Draft-only Allagash Treat
Allagash Saison Mihm
4.03/5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Served in a 13.5 oz tulip at the Great Lost Bear. This beer has been available in town for a month or so, but this is my first time trying it.
It’s a dark copper colored beer, almost like an amber ale. The head is tall, off-white and foamy. As it settles plenty of uniform lacing is left behind. It’s too dark in here to see if there is any internal carbonation.
The beer has a semi-dry, grassy aroma. There is apparently a lot of lemongrass in this beer, s that is probably what I am smelling. The are small amounts of lemon citrus and candi sugar sweetness, but I am not smelling anything that I can directly attribute to the yeast.
There is a lot of lemongrass to the flavor of this beer. Some Belgian sugars are also evident. A somewhat dry finish has some musty flavors that I assume are caused by the yeast. There is a touch of pepper in the aftertaste that is very interesting.
The beer has a light effervescent feel. The pepper and carbonation manage to tickle my tongue a lot more than I expected. The beer has a fuller body than most Samson’s and has a lot of carbonation.
This is an interesting beer. I can see what it is draft only. I can’t see myself drinking a full 750ml bottle of this one, but I also don’t see it having the wide appeal that would move it in 12oz bottles. Allagash could get away with doing a brewery only release in 375ml bottles, but the draft only method of delivery will get the beer into more people’s glasses. It was a good decision to go this way. If you are a fan of Allagash, give this one a try.
