“I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer.” -Homer Simpson
Last night was a very special edition of Beer Club at the Flying Saucer. In fact, it was the damned fanciest night we’ve spent there yet. If my life suddenly took a turn into the realm of that movie “Groundhog Day”, I would be quite content to know that every night I would get to go sample some high octane beer courtesy of the Allagash Brewing Company of Portland, Maine.
Allagash is all about the Belgians, baby. This brewery got it’s start in 1995 and currently distributes beer in 14 states. Last night, we got to sample some of their wares and eat some food and learn all about what we were drinking. It was quite enjoyable. It was a wonderful way to spend a Monday night. I have no complaints.
There was even better news for those of us with the UFO cards: we got to count all five beers towards our total. That means I’m currently 10% of the way towards 200. Here’s what I drank last night. Included for your reading pleasure will also be a brief description of the accompanying dish.
Beer #16 Allagash White
Allagash White is the brewery’s first beer. It’s a 5% alcohol traditional Belgian wheat beer and was described as tasting of spices and passion fruits. It was pleasant. Perhaps even quaint. It was not my favorite of the beers we drank over the course of the night, but then, it was also the weakest one we drank too. It was served with a goat cheese salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The salad also contained little treats like walnuts and raisins.
Beer #17 Allagash Tripel
Allagash Tripel was up next. It was a 9% alcohol Belgian Ale, though apparently the brewer feels it is a tad dryer than traditional Belgian Beers (Chimay, for example). It tastes of passion fruits [they love the shit out of passion fruits. -ED], honey, and banana. This beer left me with a big stupid, happy, ear to ear grin. It was not only high octane for a beer, but tasty too. It was served with a lump crab cake with mango salso. The crab cake was pretty tasty too.
Beer #18 Allagash Odyssey
This was the point where everything really ramped up. Allagash Odyssey is a 10.4% alcohol dark barrel aged wheat beer. Allagash age a portion of the beer in New American Medium Toast Oak, and a portion in stainless steel for more than six months. Apparently, the portion aged in the Toast Oak barrel is totally undrinkable if not mixed with the stainless steel portion. We were told that 25% of the end product comes from the Oak barrel and the remaining 75% is from the stainless steel. This beer was paired with an almond crusted chicken and green beans which, I accidentally, spilled most of all over my pants. Luckily I had eaten most of the chicken before this had happened. As my friend, the one time Commissioner of Soils & Water to Pottawattamie County Iowa, Mr. Mike Edrington is fond of saying “I can’t have nice things.” I don’t generally feel this way, but I sure love quoting it.
Beer #19 Allagash Musette
Our fourth beer for the evening was the Allagash Musette, a scotch ale, that clocked in at 10% alcohol content as well.
By this point, I was feeling a little boozy and quite honestly my notes on this beer are complete shit. For that reason we’ll be referring to the Allagash homepage :
Our interpretation of a Belgian-inspired Scotch ale, Musette undergoes a caramelization process in the kettle, where the first runnings are condensed and caramelized, imparting a unique and subtle caramel character and amber color to the beer. Following fermentation with a Belgian strain of yeast, a portion of it is aged in oak bourbon barrels for an additional three months. Musette offers up raisin, ripened banana, and hints of licorice aromas. Its taste is malty and caramel with a hint of roast, and its warm finish strikes a balance between dry and caramel characters with a hint of smoke..
Allagash Musette was served up with Beef Briscuit and Wasabi Mashed Potatoes, which the serving staff graciously brought our table another round. Excellent.
Beer #20 Allagash Curieux
The final beer for the evening was the Allagash Curieux (French, like ze Belgians speak, for “Curious”). This beer was Tripel Ale aged in a Jim Beam barrel for 8 weeks and packing a 10.5% alcohol content. It tastes of vanilla, coconut, and a hint of bourbon. It was a very good beer to serve with desert, which also ended up being a favorite flavor of mine: Bananas Foster.
Damned if that wasn’t a fancy night out. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love Beer Club.
