Allagash Tripel Ale - Allagash Brewing Company

WaltTrombone

New York

4.38/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

This was from Batch #28, purchased from the now-legendary Half Time Beverages in NY. I put it in the fridge for about 10 minutes after storing it in my cellar at about 50-55F.

It poured a dark golden amber, with a white head that faded fast, but left some fairly robust lacing. The aroma was mostly clove and honey, with a touch of malt.

The taste was clove, malt, honey, raisins, banana, and a bit of mushy brown apples. Mild hoppiness, too...

A creamy mouthfeel, more than you might expect from a 9% ABV, or a beer with not too much hoppiness. A smooth finish, with just enough hops bitterness for me.

The 9% ABV is deceptively smooth, it sneaks up on you, rather than hitting you over the head. I've got to get some more of this one!

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2003 18:20:25 | More by WaltTrombone

BierReise

Florida

4.35/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Another top quality brew from allagash. Slightly hazy orange-amber color with huge head and every visual characteristic of a Belgian style. Seemed similar to their white except for a few noticable variations. The appearance reminded me of Orval, color and head. Also fruity and a little spicy. Banana comes to mind. Fantastic brew! Best when on the warm side.

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2003 15:29:35 | More by BierReise

StevieW

Florida

4.8/5  rDev +15.4%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

750 ml bottle. Batch #34. Poured a golden honey yellow color with a gigantic white creamy head. Yeasty sediment added some cloudiness and beige color to the head. Perfect. Head stayed and staed and defines the term Belgian lace.
Initial aromas very robust citrus, grapefruit hop smells, and some freshly baked bread smells from the yeast.
Taste is much along the same line, fresh citrus, grapefruit, lemon tartness hits first. Thick full baked bread taste, malty sweetness. Fresh hop bitterness, nearly lip smacking. Citrus tastes snap by again, but leave a dry finish. Sticky on the lips. Tastes dances on your tongue then slips down to a belly warming finish.
Smooth medium to full bodied, very balanced. Nothing wrong with this one. One of my all time favorites and saved for Easter Dinner.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2003 04:45:52 | More by StevieW

jaz

Indiana

4.4/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Batch# 31 - 750ml bottle.

This beer poured like a bucket of sunshine after a good rain, leaving a golden light haze and billowing plume of thick, foamy, pure white head. The head thickened as I admired the beers aroma and color, becoming almost a whipped-cream like froth that actually stuck to a spoon upside down, and laced the glass beautifully all the way through.

The aroma was wonderful and strong, and defined by alcohol and fragrance of fruit, spices, and fresh baked bread.

The taste was delightfully smooth beginning malty sweetness, fruity and yeasty in the middle and ending with a tart, citrus bitterness. The taste lingered on my pallet for quite a while.

This is an excellent beer, fitting perfectly to style with the best of the Tripels. Very drinkable. I must have more!!

Serving type: bottle

04-17-2003 15:46:49 | More by jaz

aaronh

Pennsylvania

4.53/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Pale golden beer served with a white head. A bit of a hazy body. Sweet, malty aroma with some subtle spices. Very prominent alcohol sweetness up front, with a creamy malt taste. Very nice bitterness as well. Light overall, but yet very powerful. The mouthfeel is very creamy, and the drinkability is dangerously good. This beer put me at a bit of a loss for words, as I can say I truly enjoyed it, but yet I can't quite put the experience into words. A very wonderful beer that should not be overlooked or passed over if the opportunity arises.

Serving type: on-tap

04-06-2003 16:31:24 | More by aaronh

goz

Massachusetts

4.4/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

750ml bottle, batch #26.
Pours a medium-dark, hazy golden color, with a large frothy white head that doesn't want to go away, clinging to the sides of the glass for dear life all the way down. Aroma is crisp - citric (lemon), spicy (clove), yeasty (banana), and light malt (doughy) . Flavor is also crisp, sweet start, making way for some banana and clove to coat the tongue in the middle, ends with some citrus - lemon and grapefruit mostly. Full body, complex flavors that get more impressive as the bottle gets more empty, only the slightest hint of alcohol at the end.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2003 09:06:15 | More by goz

TheLongBeachBum

California

4.38/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Allagash Tripel Reserve. Bottle Conditioned and offered in a 750ml (1 Pint 9.4 fl.oz) Brown Glass Bottle. Batch #34. Corked with a gold colored wired frame and steel cap.

Appearance: A massive white head sits atop a slightly hazy golden body. The head has reasonable staying and leaves a light lacing as it slowly rescinds. Classic looks and perfect presentation for a Tripel.

Smell: Crisp and very clean lines on this one. The usual suspects are lined up in the Tripel beginnings; a really good mix of fruits, some hops, spices and strong citric undertones. Beautiful nose that has a very refreshing aspect when deeply inhaled.

