Hive 56
Allagash Brewing Company

I had this on draft 8/7/25 @ the Hopleaf.

Dark brown/orange appearance.

Nice tan head; nice lacing remained.

Wood, mild lemon & faint honey notes in the nose.

Medium mouthfeel.

Mildly tart lemon flavor up front; wood & mild honey notes on the finish.

A nice dark wild ale.

Dark, brown color. Funky aroma with notes of fruits, berries, and wood. Moderately sour with a semi-dry finish.

 

 

 

375 ml corked and caged bottle
Bottled 6/22/2017. This batch is 9.2% abv.

Pours almost black in color, with thick cream colored head. When held up to the light, it's brown around the edges of the glass. Aroma of roasted malt, lemon, buckwheat honey, earthy straw, a touch of cocoa. Taste is not so much tart but extremely dry, the Brett has definitely eaten up all the sugars it can over the last 5 years. Similar flavors as the aroma, complexity increases as it warms. Thin to medium bodied.

 

12.7oz bottle purchased off the shelf. Bottled on 6/22/17, so this is almost 4 years old.

Look: Pours a rich dark brown, almost black color. A nice light brown/cafe au lait compact head remains that has nice retention and lacing.

Smell: This smells complex and interesting. Initially, it definitely smells like there is a fair amount of acidity here. Underneath, I get aromas of black licorice, chocolate, toffee, caramel, spices, and brettanomyces funk. There's a bit of fruitiness on the back end, along with more acidity. I want to say that there's a honey sweetness here, but that could be placebo.

Taste: Very interesting. Both smooth and complex. The mouthfeel is rather thin, but the flavors are very nice. Up front, there's a good amount of acidity but it's not overpowering. It yields to the dark malt flavors and has a lot of brown ale character. The finish has a very nice roasty, toasty, and nutty notes (think dark bread, coffee) and the finish is both sour and dry.

Feel: The mouthfeel is on the thin side, and the carbonation is on the low side but it works and it's appropriate for this type of beer.

Overall: This is a very creative and interesting beer. Dark sours are hard to come by, and this one is excellent. I would be curious to know how this has changed with time - has it improved, declined, or remained about the same? Sadly, Allagash doesn't brew this beer anymore.

L: Poured from a bottle to a goblet. Had a deep, dark brown color and a thick, opaque consistency. There was an inch and a half of foamy / fizzy, off white head that lasted an average amount of time. Pretty good lacing.

S: A very nice aroma of dark fruit, Belgian-style yeast, chocolate, honey, malt, and berries.

T: Tasted of a mild amount of malt (a very subtle presence), some berries (raspberries - quite tart), some honey (less than expected), a good amount of dark fruit (prunes, figs), a good amount of Belgian-style yeast (present throughout), and some chocolate as well. This is a vibrant, surprisingly fruity flavor. Pretty tasty.

F: A well-carbonated beer with a sharp finish. Medium-bodied.

O: A likable and well done beer. Drinkable.

 

 

 

 

 

Bottle: This one pours a fairly opaque dark brown color. Almost no head or lacing. An interesting nose. Chocolate, berries, honey, some other fruits. The taste is very good. A bit of funkiness, along with dark chocolate, berries, faint coffee. A complex flavor profile. Woth checking this one out!

Pours a dark opaque brown color. Thin fizzy tan head dissipates mostly but leaves a ring of tan foam along the outside of the beer.

Aroma has notes of lemons, honey, tropical citrus, and some tart berries, almost unripe strawberries with a light cocoa aroma. Quite unique and interesting - you kind of get a different snapshot of the aroma each time the glass approaches your mouth.

As expected from the aroma, the taste is also very unique. Initially you get some dark Munich malts, roasted malts, dark bread, notes of chocolate, cocoa that give way about halfway through the palate to a dark honey flavor and then transitions into a tart lemon funk with a slight bitterness on the finish. Its an incredibly complex and varied profile. As the beer warms the tropical funky notes from the Brett start to shine more as the cocoa notes fade.

Feel is medium bodied and somewhat coating. I'm guessing that the honey in this coming through. Sprightly but not overly pronounced carbonation.

Overall a complex and intriguing brew. Not one I'd personally be likely to drink again - but an enjoyable beer nonetheless.

The beer pours a nice and creamy light tan head that dissipates quickly. The beer itself is a dark brown with light purple notes.
The smell is pretty good. It primarily is ruled by the wild ale notes with a nice cherry tart and various sweet notes that come in the finish. The lemon is fairly light and the strawberries primarily come out in the finish. The chocolate is fairly light and almost unnoticeable.

The taste is pretty good. It has a strong raspberry tart and lemon sour note that comes upfront and lasts through the entire drink. The roasted barely and chocolate come more to provide a decent sweetness alongside a sugary strawberry note.

The feel is good. It has a nice medium body with a good acidic feel from the tartness and a really light tingling from the carbonation. It has a smooth feel with a bit of thickness to it.

Overall, this is a pretty good beer worth getting and fairly delicious.