Welcome, dear readers, to another exciting episode in the beery adventures of your favorite bruguru. That is to say, me. Today, though, we have a special guest star that I would like to introduce to you, the one and only Bob. Unlike dragnet, we won’t be changing the names here to protect the innocent, and Bob is his real name, thought that’s about all I’m going to tell you about him. Well, except that he’s a proud New Englander (like me), a staunch Pats fan (like me), and an all-around great guy.
OK, I know the drill my friends and it’s right about this point that you’re all standing there with your pitchforks ala Monty Python screaming “Get on with it!” and “What’s all this Bob business got to do with Allagash Black which is the whole reason we came here for in the first place?” Patience grasshopper, we’re almost there.
You see, Bob was in the process of buying some beer for the Patriots playoff games, and was considering buying some Allagash Black. Wisely, Bob hopped on over to bruguru.com to get a take on the beer, and to his utter dismay, found there was no listing for it. Then, as I can only imagine at this point based on something he told me later, Bob sported a malevolent grin not unlike the one that appeared on the Grinch’s face after he stole Christmas. “I found a beer he hasn’t tried before!!!!!”
Ah Bob, you should have known better. I had, in fact, had Allagash Black before; I just hadn’t posted a review for it. You see, I’ve tasted a little over 4850 beers so far in my sudsy career, but I’ve only posted reviews for about 2100 of them to good old bruguru.com. However, in the spirit of not wanting to disappoint Bob on this one, I went out and bought some Allagash Black and it will no longer be a beer not reviewed here. You’re welcome, Bob.
Allagash has the following to say about this beer:
Allagash Black is a Belgian style stout brewed with 2 Row barley, torrified wheat, oats, both roasted and chocolate malt and a generous portion of dark caramelized candi sugar. The silky mouth feel is a great balance to the roasted character, coffee and dark chocolate notes expressed throughout this beer.
Allagash Black has an alcohol content of 7.5% by volume and runs $9.99 a 4-pack here in Georgia.
Allagash Black pours to a dark black (but not opaque) color with a very thick and creamy towering head formation and a softly roasty, slightly nutty nose. Taking a sip, the beer has a medium mouthfeel up front but is very, very roasty indeed. A little caramel, rock candy, coffee, licorice, funky yeast, and spice all show up in the palate with more roasted barley in the finish than anything else.
Overall, I love the flavors and complexity packed into his beer, though I think the body is a bit thin for a stout. The flavor is anything but thin here, though. Definitely a beer I would buy again, even though I think this one should come in 6-pack instead of 4-packs.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft