Updated notes 08/23/23 (pictured)

2015 Vintage at 8 years old. Bottled 05/14/15, purchased at Novare Res Bier Cafe in Portland, ME for $20 in the summer of 2023.

Happy to take a chance on this for $20. Expectations are tempered, but again, delighted for the chance.

It’s a shame, but the corked and caged bottle immediately confirms what I feared, and the carbonation is low. Not surprised obviously, but I was hopeful. It’s not zero, and an aggressive pour helps. Some head, and there is even a tiny amount of lace and thin film on the surface of the beer. Not disastrous.

Clouded, butterscotch body as prior. Lots of cheesy, Bretty notes and some light bitterness, The Brett lingers, and it’s still a feature of the beer after all of this time. Cheesy is the watch word though. Over time it has become quite earthy, and it seems to have morphed into a Biere de Garde  more than a Brett based Wild or Saison type. Hardly surprising TBH.

If it weren’t for the lack of carbonation, this beer would still be drinking beautifully, as it is it still is quite tasty and I glad to have picked it up.

Original notes 05/26/09

2009 Vintage.

750mL corked & caged affair with January 2009 on the label. Approx. $18 from Green’s on Ponce, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Missed this when it was on draft at The Brick Store in Decatur so this will have to do! It’s a hard life! ;-)

Pour is a butterscotch body on top of an impressive (if somewhat light), frothy head. Lace is OK, but not great. Large amount of sediment in the bottom of the bottle, but it does not produce a huge amount of cloudiness – odd.

Nice funk in the nose and the beer is impressively smooth and drinkable. Like all high quality beers of this nature it reminds me very much of a real, English, south-western (Somerset/Devon) cider, and my youth. Tasty, refreshing and moreish, the beer cuts across the palate gently as it warms. Light lemon, lingering tartness and a nice, gentle, maure farmyard/horse blanket finish.

Very impressed, delightfully tasty and a joy to drink BUT at the price I NEED all of those attributes. Those are non-negoitables!

Tasty, but an expensive beer to be honest, and beers that cost a fraction of the price do the job nearly (or just) as well. I still have great respect for this, and I think it is an astonishingly good beer, but the price tag takes the edge off for me a touch. It’s strange because this is really a market force issue – I actually think that it IS worth the price, BUT Allagash has a problem since there are several other beers that deliver a similar experience at lower cost.