Taste: Excellent. Highly traditional malty beginning that makes way for the spicy banana clove middle. Some yeast and light grain in the middle. Finishes with a really good “kick” of fruits and a lemony grapefruit twang.

Mouthfeel: A smooth, slightly sweet mouthfeel that feels as comfortable as your favorite flannelette Pajamas, but it will have you sleeping naked in no time. Lines the mouth with ease and hangs around for a while after the beer is consumed.

Drinkability: Very High, especially given its strength.

Overall: This is one Serious Kick Ass Sexy Beer. Absolutely Excellent and one of the best US Tripels I have had to date. I want more.

A big Tripel Cheers to Murph for this one !

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2003 22:11:11 | More by TheLongBeachBum

AudioGilz

Pennsylvania

4.43/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

750mL corked bottle. It's batch 33 and a hazy golden/burnt orange mix of color. The head is fluffy and enormous. The appearance of tripels is such a joy to stare at. A fruity aroma greets my nose, not as strong as other tripels I have tried though. But my nose is horrible, so it might be an amazing aroma. The flavors are yeasty, fruity and slightly spicy. It even has a refreshing quality to it, very smooth. The alcohol is slightly noticeable in the finish. A wonderful tripel out of Maine, just as good as the Belgian's.

Serving type: bottle

03-20-2003 14:45:23 | More by AudioGilz

hyuga

North Carolina

4.68/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Golden brew with a slight haze and a pretty nice white head on top. Good retention. Great yeast spiciness in the aroma paired with fruitiness and backed up with a nice malty backbone. On the palate, it's no less a delight. "Tripel honey" malt, and lots of it. But that's not all, far from it. It's rather well hopped as well, playing against the malt very well. The spiciness is big as well. Mouthfeel is creamy smooth, but with a good amount of carbonation. The finish is even more smooth and creamy. Huge warming effect. This is an excellent tripel, among my favorites in the style. I'm very glad this beer was made available to us here in Arizona. I had never seen any Allagash stuff here before I got this. I can't wait to try their other stuff! Highly recommended.

Serving type: bottle

03-12-2003 03:57:48 | More by hyuga

WVbeergeek

Ohio

3.95/5  rDev -5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

Allagash of Portland, Maine is probably more known for their white beer, but this Triple that I had on tap at the Sharp Edge is quite a tasty treat. It pours a slightly hazy gold with a rather thin white head and it barely sticks to the glass. Aroma is spiced up with some cinnamon like tones, and a mild banana tone on top of all of the estery alcoholic fragrance that creeps upon my senses. Flavor profile contains a full alcoholic, slight honey full sweetness that is warming to the sipper of this fine beer. There is also pleasant notes of yeast within this highly carbonated offering from our friends in New England. I would say the texture has a medium body with a slightly sticky candied sugar mouthfeel. I could drink this beer one right after another, but I wouldn't recommend due to 9% ABV.

Serving type: on-tap

03-10-2003 09:11:30 | More by WVbeergeek

aracauna

Georgia

4.22/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Tonight was a good night. "Why," you ask? Because I discovered this beer and I discovered 2 hours of Kids in the Hall on Comedy Central. While the Allagash Tripel was all spiced cream and fruits (mostly bananas and peaches), Kids in the Hall is Funny. While Allagash is made in Maine, the Kids in the Hall are Canadian. While this beer's beautiful bright golden amber body sparkled with constant effervescence and the thick, creamy white head sheeted and even chunked the side of the glass, it was not funny. At least not in the cross-dressing, irreverent, absurdist humor way that the Kids in the Hall were. Damn this is a fine beer, probably my favorite in the style. True connoisseurs of the style would probably disagree but I like the smoothness, the lack of the cottony mouth feel and harsh yeast-spiciness of many of the real-deal tripels. True connoisseurs of comedy, however aren’t allowed to disagree with me that Bruce McCullough was possibly one of the funniest men of all time.

Serving type: bottle

03-05-2003 01:20:59 | More by aracauna

Gusler

Arizona

4.15/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

As this winsome beer sits in the triple glass a slightly hazy golden amber color, the head behemothic, frothy in its texture, brilliant white and as it evanesces leaves behind a glutinous sheet of lace to smother the glass. Malt dominates the nose, citrus crisp, fresh and clean, with just the slightest tinge of yeast, start is malt and somewhat sweet, the top middling in its feel. Stingingly acidic is the finish, hops pronounced in their spiciness, the aftertaste droughty and long lasting, a quite quaffable beer in my humble opinion.

Serving type: bottle

03-04-2003 15:17:57 | More by Gusler

Dantes

New Jersey

4.8/5  rDev +15.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Package: 750ml corked and caged bottle, labeled 9% ABV, Cork marked 2002. Batch #26. Bottle-conditioned. Expressionist forest scene on label.

Cost: $5.49 at Gary’s Wine

Presentation: tulip glass at 50º

Appearance: Semi-cloudy, brassy-gold color. Streamers of fine bubbles cut through a cloudy body. Surprisingly, head was not as voluminous as anticipated, and dissipated fairly quickly into a fine film. No lace to speak of.

Smell: Complexly floral with banana, clove, apple, pear, raisins, and hints of rum. Makes one think they are about to drink a rum punch!

Taste: The panoply of complex aromas comes to life and substance in one’s mouth, like spectres regaining their corporeal bodies. In addition come the welcome sharpness of lemon and green apple that cut through the flowery sweetness. Yeast and spice further leaven the brew. This beer blew me away with its never-ending revolving door of flavors. It challenges the drinker through the middle, all of the way to the drier, edgy, finish.

Mouthfeel: A lovely, sweet, mouthfilling brew. The carbonation is velvety and fine, despite its lack of appearance in the head and the subdued pop of the cork.

Drinkability: Oh my God is this drinkable! Absolutely no hint of the 9% hammer awaiting the person who approaches this beer too casually. Manages to be both substantial and delicate at the same time.

Wow! Quite honestly, this beer blew me away. Being a bit of a Belgian snob, I’ve often passed the Allagash brews by, always attracted to something else. What a mistake! This is a remarkable brew that will become a regular inhabitant of my refrigerator (along with his brothers; the dubbel, the grand cru, etc.) Manages to be both true to the style and individualistic. This is an incredible value. If you close your eyes while savoring a glass; you’ll swear that you are in Brussels, the dollar is strong again, the French have come down with laryngitis, and Belgium has somehow relocated to New England. An incredible value.

Bottom Line: Ayuh, you Mainers have been keeping this one under your hats! If it is available in your area, make it your business to give it a try.

Serving type: bottle

03-03-2003 15:45:17 | More by Dantes

cokes

Wisconsin

4.75/5  rDev +14.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Batch# 25.

A hazed-through lemon body sits under a majestic white crown. Fades to a skim, but loses none of its royalty.
A rose petal, floral aromatic epiphany. There are brews with more complex noses, but perhaps none with one as delicately lovely as this. Fainter, exists tiny pokes of honey, tropical fruits and lime.

Transitioning to flavor:

Cookie dough and lime kool aid.
Honey and milkweed.
Rosemary and sourdough.
Herbs and lemon drops.
Dew and pineapples.
Vanilla and attics.
Tulips and horses.
Must and daybreak.

This is like foccacia bread filtered through Ken Kesey's mind. Spiraling out in a multitude of directions.
Heavy lightness, with heft undefined.

The 9% is felt only in cumbersome fingers striking errant keys.

A tripel cubed.

Serving type: bottle

03-01-2003 00:57:39 | More by cokes

inebrius

Michigan

4.6/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Now here is a tasty American Tripel! Pours a hazed pale yellow under a fluffy, sticky white cap. Majestic bouquet of lime leaves, white pepper, coastal rain forests, biscuits and clover honey and a couple dozen other pleasant smelling things I won't bore you with...oyster mushrooms, crystallized ginger, leather...sorry. Superbly balanced through a draught, starts neutral building candied sweetness leapfrogged by a spicy alcohol that splits its skull and bleeds lingering hop and you sit and watch the fracas in a sort of stupified delight while your heart pumps heated blood through to your toe-tips. I like it. Charged, but not harsh. Light, but not unsubstantial.

Thanks Venom!

#21

Serving type: bottle

02-19-2003 18:29:29 | More by inebrius

bewareOFpenguin

Massachusetts

4.33/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I had the sense of mind to remember the bach number, #34. It poured a cloudy yellow, with a lot of carbonation. I t had what I could best say is a tart taste. Not that it was unpleasant, in fact it gave it a dry quality, not unlike champagne. Overall it was a great offering.

Serving type: bottle

02-03-2003 06:38:54 | More by bewareOFpenguin

maxpower

Missouri

4.03/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750 ml caged and corked bottle, batch #23. Pours hazy bright golden orange in color, decent cream colored lasting head. Fuity and spicy aromas. Fruity butter scotch and spicy, very dry and crisp finish. Full bodied with a full but crisp mouthfeel, man what a good American made tripple.

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2003 14:20:58 | More by maxpower

ElGuapo

New Jersey

4/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Out of a bottle-conditioned 750ml bottle out of batch # 33.

it poured to a cloudy copper colored brew with a pillowy white head, that died in a bit to a lace that left nice trails on the glass. there is a lot of fruit in the aroma as well as a kick of alcohol in the end of a whiff.

