Manderes - The Allagash Tasting

First off, make your way to any tasting that Manderes offers. There was a reason the greater Sacramento area voted them the #1 beer bar. The staff is excellent and the food is great.

On Wednesday, May 14th, Manderes hosted Allagash Tasting. For those of you unfamiliar with Allagash, they are a brewer based in Portland, Maine who specializes in Belgian style craft beer. Joining me that night were three other hop heads including Sheelagh, Tara, and Jason. Jason brought along his father, Jack, to give him the west coast beer dinner tour.

Onto the beer. Team Allagash brought out the White as the lead-off hitter. Allagash White is a Belgian Wit with notes of apricot, citrus, honey and nutmeg. Normally an excellent beer, but ours had a slight fault. While it is common for the style, our sample had moderate notes of acetylaldehyde, which was most likely caused by debris at the bottom of the beer or simply cannibalistic yeast. The beer tasted like green apples and if you drink enough, you don't get a hangover. While this is a novel concept, we did not exactly look for that flavor. Excellent observation Jack. While this is normally one of my favorite offerings from Allagash, I was a little disappointed, but realizes it happens.

The second beer we sampled was the Musette. The Musette is a barrel-aged Scottish ale. If you enjoy a nice, dark firkinized beer with ample amounts of whiskey flavors and hints of smokiness, this might be the brew for you.

The third pour was the Black. The Belgian Black is similar to a stout, but Allagash adds dark candi sugar and uses a Belgian yeast strain. The flavor on this beer contained dark chocolate and bits of roasted malts. However, the ester and sugar flavors consistent with Belgian beers did not stand out. This may be a good introduction beer to try if you are squeamish about Belgian esters.

Fourth up, the Interlude. I am not going on break, I am talking about the beer. This was one of the more interesting beers of the night simply because I can't compare it to anything. Another barrel aged beer, but aged in Syrah and Merlot barrels. This beer uses two types of Belgian yeasts: one deemed as typical and the other a farmhouse. I can describe this as somewhat resembling a lambic with notes of cherry, oak, citrus, and a mouthfeel of slight sourness. Interlude is its own style and I'd welcome the opportunity to try another one. Excellent job.

Number 5 is a Hop Head favorite, Allagash Curieaux. Aged in Jim Beam Bourbon barrels, with ample smokiness, and extra ummpphhh from tripel aging, it makes you appreciate the time and effort put into this beer.

The next one Four should have been served two tastings ago, but I'll let that go. Aptly named, Four is aged four times, uses four Belgian yeasts strains, several types of candi, and will make you pee four different colors (that may not be correct as a source from New England provided that information to the Herald). For those of you unfamiliar with this beer, it pours an opaque orange, with a light head, and has notes of oakiness, coriander, pear and honey. Surprisingly, it drinks fairly light for a quadrupel, which everyone enjoyed.

The seventh pour came from the Odyssey. No, not the book written by Homer or the reception hall/restaurant where my parents got married. Aged in American Dark Barrels, this beer is dark brown with notes of chocolate, oak, honey, and biscuit (bready). The mouthfeel was fairly tangy and gave a nice warming sensation. This was definitely a beer to be enjoyed in a snifter.

We were done tasting the Allagash, but Brent and Dave always remove the rubber bands and bring out the stash. The first bonus beer was the Fantome Brise Bon Bons. The crew at Fantome concocted a hard-hitting saison with lots of biscuity, malty goodness, with heavy notes of citrus. As expected, the mouthfeel had lots of sweetness, followed by bits of tartness from the bittering hops (they gotta appear somewhere!). A nice slow sipper to be enjoyed amongst friends on a hot summer afternoon.

The last of the bonus beers was the 90 Minute Dogfish Head. Hailing from Delaware, this is an east coast IPA. Lots of grassy notes at first scent, but most of them disappear in the taste to give way to a well-balanced malt complexion. A very easy drinking IPA for all palates. A great reason for craft drinkers to be excited that Dogfish Head got their license to distribute in California last month.

I had a great time at the tasting and enjoyed all of Allagash's beers.