Allagash Mattina Rossa - Allagash Brewing Company

brentk56

North Carolina

4.65/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Pours a clear amber color with a modest head that leaves a few shards behind

Smell: Tart raspberry

Taste: Taste follows smell, with a tart raspberry character that builds to a nice tart finish, though there is plenty of balancing fruit

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body with low to moderate carbonation

Overall: Really an astounding beer - loved the balance between the fruit and the tart flavors

Serving type: bottle

03-15-2012 02:34:07 | More by brentk56

Cadebro

Maine

4.58/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A - Pours a clear reddish orange with the slightest white head.

S - Smells of raspberry and biscuit.

T - Sour, tart and raspberry. It reminds me off a very mellow and well aged balsamic vinegar, in a good way. After tasting so many mediocre beers at the Maine Brewers Festival this one stood out and gave my palate a rest.

M - Light bodied and carbonated, finishes dry and leaves the mouth puckered.

O - I feel lucky to have tried this ale. Very unique.

Serving type: bottle

11-10-2011 10:23:36 | More by Cadebro

HopHead84

California

4.43/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

5/2/2012

Silver medal winner at World Beer Cup 2012 in Category 18: American-Style Sour Ale (14 Entries).

A: Light pinkish peach in color with a small pink head. Great color.

S: Big raspberry nose, reminiscent of raspberry lemonade. Hmmm, both the gold and silver in this category have the lemonade thing going on. Interesting. Sugary sweet with oak and lactic notes. Smells great.

T: Tart and sweet simultaneously with an expressive raspberry flavor that brings to mind seeds and flesh. I'm loving the sweet and tart combination. There's a hint of cherry with notes of pink lemonade and leather. The finish is piquant and sweet fruit but ultimately finishes dry with light citric and acetic notes.

M: Light body with low carbonation.

Overall: I remember hearing about this beer a while ago and then heard nothing of its release. I'm not sure what happened with it, but I'm glad I was finally able to try it as I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2012 16:53:05 | More by HopHead84

akorsak

Pennsylvania

4.23/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A corked and caged 375 mL bottle. At Max's via Allagash reps.

A: The ale pours a brown color, thick and opaque, with a reddish tone to it. The pour, from a freshly opened bottle, generated a small head, white, that quickly whittled down.

S: Tartness, the wild yeast has ramped up the citric aromas, lemony and sharp. Sweet raspberries cut into the sourness, matching the sour cherry flavors of the barrel. Very acidic and acetic.

T: Sweet vinegar, a mild acetic kick, leads off, bringing the sourness to the fore. Lemony citric acid follows, building the pucker factor. While not as sour as many wild ales, it doesn't go light on that front. Sweet raspberries and sour cherries (thank you wood and yeast) provide a diversionary fruit interlude. The sourness returns in the finish, building the pucker and dryness factors. And that finish, boy is it dry.

M: So I was told that undercarbonation was why this wasn't released. That's the world's loss then because this wild ale is very good. Lucky for me, I was with non-sourheads, leaving the glass for me and me alone.

Serving type: bottle

02-18-2012 20:27:03 | More by akorsak

jlindros

Massachusetts

4.2/5  rDev -5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Perks of volunteering... got to get a nice pour of this at Beervana Fest before the crowds descended on Allagash table.

Pours with a semi clear amber orange color, creamy head with a bit of lacing.

Nose has some light sour malt, light tart fruit, plenty of raspberry, and I even get a bit of sour blueberry and cherry like aromas, slight hint of sweet malt underneath.

Taste brings right to sour tart fruit, sour mash, dry bready funk, bright tart berry with tons of raspberry and other berry like flavors, bit of sour cherry, flemmy, and a bit acidic. Long tart fruit finish and flemmy.

Mouth is med to a bit lighter bodied, good carb, bit of acid tingle, and flemmy sticky finish.

Overall really nice, great fruit flavors and aromas, nice sour and tartness, some bready dry funk, bit acidic but not overly, and quite flemmy which is not my fav part but is typical in the style.

