Haunted House Hoppy Dark Ale

Review Date 11/1/2020 By John Staradumsky

  Style: Porter   Brewery: Allagash   Country: USA   State: Maine   $ Per OZ: $.20 (B)   ABV: 6.66%

It was Halloween night, and I had the perfect beers for the occasion. I had already enjoyed a Bride of Dankenstein IPA from Mason Ale Works, and I had a can of their Dankenstein’s Monster Unfiltered Double IPA, too. Betwixt the two, however, I juxtaposed a can of Haunted House Hoppy Dark Ale from the Allagash Brewing Company of Portland, Maine. All three of these beers came from Craftshack.com.

Allagash does sell its beers here in Georgia, but I had yet to see the Haunted House, so added it to my cart. Allagash is one of my very favorite breweries in the world, and I’ve been drinking their beers since their inception. The Haunted House theme and label certainly intrigued, but the description on the label really roped me in:

Doomed by a love of pitch-black Porters and our Allagash House Beer, we summoned the recipe for Haunted House. Roasted Barley and Blackprinz malt curse this beer with a gravely dark hue. Hopped with Crystal, Chinook, and Saaz hops, this beer ends with a ghost of coffee-flavored bitterness and hauntingly complex malty palate.

With an otherworldly alcohol content of 6.66% by volume, Allagash Haunted House Hoppy Dark Ale is truly not for the faint hearted. I paid $4.25 for my can from Craftshack, not that scary a price, and Total Wine sells the beer for $12.99 a 4-pack of pint cans. Mine is stamped as packaged on 8-19-20.

Allagash Haunted House Hoppy Dark Ale pours to a midnight black color with a thick towering fluffy tan head and a magnificent roasted barley nose. The beer is intensely roasty in the nose with fresh roasted barley notes. Taking a sip, the beer is smooth in mouthfeel, medium to full with more of those wonderful roasted malt notes the nose promised. Chocolate and coffee emerge with a hint of fruit and the beer finishes roasty bitter, really a harsh roasty bitterness.

This is very delicious indeed, an amazing robust porter from Allagash that I wish was sold all year long, not just for Halloween. It’s truly one of the best beers I’ve had all year. Don’t miss it should you have the chance to try it; should you do so, I am sure that the missed opportunity will haunt you forever, and ever, and ever.  

Glad I tried it?  T