Allagash White

Review Date 7/8/2003 Last Updated 1/30/2020   By John Staradumsky

  Style: Witbier   Brewery: Allagash   Country: USA   State: Maine   $ Per OZ: $.19 (B), $.38 (D)   ABV: 5%

As I write this, another July is almost past, and with it, another American Beer Month draws to a close. What’s that you say? You didn’t know July was American Beer Month? For shame, dear reader! After all, what better month than July, that in which we celebrate the founding of our great land, to call attention to the great diversity and wonderfully wide range of flavors that American craft brewers offer in their beer. It’s not too late. There are still a few days left. So get down to your local pub or package store and join in the fun with some great, fresh, American brewed craft beer.

For my part, I have been enjoying some great domestically brewed beers all month. One that stands out among the many is the one I’m sipping now, Allagash White from Portland, Maine. It’s a great American interpretation of a classic European style, and it really puts the white in the red, white, and blue to sip something so delicious and know it was Made in the USA™. Hey, not everything is made in China these days.

Allagash White is styled after those wonderful Belgian “Wit” (white) ales, the most celebrated of which is probably Hoegaarden White. Wit beers are made with a good percentage of wheat in the mash, and this makes them very refreshing and thirst quenching. If you like German styled Hefeweizens in the hot summer months, you’ll love wits as well. Of course, the Belgians are known for their eccentricity, and thus they add spices to their wheat beer: coriander and Curacao orange peel. You will also find these in Allagash’s wonderful white.

I have enjoyed Allagash White on draft at places like the Great Lost Bear in Portland, Maine. You can also get it in six-packs, however, or even in corked 750ml bottles (like the one I’m drinking from tonight). No matter how it is packaged, Allagash White is always a treat. It’s great in the hot weather of American Beer Month, but don’t worry: you can enjoy it every bit as much in December (White Christmas?). Or demand a glass in March. The ability to drink such a wonderful beer as this is, after all, guaranteed by the Bill of Whites.

Allagash White pours to a cloudy yellow-white color with a thick and rocky head formation. A steady stream of bubbles rises from the bottom of your glass as you drink, and as the liquid recedes with each sip a generous layer of Brussels lace is left clinging to the sides of the glass. The nose suggests spicy fruit and tart wheat.

When you sip, the palate releases a burst of flavors across the mouth like a detonating firecracker. Tart wheat forms the stage of the beer against which strong notes of orange, suggestions of fresh berries, and hints of coriander all make their appearances. The finish is rather tart with crisp wheat and a slight hop bitterness that leaves the beer appetizingly dry.

This is a perfect beer for simple summer sipping; it’s also wonderful with a light salad of fresh greens and assorted other vegetables. But the absolute best time to sip an Allagash White? Why white now, of course.

Update 7/14/2012: Enjoyed a mug of this delicious witbier on draft at Taco Mac with a plate of spicy Death Wings. The Allagash White was as usual spot on for style, spicy with pungent coriander, bright with a hint of citrus, and crackery with tart wheat. Extremely refreshing, and the drying affect of the spice in the finish seemed to pair well with the amazingly spicy wings. Fairly priced at $6 for a pint. 

Update 1/30/2020: I don't drink enough Allagash White, and I was reminded why recently when I picked up a pint can at Bullocks in Woodstock, Georgia. When I got home and drank it, it reminded me of those wonderful times in the 90s when I would rink it back in New England. To this day it still stands out as one of the very best examples of the style. It will run you about $8.99 a 4-pack in bottles or $11.99 for 4 pint cans, and it is worth every penny, crisp and refreshing with crackery wheat, pungent coriander, and bright citrus peel. Allagash recommends enjoying within 6 months from packaging; mine was well within that time, canned on 12-03-19.

Allagash says:

Our interpretation of a Belgian-style wheat beer is brewed with oats, malted wheat, and unmalted raw wheat for a hazy, “white” appearance. Spiced with our own special blend of coriander and Curaçao orange peel, Allagash White is both complex and refreshing.

Though it’s brewed in Maine, the recipe sticks to its Belgian roots. We’ve worked hard to make sure that the Allagash White in your hand tastes the same as it did back in 1995, when Rob Tod brewed the first batch.

Ingredients:

Grains: Allagash 2-Row Malted Barley Blend, Local Pale Malt, Red Wheat Malt, Raw White Wheat, Oats, Carapils

Hops: Nugget, Crystal, Czech Saaz

Yeast: House

Spices/Other: Coriander, Curaçao Orange Peel

Glad I tried it?  T