Serving type: bottle

10-11-2011 02:41:16 | More by jlindros

thagr81us

South Carolina

4.1/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Had during Brewvival 2012! Served from bottle into a Brewvival sampler imperial pint. Poured orange with a half finger white head that subsided to a minimal amount quickly. Maintained good lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, tart, sour cherry, and fruit. The flavor was of sweet malt, tart, sour cherry, funk, and subtle fruit. It had a light feel on the palate with high carbonation. Overall this was a pretty good brew. I was really glad that this one turned up at Brewvival if I am honest. They were pouring these from the bottle, but I have a feeling they went fairly quickly. This was the first brew I made a break for upon opening the gates. A really well done American Wild Ale that had all the right components going on to keep it interesting and also not overpower the palate to make it unpleasant. I suggest you try this as well if you get the opportunity.

Serving type: bottle

02-29-2012 18:12:32 | More by thagr81us

Bendurgin

Maine

4.03/5  rDev -8.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Am I really the only one that took notes on this one at the AHA last night? Such a unique opprotunity to try a beer I can't believe that. Anyhow a little info for some folks. At the AHA Rob Todd said they had some bottles of this that carbonated nicely saying it was something like one out of ten that ended up being a non flat beer. So instead of selling the bottles he shared them with the people who went to this event. Score!

Poured from a bottle into my Allagash chalice. This one pours a muddy dark reddish brown with a fizzy white head that settles down quickly and leaves a little bit of lace.

The aroam is pretty much what one would expect. A strong pressence of raspberries comes through with a sweet beginning and a slightly tart finish. The flavor is much like the aroma. It has a big raspberry flavor starting sweet and finishing slightly tart. The flavor is a bit yeasty, giving it a little bit of a doughy character.

The body is very light and the carbonation is a little bit soft. The finish is dry and a little bit tanic.

Great to have the chance to try this. It really is just another well done Allagash sour. It's too bad most of the bottles didn't work out for them.

Serving type: bottle

08-25-2011 13:10:38 | More by Bendurgin

kingcrowing

Vermont

3.98/5  rDev -10%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

375ml corked & caged bottle poured into a sampling glass at EBF 2012.

Pours a hazy reddish brown with a small white head. Nose is fruity and tart, really nice.

More tart than many of the other Allagash offerings, the fruit comes through really nicely though. Mouthfeel is creamy and a bit chewy.

Serving type: bottle

02-09-2012 16:05:10 | More by kingcrowing

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

3.88/5  rDev -12.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured at the EBF. Grabbed a sample of this nearing the end of the night session. A random girl told me that I needed to go try it, so I made my way of the the table for some. The beer poured out as a nice light brown color with some orange hues to it. There wasn't much head on top. The smell of the beer was funkier than the two other brews I tried from Allagash that night. Very sour smelling beer for sure. The taste of the beer was also very tart and sour. The mouthfeel was average I though, moderate carbonation and slightly on the light side. Overall I was impressed enough with this beer that I called a friend of mine up to come grab a sample to try for himself of the beer. Needless to say he was impressed also.

Serving type: on-tap

02-06-2012 03:57:41 | More by Knapp85

inlimbo77

Delaware

3.55/5  rDev -19.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

375ml bottle. I believe this was brewed in 2008 and then never released due to problems (?). Given to my buddy by some Allagash reps. Poured into my Lost Abbey tulip.

A: This is a really clear pinkish color. It's very pretty actually. Low carbonation. I think this was one of the knocks on this beer and why it wasn't released. I only got a thin ring of bright white head around the edges of the glass.

S: You get funky barnyard like smells and tart raspberries. There is a touch of biscuity malt in there too, strangely.

T: Lots of tartness on the tip of the tongue. It's not mouth puckering though. Rather pleasant. In the mid palate I did pull some of the fruit. You taste some of those nice raspberry hints. Really dry finish. Similar to a white white or more aptly a rose'.

M: Light to medium bodied, due to some of that maltiness that I smelled and tasted.

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2012 13:41:32 | More by inlimbo77