In the flavor, you will pick up fruits and yeast with a bready taste. The alcohol is hidden pretty well until the finish, when you are hit with a kick in the aftertaste. You will get a smooth honey flavor that adds to the silkiness of this fine brew. The carbonation is tingly and compliments the beer well. It is a brew worth sampling as a good example of an American-brewed Belgian tripel.

Serving type: bottle

01-23-2003 22:16:38 | More by ElGuapo

Viking

Indiana

4.25/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Hazy golden-amber brew, plenty of apparent carbonation surging toward the surface. Thick, creamy, white head. Retention a bit weaker than I'm used to in the style. The head does not maintain it's thickness like many I've had, but it does stick around and leaves plenty of lace on the glass. Sweet and spicy aroma, slightly fruity. Intense fruity (a bit apple-like, with plenty of citrus notes) and spicy flavor, with a very bready/yeasty flavor in the finish. Alcohol makes its presence known in the finish, but is surprisingly subdued for a 9% abv brew. Body is moderate, leaning toward full. Slightly rough mouthfeel from carbonation.


[Batch 31 - Hey, they put it on the bottle, so it must be important...]

Serving type: bottle

01-21-2003 14:56:28 | More by Viking

zerk

California

4.15/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Cloudy orange gold, with absolutely no head. Aroma of fresh tropical fruit, mild spices, and a touch of vanilla. Flavor begins fruity and sweet... with some cookie dough qualities. The alcohol is noticable, and adds a nice warming effect. Has medium to full body. A very well done Tripel, but I will try this one out of the bottle. Belgians on tap sometimes suffer in their appearance.

Serving type: on-tap

01-13-2003 09:35:41 | More by zerk

HopheadEd

Pennsylvania

4.22/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750ML corked and caged. Batch#34. Pours a hazy, yellow, gold with a large head that does not hold and falls to a thin surface covering. First aroma is if Belgian candy sugar, and a swirl of the glass reveals some light citrus. Another swirl brings back a small head, and the first sip confirms the candy sugar, citrus, as well as a tart grapefruit mouthfeel. Nice carbonation, light, lemony feel across the tongue, and a crisp, dry finish. Slight notice of alcohol, not a lot. Not bad, not a Belgian, not bad though.

Serving type: bottle

01-05-2003 18:04:13 | More by HopheadEd

ADR

Pennsylvania

4.28/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

Batch #32...hazy orange, very "Tripel-like", 1/2 inch head of very fine bubbles in a tulip-shaped glass. Laces in globs. Slight brown sugar and astringent lemon aromas. Fizzy mouthfeel, lots of a sense of lemon rind and some pith, a bit of unripe mellon and an impressive hop balance with a sound bitter close in the mouth. Fruit lends just the maltiness I tend to look for, even in a dry style. Dryness at the end is well-done and not harsh and leads to a more complex impression overall. Astringent, not my favorite Belgian style, still Allagash measures up on flavor qualifications.

Serving type: bottle

12-08-2002 12:10:10 | More by ADR

Bighuge

Minnesota

4.47/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Batch # 32.

Golden Orange in appearance with carbonation evident. The beige head forms just a film. Very slight. Really nice doughy yeast tones on the nose. At times, it almost seems to be like a cookie dough aroma. Wow. The taste of this really is nice. The yeastiness really comes shining through. But there is also a spicy presence. A pepper like characteristic. Some slight phenolic traits. Just a trace of alcohol. And some slight fruity esters...seemingly of the banana. Body is about medium-full. The finish is sweet and alcoholic (I'm starting to notice it a bit more). What a great beer though.

Allagash is certainly impressing me. It's nice to see them finally hit our market. Although, I believe I will treat this as "Special Ocassion" brews given the price.

Serving type: bottle

12-04-2002 21:24:32 | More by Bighuge

Jon

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Batch # 31. A pleasant surprise. Pours a deep golden color with a magnificent, bubbly head that retains well in proper glassware. The nose is full of fruit and yeast at first, with notes of spiciness prevailing as the beer warms up. Taste is similar, with the spicy notes taking priority. Quite effervescent and prickly on the tongue and an excellent pairing with food. The alcohol in this certainly has its warming effects, but it's hard to notice it until the beer is long gone. To be sure, a great American-brewed tripel.

Serving type: bottle

11-29-2002 16:11:09 | More by Jon

Murph

Arizona

4.6/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Pours a beautiful golden orange color with a huge sticky/creamy white head that leaves a great lace all the way down the glass. Great fruity aromas of some banana/oranges/peaches and some very nice subtle spiciness as well. Awesome fruity tastes with some great light fruitiness and awesome subtle spiciness. Tha high alcohol only makes itself known in the warming effect it has. Smooth and creamy this beer is just a pleasure to drink. Absolutely awesome and a no brainer for the price.

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2002 11:43:04 | More by Murph