechwood-smoked malts across suspect chocolate-anise bitterness, losing glazed ham and cured meat illusions as sharp-tongued phenol hop char increases. Ashy earthen astringency, wavered cocoa-fig sourness, and roasted nut harshness deplete marble rye hints.
ALEXANDER KEITH’S INDIA PALE ALE
Pale golden moderate body matches tart yellow-fruited dryness and demure apricot tang to fizzy lemon-lime sashay, but soapy malts deflect thin wheat proclivity at neutralized butternut finish. Lighter than traditional IPA’s that’d complete England to India journey during Colonial era.
ALESMITH YULESMITH HOLIDAY ALE
Venerable spongy tan-headed butterscotch-hued Imperial Red Ale celebrates winter solstice with lusciously fruity full-bodied seasonal that remains abundantly well rounded and remarkably consistent. Generous floral-tinged tangerine-orange sweetness caresses tropical pineapple-mango tang and candied apple glaze as countered grapefruit bittering increases. Moreover, creamy maple-sapped caramel-vanilla malting compensates resinous piney wood tones.
ALESMITH WEE HEAVY SCOTCH STYLE ALE
Stellar cola-hued garnet-highlighted Scotch ale swamps palate with resilient whiskey-licked anise spunk and syrupy molasses gunk. Frothy black chocolate and sticky toffee fortify creamy center as smoked peat malts shadow tertiary tobacco chew, black currant, Amaretto, and spiced rum illusions.
ALESMITH SPEEDWAY STOUT
Sensational tan-headed mahogany-bodied 12% alcohol Imperial Stout flaunts prominent roasted coffee bean theme that’s nearly as punctual as Red Hook’s defunct Double Black Stout (made with Starbuck’s coffee). Creamy molasses sapping coats lactic black chocolate resonation and wavered black cherry nuances while bourbon-licked creme de cacao liqueur pillages thickening cappuccino finish. Burnt cedar, wet bark, and ashen oak found in recessive cove.